Presented at the Seminar on Responsible Agricultural Investments in Developing Countries: How to Make Principles and Guidelines Effective? Organized by Swedish FAO Committee & SIANI

1. Responsible agricultural investments
in developing countries
Swedish FAO Committee
25 March 2014
Bo Göransson
ABBBA
African Bioenergy and
Biofuels Business Assessment

2. • Starting point: Investments are
needed. ”How”, not ”if”
• Trees and forests: Utilize, develop,
prevent. Stoves, cars, game corridors,
waste
• 3 years. Small and with no money.
Matchmakers (we thought…..)

3. What is out there?
• Money, both international and local
• Ideas and needs
• Demand : Growth, urbanization
• Policies, guidelines: IFC, FAO etc
• Also ABBBA. ”Stolen with pride”. More feasibility
than assessments.

4. But…….
• Money is not used. Not ”bankable”
• Big business “self contained”.
• Forest industry shell shocked.
• The small are -just small.
• Banks risk averse
• CAP + RED = Inv/Trade barriers. True?
• Different standards for different crops?

5. Policies for investments. The
same song sheet, but…
• Who cares or owns? Investors, NGOs, FAO, media,
countries, people?
• Individual ownership/tenure or stronger
ownership of communal land?
• Sanctions. Case of Ethiopia
• Transparency. Case of Gambella. Role of Banks, IFI,s
donors, NGOs, media.
• Sweden in the 19th century: Farmers robbed. Laws,
farmers org., surveyors

6. Frankly
• It is about power, stupid

7. Quo vadis?
• Level the playing field for investments -
remove trade barriers
• Main actors must act. Role of pension funds,
Swedfund, Business Sweden?
• New instruments or directives. Guarantees?
• The big and the small must act together
and…….
• ……..be local and persistent
• ABBBA: Matchmaker or midwife?

8. Finally.
Do not use the phrase “land grab”!