Transnational Agricultural Investments/Land Grabbing: A Contemporary Solution or Challenge for Rural Development in Ghana?

Abstract

Rural Africa is still confronted with much of the challenges it faced at the dawn of independence. These challenges now have a qualitative twist as a result of the considerable social, economic, environmental and political change that is sweeping through Africa. Transnational investments in agriculture through the purchase and lease of land are argued to provide the solution to rural underdevelopment and agricultural stagnation. Examining ten such investments in Ghana, the authors find ‘possibilities’ for these companies to play important roles in the rural development process. However, the complexity of rural development is beyond the ability of one single investment imbued with neoliberal pro-market ideologies in making much positive change. Transnational investments in land have become one of the challenges of rural development that needs a careful diagnosis.