NEW YORK, March 5: The outsourcing of agriculture has started to bear fruit. Saudi Arabia received its first consignment of food harvested in famine-hit Ethiopia opening the way for others to emulate. Many Arab nations which were hit by food riots are doing the same. They have money to invest but no land to till.
The agriculture wing of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) helped feed famished Ethiopian people which faced crop failure and food distribution problem, a reputed paper said.
Direct foreign investment in agriculture should go a long way in helping poor countries by providing them employment, infrastructure, access to modern agricultural technology and export.
The Saudi project is known as King Abdullah initiative for Saudi agricultural investment abroad. The kingdom has decided to grow 'strategic food commodities' overseas and phase out the water intensive production of domestic cereals , a reputed paper in a report said.
The Kingdom of Saudia Arabia (KSA) has said it would provide credit facilities to Saudi investors in agriculture abroad with focus on countries with promising agricultural resources and having "encouraging government". The extent of credit limit has not been fixed. A Saudi investor will now go to Sudan with government providing 60 per cent funding. Sudan offers the most turbulent political scenario. Its president Omar Bashir earning the unique distinction of being the first president in office to be indicted by the International Criminal Court. Khartoum has rejected the indictment. Bashir remains defiant. His government has revoked the licences of six foreign aid agencies despite UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon's call to cooperate with UN agencies.
Back to the question of outsourcing in agriculture, the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDP) has agreed to finance farm productions run on buy-back basis. Turkey, Ukraine, Egypt, Sudan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brazil, South Africa and Ethiopia have shown interest in renting out lands for Saudi investment. The investments " should be long-term through ownership or long-term contracts", a reputed paper said. Riyadh will have the freedom of making choice of the crop in such investment.
The move is in response to restrictions on food exports imposed by India, Russia, Vietnam and Argentina.
Meanwhile, more than a dozen Wall Street trading firms systematically cheated their customers of millions of dollars by improperly slicing bits of profit from countless trades, New York Times (NYT) in a report said. The firms did not deny or admit the charges but agreed to pay $69 million in penalties. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said improper trading occurred from 1999 to 2005.
China is expected to announce today at the opening of the National People's Congress a new spending plan to combat the global economic downturn. Stocks and commodity prices rose around the world hoping Chinese plan will help the global economy to rebound.
On the political front, two of US biggest allies in its war against Islamic insurgency, Pakistan and Afghanistan came under severe attacks for failing to hold on to insurgency and escalating corruption. Pakistan's president Asif Ali Zardari faced a political storm as opposition, media and sportsmen castigated his administration for failing to protect the Sri Lankan cricketers. And in Afghanistan Mahmoud Karzai, elder brother of president Hamid Karzai is said to have used official patronage to become a billionaire. Mahmoud Karzai holds controlling shares in country's only cement factory, its dominant bank, real estate , coal mines and Toyota dealership. He is described as minister maker " with sway in hiring and firing top officials", the NYT said. He wants to turn Afghanistan into Singapore or Hong Kong.
