Leasing African Land

Time Magazine reports that South Korea’s Daewoo Logistics leased 3.2 million acres of farmland from the Madagascar government. The land would be used as a farmland, and the South Korean company hopes this would help secure food supply for their country. The lease is for 99 years.

A Daewoo manager, Hong Jong-wan, told the Financial Times that the crops would “ensure our food security,” and would use “totally undeveloped land which had been left untouched.” Land is scarce and expensive in South Korea, which makes it the world’s third-largest importer of corn. Daewoo says the Madagascar land will be leased for a price of around $12 an acre, which is a fraction of the price for farmland in the corporation’s home country.

The full story is here.