The present work (March 2009) is part of the ILC Collaborative Research Project on Commercial Pressures on Land scoping study for which AGTER was contracted on behalf of ILC members. It aims at contributing to a better understanding of a key issue for humankind as a whole and family farmers worldwide, beyond polemic. It helps highlighting involved mechanisms and points out what is new and what is specific. This reflection has been built thanks to numerous contributions of AGTER’s network and ILC members. It also benefited from intellectual support from the French Cooperation Land Committee. The document is also available in French.