This book should be top of the reading list for anyone new to the topic of land grabbing, and also provides a very timely and interesting summary of recent scholarship for those already engaged in the study of land in Africa.

African Affairs

Probably nobody knows better than Coltula what the word "grab" means in terms of land grabs. He has read the contracts, seen the disgraceful and fraudulent terms they often include, and knows from personal investigation what that means for the rural Africans whose land has been taken. This is an eye-opener for all enthusiasts of foreign investment in Africa.

Fred Pearce, author of The Landgrabbers

A timely and very useful summary of the recent development of land grabbing in Africa. Cotula combines this with insightful reflections on the internal and external factors within the global economy and mainstream policy circles that have contributed to the rise of land grabbing.

Kojo Sebastian Amanor, associate professor at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, and author of Land and Sustainable Development in Africa

This book moves beyond the usual clichés about land grabs. It highlights the winners and losers of the emergence of a new global market for farmland, showing that while some among the rural poor may gain new opportunities from this development, many more will lose. Invest in small-scale farmers, not in the land on which they depend, and read this book, if you care at all about the future of agricultural development in poor countries.

Olivier De Schutter, UN special rapporteur on the right to food

This is an outstanding book which will, without any doubt, make a major contribution to the growing literature on the important subject of land grabbing. In an arena that is often polarized, it is supremely fair and balanced. It unpicks and unpacks things based on the author's extensive research and practical experience in Ghana, Mali, Tanzania and Mozambique.

Robin Palmer, global land rights policy specialist, Mokoro