Food security and the political economy of land grabbing : a case study of two food-producing projects in northern Madagascar

Abstract

The recent rise in land grabbing in the Global South has sparked an intense debate about how land grabbing impacts the rural poor. International development organizations have claimed that these investments, with the support of good policies, can create a "win-win" scenario meaning that both investors and the poor can benefit. Some critics have warned that land grabbing threatens rural livelihoods and access to natural resources. This thesis explores the socioeconomic costs and benefits of land grabbing, especially those incurred by the rural poor. Based on field research conducted in northern Madagascar, the thesis reveals that land grabbing produced highly uneven outcomes for the actors involved in terms of their access to natural resources and income. From a political economy perspective, I argue that the reason for the uneven outcomes and high costs experienced by the rural poor is due to a combination of both weak institutions and asymmetrical power relations.