Box 1.Selected international and regional norms, standards, principles, and legal guides relevant to responsible investment in agriculture
- African Union Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa (2011)
- United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework (2011).
- Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (2012)
- International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability (2012)
- African Union Guiding Principles on Large Scale Land Based Investments (2014)
- Committee on World Food Security Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (2014)
- United Nations Principles for Responsible Contracts Integrating the Management of Human Rights Risks into State–Investor Contract Negotiations – Guidance for Negotiators (2015)
- Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Guidelines for Promoting Responsible Investment in Food, Agriculture and Forestry (2018)
- International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Legal Guide on Agricultural Land Investment Contracts (2021)
Box 2.Selected key publications providing guidance on responsible investment contracts
- MMDA 1.0: Model Mine Development Agreement (2011), published by the International Bar Association
- The IISD Guide to Negotiating Investment Contracts for Farmland and Water (2014), by Carin Smaller, with contributions from Howard Mann, Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder, Matthew McCandless, and Jo-Ellen Parry, published by IISD.
- Foreign Investment, Law and Sustainable Development: A handbook on agriculture and extractive industries (2016), by Lorenzo Cotula, published by the International Institute for Environment and Development.
- Guide to Land Contracts: Agricultural projects (2016), published by the International Senior Lawyers Project (ISLP) & Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI)
- Community-Investor Negotiation Guides (2018), by Sam Szoke-Burke, Rachael Knight, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, and Tehtena Mebratu-Tsegaye, with Marena Brinkhurst, published by CCSI and Namati.
- Environmental, Social and Economic Development Provisions in Investment Contracts: A Resource for Government Lawyers in the Commonwealth (2021) by Motoko Aizawa and Howard Mann, published by the Commonwealth Secretariat.
In 2023, as global food systems near breaking point, responsible investment in agriculture is more important than ever. Comprehensive and well-enforced domestic laws remain the best way to govern large-scale investments in agriculture. Despite this, long-term investor–state contracts continue to have a role to play.
The IISD Model Contract Clauses for Responsible Investment in Agriculture (the IISD Model Clauses) build on and update the IISD Guide to Negotiating Investment Contracts for Farmland and Water (IISD, 2014). Since 2014, governments and communities in low- and middle-income countries have benefited from a growing body of international and regional guidance on how to ensure responsible, equitable, and sustainable investment contracts, including for land-based agricultural investment (see Box 3). This guidance is underpinned by an expanding ecosystem of international and regional norms, standards, and principles on responsible investment in agriculture and food systems (see Box 2).
The IISD Model Clauses aim to distill this body of guidance and principles into a set of user-friendly, customizable contract provisions. When put into use, the IISD Model Clauses can complement national laws, manage project-specific issues, and give legal effect to international and regional norms, standards, best practices, and principles.
The IISD Model Clauses are gender and climate mainstreamed, with cross-cutting provisions designed to reinforce gender equity and to promote a just and equitable transition toward more climate-resilient production practices.
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