LOS ANGELES: Animal rights activists and local farmers are fomenting over a recent purchase of approximately 30,000 acres of farmland by a Saudi Arabian dairy company. The sale of Argentina’s farm operator Fondomonte for some $83 million by Saudi’s Almarai Company is to secure access to animal feed, the company said on Sunday.
The sale comes only a short time before the Argentina government establishes restrictions on foreign ownership of productive land in the country.
Almarai said in a statement that the deal is in line with Saudi’s policy of “securing supplies and conserving local resources.”
But local farmers and animal activists are worried that the deal would hurt Argentina’s farmers and could be detrimental to animal welfare standards, respectively.
“This deal will show the world that the Middle East does not treat animals in a proper fashion and maintains the worst conditions for animals in the world and is just an extension of the live export trade,” said Teresa di Maria, a Buenos Aires-based animal rights activist.
She told Bikyamasr.com via telephone that she was hoping to galvanizing local activists to “protest this abuse of Argentine lands in support of the animals.”
Farmers are also frustrated that the deal would cut into their local market and drive prices further down, citing the bankroll of Saudi companies as an example of how Almarai could sell locally at reduced prices, “which would curtail local production and Argentineans ability to survive.”
Saudi Arabia for decades has produced millions of tons of home grown wheat with the help of generous farm subsidies. Now, the ultra-conservative Gulf kingdom is trying to wind down domestic production because of concern over dwindling water supplies.
Fondomonte operates three farms in Argentina dedicated to producing corn and soybeans, according to Almarai. According to the Fondomonte website it also grows barley, rice and sorghum. Almarai plans to use the crops to feed chickens and cattle.
The Saudi purchase was announced as Argentina’s Senate approved strict new limits on foreign land ownership, designed to protect the country’s food resources.
The law limits individual foreign ownership of rural land to 2,500 acres per titleholder, and bars any more purchases by foreigners once 15 percent of Argentina’s land is foreign owned.
That might be little consolation for farmers and activists like di Maria, who argue the regulations are doing little to put local production and animal rights above business.
“We are seeing the full globalization of food production and it hurts both the animals and the local farmers and must be fought against at all times,” she added.
Source: bikyamasr.com