In addition, land is also becoming an asset that offers portfolio diversification for international investors, such as large pension funds and financial institutions (Earth Security Initiative, 2012). In countries like Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique and the Sudan, this development has raised widespread concerns over forced evictions, social vulnerability and dwindling water resources (Earth Security Initiative, 2012). Pearce (2012) found that in countries selling (or leasing) large extensions of land, in the largest majority of cases, local communities lose access to forests, pastures and water resources, with no major gains in employment, owing to the use of capital-intensive technology in large farms. Countries such as Argentina and Brazil have already erected legal barriers in relation to the amount of farmland that can be owned by foreigners (Earth Security Initiative, 2012).