Search

Begin New Search Topic Agriculture Publishing Institution Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

1. Transparency for Whom? Grounding Land Investment Transparency in the Needs of Local Actors

Author:
Sam Szoke-Burke
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Transparency is often seen as a means of improving governance and accountability of investment, but its potential to do so is hindered by vague definitions and failures to focus on the needs of key local actors. In a new report focusing on agribusiness, forestry, and renewable energy projects (“land investments”), CCSI grounds transparency in the needs of project-affected communities and other local actors. Transparency efforts that seek to inform and empower communities can also help governments, companies, and other actors to more effectively manage operational risk linked to social conflict.
Topic:
Agriculture, Governance, Transparency, Sustainability, and Community
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. Transparency of Land-based Investments: Cameroon Country Snapshot

Author:
Sam Szoke-Burke, Samuel Nguiffo, and Stella Tchoukep
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Despite a recent transparency law and participation in transparency initiatives, Cameroon’s investment environment remains plagued by poor transparency.
Topic:
Agriculture, Environment, Law, Transparency, and Land Reform
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

3. Guide on incentives for responsible investment in agriculture and food systems

Author:
Anna Bulman, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, and Ladan Mehranvar
Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Increased investment in agriculture and food systems—from both the private and public sectors—is critical to enhance food security and nutrition, reduce poverty, and adapt to climate change. To generate sustainable benefits, this investment must be responsible. What role should investment incentives play in encouraging such investment? This guide helps to answer that question. Specifically, the guide provides policymakers and government technical staff with guidance on how investment incentives can be used (and how they should not be used) to enhance responsible investment in agriculture and food systems. The guide provides an overview of responsible investment in agriculture and food systems; examines common types of incentives; offers general considerations on how incentives can be used; and discusses how to plan for, design, monitor, and evaluate investment incentives for responsible investment in agriculture and food systems.
Topic:
Agriculture, Climate Change, Environment, Food, Food Security, and Sustainability
Political Geography:
Global Focus

4. Responsible Coffee Sourcing: Towards a Living Income for Producers

Author:
Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Margaret Sagan, and Solina Kennedy
Publication Date:
07-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Coffee company sourcing practices are a key tool for improving coffee producer and farmworker well-being. Companies are not the only actor responsible for addressing living income and living wages, and sourcing practices are not the only relevant tool. Governments and other stakeholders must use policies, programs, and other levers to address the structural factors that contribute to producers’ and farmworkers’ impoverishment. Yet the role of other actors and interventions should not be an excuse for company practices that contribute to producer and worker poverty. Credible options exist for roasters and retailers to improve producer and farmworker well-being through sourcing practices.
Topic:
Agriculture, Environment, Poverty, and Coffee
Political Geography:
Global Focus

5. Innovative Financing Solutions for Community Support in the Context of Land Investments

Author:
Sam Szoke-Burke and Kaitlin Y. Cordes
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Communities affected by agricultural, forestry, and other resource investments urgently need increased funding for legal and technical support. Without support, communities risk losing access to critical land and resources, suffering human rights violations, or missing opportunities to benefit from investments. A lack of community support can also lead to conflict and challenges that are damaging for companies and host governments. Donors and support providers have found ways to finance support for communities, but such efforts can only extend so far. Promising new opportunities exist for filling the financing gap, yet they will require sustained efforts by a range of actors. This report presents a call to action to help communities secure the support they so crucially need. The report explores options for tapping new funding sources for community support. These include: Government marshaling of funding from companies and others, through taxes, fees, and penalties Basket funds, operated by independent, trusted entities and funded by contributions from multiple actors Market-based impact investments and social impact bonds Direct company funding Third party funding Other solutions for increasing funding or reducing costs, including crowdfunding, generating profits from social enterprises, affordable user fees or in-kind services, contingency and uplift fees, and court-ordered fee shifting. The report also presents overarching considerations for developing a new financing initiative. These include: the initiative’s likely cost, efficiency and financial sustainability, political complexity and obstacles, political economy implications, the importance of strong governance mechanisms, and the logistics required to link funding, communities and support providers.
Topic:
Agriculture, Human Rights, Natural Resources, Investment, and Land
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6. Employment from Mining and Agricultural Investments: How Much Myth, How Much Reality?

Author:
Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Olle Östensson, and Perrine Toledano
Publication Date:
07-2016
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Employment creation is often seen as a key benefit of investment in natural resources. However, this benefit sometimes falls short: job estimates may be inflated, governmental policies may fail to maximize employment generation, and, in some cases, investments may lead to net livelihood losses. A more thorough examination of employment tied to mining and agricultural investments is thus useful for assessing whether and how employment from natural resource investments contributes to sustainable economic development—a particularly timely topic as countries consider how they will achieve the Sustainable Development Goals adopted in 2015.
Topic:
Agriculture, International Affairs, and Economic Growth
Political Geography:
Global Focus

7. Guide to Land Contracts: Agricultural Projects

Author:
Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment
Publication Date:
03-2016
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Agricultural investment contracts can be complex, with complicated provisions that are difficult to understand. This Guide provides explanations for a range of common provisions, and includes a Glossary of legal and technical terms. It assists non-lawyers in better understanding agricultural investment contracts, such as those available on OpenLandContracts.org. The Guide was prepared by International Senior Lawyers Project staff and volunteers in collaboration with the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment.
Topic:
Agriculture and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Global Focus

8. FDI in retailing and inflation: The case of India

Author:
Nandita Dasgupta
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
India's food price inflation is a major driving factor behind the country's overall accelerating inflation over the past few years. Agricultural food prices in particular have risen recently: over the past year vegetables have become costlier by 18%, pulses by 14%, milk by 10%, and eggs, meat and fish by 12%. The rise in fruit prices was, however, relatively smaller (5%), and the same happened for cereals (3%). This price escalation is largely due to an inefficient supply chain in agriculture. Some of the supply side constraints have been identified: poor agricultural productivity, lack of corporate involvement in agriculture, ceilings on landholding size, existence of middlemen, hoarding, and, more importantly, insufficient cold storage facilities and transportation infrastructure. Around 50% of fresh produce in India rots and goes to waste between the farm gate and the market because of inadequate cold storage facilities and a poor distribution network. These factors unfavorably affect agricultural supply, create a supplydemand gap and help raise food prices.
Topic:
Security, Agriculture, Development, Economics, Food, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

9. Responsible agricultural investment: is there a significant role for the law to promote sustainability?

Author:
Nicolás Marcelo Perrone
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
The world food situation is back in the headlines as price levels surpass 2008 peaks, confirming the rising trend in food markets. Higher prices pose challenges to both food importing and exporting countries. One serious barrier to increasing food output remains the lack of necessary capital and technology in countries that have the potential to increase production rapidly. To avoid a food crisis, international organizations and several governments have increasingly turned to promoting foreign direct investment (FDI) by multinational enterprises (MNEs) in agriculture. This may be an effective solution, but some obstacles stand in the way of the establishment of such projects and, more importantly, their long-term sustainability.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, Markets, Food, and Foreign Direct Investment

10. Land grab or development opportunity? International farmland deals in Africa

Author:
Lorenzo Cotula
Publication Date:
06-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
Over the past 12 months, large-scale acquisitions of farmland in Africa, Latin America, Central Asia and Southeast Asia have made headlines in a flurry of media reports across the world. Lands that only a short time ago seemed of little outside interest are now being sought by international investors to the tune of hundreds of thousands of hectares.
Topic:
Agriculture, International Trade and Finance, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:
Africa and Latin America