While there is little evidence of significant recent changes in agrarian structure in land scarce countries (Lipton 2009), many land-abundant countries are characterized by rising investment in large-scale farming based on a nonfamily corporate model, a trend that can but need not be accompanied by growing concentration of land ownership (Deininger et al. 2011, UNCTAD 2009). Table 1 provides characteristics of a sample of very large farming operations in land abundant countries or regions within countries. 1 The largest operations, most of them in developing or transition countries, share some characteristics. With operational units that often exceed 10,000 ha, they.
