This has always been the practice of trade. If Madagascar grows the corn, it can also generate jobs for the Malagasy people, in addition exporting the product would empower Malagasy farmers and make them the large source of the country’s GDP. The income from the export can be used to build infrastructure. Malagasy people grow and exports letchis, vanilla and coffee, why can’t we grow corn to feed our own people and export the left over. Malagasy people are very hard working people, they just need empowerment such as heavy equipment to exploit a large surface of land. The government can use micro-credit or buy the equipment for the farmers. It is so so so sad that the President does not even have faith in his own people. He prefers selling his own land to Daewoo for nothing than giving his own people the very opportunity for growth.

For example: Madagascar imports cars. Is Madagascar going to build a car manufacturing plant in South Korea, because South Korea has the resources and ship the cars to Madagascar and would South Korea accept that. Definitely NO. South Korea will manufacture the cars and sell them to Madagascar. I don’t blame South Korea bacause that is the law of trade and that makes sense.

Currently, the US is the major exporter of corn to South Korea, why don’t South Korea lease a land the size of Rhode Island to South Korea? The US would reject the offer because they make a better deal exporting than giving away a large piece of land to a foreign country. South Korea just takes advantage of the vulnerability of the Malagasy economy by proposing such a deal and our President is just too dumb accept it. Our President is a businessman but does not have a sense of business at all. His sense of business is to sell Madagascar and that is his way of showing he loves Madagascar “Tiako i Madagasikara” it is to ironic.

I am so mad at the current government, it does not even think in the long term. How large the Malagasy population would be in 50 years? Probably more than 60 million. How are we going to feed our population? Probably Daewoo will sell the corn back to us at a very high price. This is 100% neo-colonization.

And I say NO to NEO-COLONIZATION.

If this deal is realized, that is the end of Madagascar as a sovereign nation. The Malagasy people will be pushed away in their own land.

Moreover, Daewoo is such a corrupt corporation, I don’t trust it at all. Anyway, how can I trust such a firm that wants to occupy another country. Shame on you Daewoo. If you want corn, we will export it to you. If we need cars you will export them to us. That is fair trade to me.

Look at this Korean excerpt:

“…And besides, the land Daewoo is acquiring is undeveloped, the new farms will provide employment, and the Madagascar government will be taking a 30% cut of the farm profits in taxes.”

‘Underdeveloped’ what is that?! ‘30% cut from profit in TAXES’ that’s trash. This shows that all they want is nothing but profit, same with other Asian countries in Africa. All they want is to ‘milk’ Africa and go. No Asian country will ever lease more than 5 plots of land to an African country (that’s if they are willing to lease 3). Look at the sizes of our embassies in these countries, that will give you an idea.

I totally agree with Matt (from Olympia Washington USA), the so-called employment benefits the natives will get is BIG MACHINES and nothing more.

One thing we Africans should understand is that these Asian countries creeping into Africa are not here to help us but to deplete the little resources we have left (through PIRACY and NEO-COLONIALISM). All they want is to really make us beg. They want to colonize us again. We have been through a lot in history, we suffered under colonization, Madagascar case is nothing but neo-colonialism and piracy. We CANNOT go through it again.

It’s time to SAY NO TO PIRACY & NEO-COLONIZATION!

I live just outside of Olympia Washington USA (70 miles south of Seattle) and besides my job as a computer specialist my wife and I have a tiny farm. We grew all of our crops by hand, meaning very little machinery. Our Organic practice is much closer to how most Malagasy farm than most American or big Agribusiness farmers.

I have seen American farms where as far as you can see the land is tilled, fertilized, planted, pesticide, herbicide, fungicide, watered, weeded, and harvested by machines. Corn is one of the crops that can be raised by machines. These thousands of acre farms employ about 10 farmers and 50 to 200 big machines. This would be the employment benefit Big Business will be boasting about. Big farms do not make BIG profits and usually get some form of subsidy so the great taxes they boast will be none existent. Deforesting Madgascars’ fragile ecosystem to plant thousands of acres of corn will denude vast tracts of land of countless plants and animals destroying beauty and biodiversity of Madagascar!

I can only hope that if this deal goes through it will be better than we currently see. Hopefully the Malagasy leadership will be wise and make sure their people are protected and lent a hand from this deal, not bearing it on their backs so big business can make big profits.

Can we get a letter campaign going to the Malagasy government expressing concern and have it signed by people from around the world? It is a very common practice used in the USA to get tens of thousands of signatures to send to congress over hot issues.

Can we do that here? Draft a letter, e-sign it and send it to the UN and President of Madagascar.