The following analytical framework (the “Framework”) is designed to assist investors in aligning their policies and actions with global and continental guidelines on responsible land-based investments, most notably the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (VGGT) and the Guiding Principles on Large Scale Land Based Investments in Africa (LSLBI). This Framework derives from a commitment made by the New Alliance and Grow Africa Leadership Council in 2014 to develop a harmonized set of operational guidelines for implementing land-based agricultural investments, building upon and harmonizing the efforts of several donors.

Many investors do not have the technical capacity to operationalize these international instruments, and this Framework offers them a due diligence and risk management resource to apply to their land-based agricultural investments. It is an effort to provide advice and highlight best practices related to structuring investments in the most responsible way possible.

The Framework includes red lines that indicate in which situations investment projects should be cancelled if no benign alternatives can be found. The Framework also clearly rejects the transfer of land rights to investors involving tracts of land that exceed the amount reasonably required for the true purpose of immediately using the land for agricultural activities.