The 2007/08 commodity price boom triggered a ‘rush’ for land in developing countries. Yet, many affected countries lacked the regulatory infrastructure to cope with such demand and reliable data on investors’ performance. This study uses the example of Ethiopia to show how simple improvements in administrative data collection can help to address this by (i) allowing assessment of the productivity of land use and taking measures to increase it; (ii) comparing productivity between large and small farms to identify spillovers and ways to improve these; and (iii) setting in motion a process of continuing improvement. Implications for global investment in this area are drawn out.