Neocolonialism: Wealthy nations leasing agricultural African land

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Since 2015, Turkey has struggled to feed its whole population. According to Istanbul, climate change and an ongoing refugee crisis are to blame.

To prevent the crisis, the nation now wants to revive a plan it began in 2016 but did not complete, leasing lands in Sudan to grow enough food for domestic use and export.

Last month, Turkish Agriculture and Forestry Minister Vahit Kirişci told MPs that leasing farms in Sudan would be a critical step toward improving food security.

Turkey sought to lease 850,000 hectares of land in Sudan's White Nile Valley for 99 years, however, the deal was halted due to ownership, storage, and security issues. The country also went through political turmoil.

Turkey claims it will do things differently this time. It will re-plan the project and invest in crops that cannot be grown in Turkey owing to climatic circumstances.

The country's General Directorate of Agricultural Enterprises will manage the new strategy, which would emphasize corn, sunflower, cotton, and sugarcane production (TIGEM). Growing pineapples, mangoes, and canola to suit export demands is also being investigated.

Read more: Sudanese farmers face the possibility of rotten wheat

However, Turkey is not the only country researching answers to the food crisis in Africa. According to the World Trade Organization's 2013 report, Britain leased 4.4 million hectares of land in Africa, comparable to Denmark's surface area.

The US has leased 3.7 million hectares of land using the same way.

Such arrangements spark local outrage for being neocolonialist, especially in a continent where land ownership is a contentious issue for many and a source of strife. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has previously labeled such massive land leases by wealthier countries as "land grabs", adding that "behind every land, grab is a water grab."