many loose their farms (due to forced relocations
OK, there's a potential reason. But who's forcing them? The foreign company? The government under pressure from the foreign company?
a, b, sometimes both, sometimes neither.
Personal choice. Maybe even for the better, if not, too bad.
Buyouts are not always voluntary. For a while, in Uganda (while I was there) buyouts were often structured as "we (company X) have bought your debt from the bank. Pay it off today, or give us your land".
inability to compete with corporate farms,
No need to compete if you're self sufficient.
Unless, of course, you want to purchase something made from another farm, or buy any sort of goods. Even in primitive agrarian societies trade existed - an inability to compete with corporate farms removes even that.
Again, who's forcing them to move?
Depends on the strength of the government.
It sounds to me like foreign companies building factories and offering to hire local workers is not the problem at all. What's really the problem is somebody - maybe those companies, maybe the government, maybe someone else - is taking people's land.
You're good at looking at one small part of the problem, rather than the whole. We're not talking just about farmland, but rather the effects LMC's have on the industrialization of 3rd world nations. These nations will industrialize no matter who is involved - most of them actively try to promote industrialization. So no matter what, people will move from farms to cities - maybe because they are seeking work, or maybe because they were forced to, or maybe because their farms are rendered redundant/uncompetitive. But no matter what, this is the inevitable effect of industrialization.
So the issue isn't that they are moving - its what happens after.
LMC's often pay less than a subsistence wage in 3rd world countries. Its the very reason many operate there - weak and corruptible governments, few/no labor laws, all-but-free employees. LMC involvement has also associated with failures to develop local industries, for as local "mom & pop" type operations cannot compete with a LMC.
This is a old and well understood problem. I'd recommend reading up on the post-1960's industrialization of nations like Brazil, that managed to break the stranglehold LMC's had on their economy. It both clearly illustrates the damage these types of corporations can do, and ways this can be avoided. I had a good book on this (circa early 2000's) - I'll see if its still kicking around my library and post the title/author for you.
Bryan
