Harvesting Farmland: An Analysis of National Factors Contributing to the Use of Large-Scale Land Acquisitions as a Food Security Strategy

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dc.contributor.advisorStout, Marken_US
dc.contributor.authorHintz, Charles Ericen_US
dc.contributor.committeeMemberO'Byrne, Sarahen_US
dc.date.accessioned2015-02-11T04:18:13Z
dc.date.available2015-02-11T04:18:13Z
dc.date.created2014-08en_US
dc.date.issued2014-08-15en_US
dc.date.submittedAugust 2014en_US
dc.description.abstractThis thesis analyzes factors contributing to the recent trend of nations purchasing, leasing, or otherwise acquiring agricultural land abroad as a food production resource. These “large-scale land acquisitions” (LSLAs) have been studied extensively; however, scholars have mainly focused on LSLAs’ effects on “host” nations, providing only cursory explanations of “investor” nations’ motivations. This thesis corrects this deficiency in the literature by investigating drivers underlying the selection of a LSLA food security strategy. It conducts controlled comparisons of four case study nations, China, South Korea, India, and Saudi Arabia, which are diverse in terms of size, economics, politics, and other factors, but which all pursue food security LSLAs; it seeks to establish whether these nations share specific motivations for LSLAs, despite their differences, to determine the extent to which nations employing such a strategy, in general, share such motives. The first two chapters compare direct food security drivers of LSLAs in these states; the third examines if these nations share economic paradigms, to test if such paradigms act as an “underlying” stimulus of LSLAs. Regarding food security drivers, this thesis finds that all four face long-term rising and diversifying food product demand, limited production capacity, and reliance on food imports combined with a national preference for self-sufficiency; thus, LSLAs seem to be a method of reducing import dependence and securing access to food. Regarding economic outlook, this thesis finds that all four share an illiberal paradigm, consistent with these states’ aversion to markets. Given significant projected growth in world food demand, these findings could aid in predicting which nations might pursue such a policy in the future.en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://jhir.library.jhu.edu/handle/1774.2/37318
dc.languageen
dc.publisherJohns Hopkins University
dc.subjectFood Securityen_US
dc.subjectLarge-Scale Land Acquisitionsen_US
dc.subjectChinaen_US
dc.subjectIndiaen_US
dc.subjectSaudi Arabiaen_US
dc.subjectSouth Koreaen_US
dc.subjectNational Securityen_US
dc.subjectGlobal Food Crisisen_US
dc.subjectMercantilismen_US
dc.subjectFood Productionen_US
dc.subjectFood Demanden_US
dc.titleHarvesting Farmland: An Analysis of National Factors Contributing to the Use of Large-Scale Land Acquisitions as a Food Security Strategyen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.materialtexten_US
thesis.degree.departmentGovernment Programen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineGlobal Security Studiesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorJohns Hopkins Universityen_US
thesis.degree.grantorAdvanced Academic Programsen_US
thesis.degree.levelMastersen_US
thesis.degree.nameM.A.en_US
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