Are agri-business companies responsible for land grabbing in Central Africa?

Land grabbing usually refers to the controversial acquisition of a piece of land. As such it is a social concept. It deals with social and cultural use of and access to land, and with land tenure, including customary and legal rights. If we accept this definition, land grabbing cannot apply to a piece of land free of legitimate claim. However, projects associated with large-scale deforestation are often qualified as land grabs, without any reference to the social characteristics of the land and the project. The concept has been used since 2000 to target foreign investments in developing countries in agriculture, forestry, mining or infrastructure sectors. Can large-scale land acquisitions be analyzed within the land grab framework? Several indicators were selected and applied to a large sample of agro-industrial concessions in Cameroon, Gabon, DRC and RC. These indicators include historical occupation of land, customary rights, legal land tenure status, Free Prior and Informed Consent. There have been several periods of important investments in Central Africa which have affected land tenure, access and use in various manners. But agribusiness companies are not the only stakeholders competing for land and national elites should not be overlooked.