A panel of industry leaders and private investment champions has called for more private investment in international agriculture to "drive job creation and income growth, increase food supply and enhance food security."

The panel on private investment in the food and agriculture sectors met in Berlin on 18th January, as part of the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture, being held in the city. The panel members, including an OECD financial director, the Vietnamese vice minister for agriculture and rural development and representatives of Aquila Capital Farms and John Deere, called on governments to facilitate such private investment across the world.

The panel suggested, "Agricultural investment is beneficial to both home and recipient countries as well as host societies, especially small-scale farmers and rural communities." Panel's chair, OECD executive Karim Dahou, outlined the importance of "well-defined land and water rights" in securing responsible investment.

Research published by an international team of environmental scientists led by professor Paolo D’Odorico last week showed "Over less than a decade, the rates of land and water grabbing have dramatically increased" as private companies and individual countries continue to enclose areas of developing nations under the guise of 'investment'. D’Odorico said governments and the UN must act to ensure any investment in regions at risk of land grabbing is done responsibly, with local communities involved in decision making and the observation of land rights.

On Friday 18th, the OECD-led panel stressed the need to promote responsible business conduct so as to ensure that agricultural investments do bring benefits not only to investors and recipient countries, but also to host societies and local communities. The meeting was attended by senior government officials from OECD countries, as well as emerging and developing countries and representatives from the private sector.

Panel chair Dahou also suggested "adequate agriculture-related infrastructure, open and reliable agricultural trade, competitive financial markets, and enhanced agricultural research and development [would form] key elements of an enabling environment for agricultural investment."

Last month, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation called on world leaders to restructure the governance of agricultural investment. FAO said more, but better governed investment is needed to drive genuinely sustainable development. Director general José Graziano da Silva elucidated, "A new investment strategy is needed that puts agricultural producers at its centre.  The challenge is to focus the investments in areas where they can make a difference. This is important to guarantee that investments will result in high economic and social returns and environmental sustainability."

FAO pointed out that the money invested in agriculture by small farmers themselves dwarfs investment from all other sources. In its State of Food and Agriculture report, the Rome-based organisation demonstrated that farmers in low- and middle-income countries invest more than $170 billion (£105bn) a year in their farms - about $150 per farmer; this amounts to three times as much as all other sources of investment combined (including private investment from domestic and international sources).