Interdependencies and nexus of the global land rush

<p>Humanity&#8217;s capacity to live without irreversibly compromising the environmental and biophysical conditions on which it depends is at stake. The expanding societal needs for food and energy add an unsustainable pressure on limited amounts of freshwater resources. In this context, the recent global economic and food security crisis, the adoption of new bioenergy policies, trends of water and land commodification, have been described as the drivers of a fast escalation in transnational land investments. A phenomenon described as a new &#8216;global land rush&#8217;. This process is favoring a strong transformation of the rural landscapes in large parts of Latin America, Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, with small-scale farming, the most diffused system of production, being displaced by large-scale commercial intensified agriculture. Such land deals may result in the dispossession of traditional users, subsistence and small-holder farmers by large-scale commercial agriculture, as well as expansion of agricultural land at the expense of savannas, forests, or other ecosystems. Here, we bring together the insights from distinct studies conducted on these different dimensions using the (to our knowledge) largest available sample of georeferenced global transnational land deals. We synthesize these studies with the objective to identify and highlight the interconnectedness of the phenomenon and how different interdependencies and trade-offs play out. Using data from the Demographic and Health Survey Program we then investigate the livelihood, health and food security dynamics associated with this phenomenon. &#160;We identified the main archetypes such large-scale transitions and defined their temporal trajectories (e.g., before and after the deals). We found that a significant portion of such deals, especially located in Southeast Asia, showed strong simultaneous increases in deforestation, crop cover and probability of export/trade, severely undermining the food security in such areas. Our approach offers a robust methodology to understand the multi-sectoral implications of the global land rush in a systematic, multi-dimensional and integrated way that we believe is helpful to inform policy.&#160;</p><p><br><br></p>