FAO moves to draw up land ownership guidelines

MILAN (Reuters) - The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation aims to draw the first ever global guidelines to ensure land access to farmers and investors, boost food security and prevent arbitrary land grabs, the FAO said on Tuesday.

High food prices which sparked riots and supply scare in 2008 have pushed countries such as Saudi Arabia, China and South Korea to seek farmland abroad to feed their people, a practice that prompted criticism for curbing interests of local people.

"Without responsible governance, growing demands for land threatens to foster social exclusion as the rich and powerful are able to acquire land and other natural resources at the expense of the poor and vulnerable," Alexander Muller, FAO's Assistant Director General of Natural Resources Department, said in a statement.

Weak governance causes many tenure-related problems, puts off potential investors and hinders economic growth, FAO said.

"It also affects the sustainable use of natural resources, causing environmental degradation and condemning people to a life of hunger and in the worst scenarios can cause conflict and war," Muller said.

The FAO has started consultations with governments, the private sector, farmers, indigenous groups, local authorities, academia and independent experts to work out governance of tenure to land and other natural resources, the agency said.

The talks will take more than a year to complete, it added.