ABSTRACT
Swedish agriculture is dominated by individual land ownership, a structure that is positive for individuals’ access to the basic prerequisite to produce food (i.e. agricultural land). Based on arguments of food sovereignty, the Swedish Land Acquisition Act was introduced in 1979 to keep this structure intact and balance the groups with the right to own land.
As in many countries, the agricultural sector in Sweden is perceived as having problems with growth and access to capital. Solutions to the perceived problem of lack of finance in the agricultural sector, proposed in a report following a state investigation in 2015, included a fundamental alteration to the Swedish Land Acquisition Act. The report stated that, in order for the Swedish agricultural sector to increase its access to capital, the ownership of agricultural land would need to change. The proposed change aims at increasing the possibilities for private corporations to possess agricultural land. However, the report does not explicitly discuss who would gain from such policy changes and the possible negative effects for existing farmers.
In this chapter, insights from research on rights to land and financialization in other geographical contexts are employed to investigate the suggested policy changes. By analysing empirical data obtained in Swedish state documents, direct encounters with practising farmers, and scrutiny of contributions in the media, the motives behind the policy change and responses by practising farmers are exposed. The results indicate that financial logic dominates the proposed policy changes, and that increased financial investment in farmland comes with potential negative effects and risks. It is concluded that changing the Swedish Land Acquisition Act to allow private corporations to possess agricultural land would fail to resolve underlying problems of farm succession, farm access to capital and, ultimately, food security.
