Sowing discontent: Foreign land acquisitions and satisfaction with democracy in Africa

초록

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in agriculture-particularly through large-scale land acquisitions-has become increasingly common across Africa. While existing studies have focused on the economic and environmental implications of these investments, their political effects remain underexplored. This study investigates how foreign land acquisitions shape citizens' satisfaction with democracy in African democracies. By integrating spatial data from the Land Matrix with geo-referenced Afrobarometer survey responses (2002-2018), this study employs a difference-in-differences design to identify the causal impact of proximity to operational land deals. The findings suggest that foreign land acquisitions reduce democratic satisfaction through instrumental and intrinsic pathways. However, when local communities are meaningfully consulted, these negative effects are significantly mitigated. The results underscore that substantive consultation with local communities is a prerequisite for aligning foreign investment with sustainable development and inclusive growth, thereby offering new insights into how land-based FDI shapes democratic legitimacy in developing countries.

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