IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/deveco/v56y2018i1p3-34.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

“Land Grab†or Development Opportunity? The Effect of Transnational Farmland Investments on the Ghanaian Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Donggul Choi

Abstract

Transnational investments in farmland in developing economies are recent and controversial. While they bring developmental opportunities including capital deepening, new technology, and employment opportunities, there are also concerns about the dislocation of local farmers and insufficient compensation for land use. This paper investigates how these seemingly conflicting effects interact in the process of economic growth by fitting a dynamic general equilibrium model to Ghanaian data. The differing effects of two common foreign investment activities, grain farming and biofuel production, are investigated. Grain farming investments tend to promote capital accumulation and increase income and consumption over the transition, whereas labor income is adversely affected. Biofuel projects induce the reverse. Results identify the relative labor intensity of technology on foreign†operated farms, which affects the returns to domestic capital and the pace of capital deepening, as a major determinant of the long†term effect of farmland investments.

Suggested Citation

  • Donggul Choi, 2018. "“Land Grab†or Development Opportunity? The Effect of Transnational Farmland Investments on the Ghanaian Economy," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 56(1), pages 3-34, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:deveco:v:56:y:2018:i:1:p:3-34
    DOI: 10.1111/deve.12157
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/deve.12157
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/deve.12157?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Baldos, Uris & Thomas Hertel, 2012. "Development of a GTAP 8 Land Use and Land Cover Data Base for Years 2004 and 2007," GTAP Research Memoranda 3967, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University.
    2. Schoneveld, George Christoffel, 2014. "The geographic and sectoral patterns of large-scale farmland investments in sub-Saharan Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 34-50.
    3. Charles I. Jones & Paul M. Romer, 2010. "The New Kaldor Facts: Ideas, Institutions, Population, and Human Capital," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 224-245, January.
    4. Chaudhuri, Sarbajit & Banerjee, Dibyendu, 2010. "FDI in agricultural land, welfare and unemployment in a developing economy," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(4), pages 229-239, December.
    5. Klaus Deininger & Derek Byerlee & Jonathan Lindsay & Andrew Norton & Harris Selod & Mercedes Stickler, 2011. "Rising Global Interest in Farmland : Can it Yield Sustainable and Equitable Benefits?," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2263.
    6. Arndt, Channing & Pauw, Karl & Thurlow, James, 2012. "Biofuels and economic development: A computable general equilibrium analysis for Tanzania," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 1922-1930.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Brinkman, Marnix L.J. & Wicke, Birka & Faaij, André P.C. & van der Hilst, Floor, 2019. "Projecting socio-economic impacts of bioenergy: Current status and limitations of ex-ante quantification methods," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    2. Kansanga, Moses Mosonsieyiri & Luginaah, Isaac, 2019. "Agrarian livelihoods under siege: Carbon forestry, tenure constraints and the rise of capitalist forest enclosures in Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 131-142.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. repec:ags:ijag24:346816 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Giger, Markus & Mutea, Emily & Kiteme, Boniface & Eckert, Sandra & Anseeuw, Ward & Zaehringer, Julie G., 2020. "Large agricultural investments in Kenya’s Nanyuki Area: Inventory and analysis of business models," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    3. Kleemann, Linda & Thiele, Rainer, 2015. "Rural welfare implications of large-scale land acquisitions in Africa: A theoretical framework," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 269-279.
    4. Jayne, T.S. & Chamberlin, Jordan & Traub, Lulama & Sitko, N. & Muyanga, Milu & Yeboah, Kwame & Nkonde, Chewe & Anseeuw, Ward & Chapoto, A. & Kachule, Richard, 2015. "Africa’s Changing Farmland Ownership: Causes and Consequences," Miscellaneous Publications 208576, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    5. Deininger,Klaus W. & Xia,Fang & Savastano,Sara, 2015. "Smallholders? land ownership and access in Sub-Saharan Africa: a new landscape ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7285, The World Bank.
    6. Ahlerup, Pelle & Tengstam, Sven, 2015. "Do the land-poor gain from agricultural investments? Empirical evidence from Zambia using panel data," Working Papers in Economics 624, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    7. Jayne, Thomas S. & Chamberlin, Jordan & Traub, Lulama & Sitko, N. & Muyanga, Milu & Yeboah, Felix & Nkonde, Chewe & Anseeuw, Ward & Chapoto, Anthony & Kachule, Richard, 2015. "Africa's Changing Farmland Ownership: The Rise of the Emergent Investor Farmer," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212028, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    8. Conigliani, Caterina & Cuffaro, Nadia & D’Agostino, Giovanna, 2018. "Large-scale land investments and forests in Africa," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 651-660.
    9. Wendimu, Mengistu Assefa & Henningsen, Arne & Gibbon, Peter, 2016. "Sugarcane Outgrowers in Ethiopia: “Forced” to Remain Poor?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 84-97.
    10. Ali, Daniel Ayalew & Deininger, Klaus & Harris, Anthony, 2017. "Using National Statistics to Increase Transparency of Large Land Acquisition: Evidence from Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 62-74.
    11. Jayne, T.S. & Chamberlin, Jordan & Headey, Derek D., 2014. "Land pressures, the evolution of farming systems, and development strategies in Africa: A synthesis," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 1-17.
    12. Deininger, Klaus & Savastano, Sara & Xia, Fang, 2017. "Smallholders’ land access in Sub-Saharan Africa: A new landscape?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 78-92.
    13. Deininger, Klaus & Xia, Fang, 2016. "Quantifying Spillover Effects from Large Land-based Investment: The Case of Mozambique," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 227-241.
    14. Ali,Daniel Ayalew & Deininger,Klaus W. & Harris,Charles Anthony Philip & Ali,Daniel Ayalew & Deininger,Klaus W. & Harris,Charles Anthony Philip, 2016. "Large farm establishment, smallholder productivity, labor market participation, and resilience : evidence from Ethiopia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7576, The World Bank.
    15. Sitko, Nicholas J. & Chamberlin, Jordan & Mulenga, Brian, 2015. "Unpacking the Growth of Medium-scale Farms Zambia: What Are the Implications for the Future of Smallholder Agriculture?," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 212901, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    16. Chamberlin, Jordan & Jayne, T. S., 2017. "Does Farm Structure Matter? The Effects of Farmland Distribution Patterns on Rural Household Incomes," Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security Policy Research Papers 275685, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Security (FSP).
    17. Deininger,Klaus W. & Xia,Fang & Mate,Aurelio & Payongayong,Ellen & Deininger,Klaus W. & Xia,Fang & Mate,Aurelio & Payongayong,Ellen, 2015. "Quantifying spillover effects from large farm establishments : the case of Mozambique," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7466, The World Bank.
    18. Chamberlin, Jordan & Jayne, T.S., 2020. "Does farm structure affect rural household incomes? Evidence from Tanzania," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    19. Giovannetti, Giorgia & Ticci, Elisa, 2016. "Determinants of biofuel-oriented land acquisitions in Sub-Saharan Africa," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 678-687.
    20. Deininger, Klaus & Xia, Fang, 2018. "Assessing the long-term performance of large-scale land transfers: Challenges and opportunities in Malawi’s estate sector," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 281-296.
    21. Jana Brandt & Jonas Possmann, 2017. "Großflächige Agrarinvestitionen in Entwicklungsländern: Ausmaß, Akteure und Land Governance," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201714, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:deveco:v:56:y:2018:i:1:p:3-34. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/idegvjp.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.