Developing a Scorecard for private business investors in land and agriculture in Asia* By Roel R. Ravanera, Xavier Science Foundation (XSF) and Denise Hyacinth Joy Musni, ANGOC Rationale Increasing investments across Asia and their impacts on rural communities T he Global Land Rush during the 2008 financial crisis propelled the rise of large-scale land acquisitions and cross-border land investments in Asia due to international demand for the production of cheaper commodities. Several years since, the rush persists. Public investments on agriculture in Asia have declined in the last two decades as demand for affordable food continues to grow. Furthermore, the biofuel industry has been growing. Governments are encouraging decreased consumption of fossil fuels and greater use of agrofuels as an alternative source. This scenario made agricultural land in Asia attractive prospects for foreign investors. To fill the gap that decreased public investments created, governments have been easing regulations and encouraging foreign direct investments (FDI) (Ravanera and Gorra, 2011). Commercial pressures on land do not manifest solely in the rise of plantations. Over the past decades, lands have also been utilized and developed by private investors as well as governments for infrastructure, tourism, special economic zones (SEZs), human settlements, and mining. Many of these investments involved the conversion of agricultural lands into other purposes. * ANGOC acknowledges the organizations that were involved in the development of this scorecard: Bangladesh: ALRD, ARBAN, CDA; Cambodia: STAR Kampuchea; India: Ekta Parishad, SDF; Indonesia: KPA; Nepal: CSRC; Philippines: AR Now!, CARRD, Kaisahan, NFR, PAFID, PAKISAMA, PhilDHRRA, TFM, We Effect, XSF; and the various NES Platforms. ANGOC also extends its appreciation to the communities that provided inputs in the initial pilot-testing of this tool. Citation: Ravanera, R. and Musni, D. (2018). Developing a Scorecard for private business investors in land and agriculture in Asia. In ANGOC (Ed.) Upholding Land Rights Amidst the Land Rush: A situationer on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in selected countries in Asia (pp. 82-98). Quezon City: ANGOC. 82 Upholding Land Rights amidst the Land Rush