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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Wed Nov 24 2010 - 08:45:23 EST
What Is Not Known by the Current Ethiopian so called Government
http://ecadforum.com/ethiopian-news/534
Wednesday, November 24th, 2010
Recently, after 18 years of absenteeism, I travelled to Ethiopia and while I
was there, I went to visit my birth village of Pinyudo. Pinyudo is a remote
village located at about 105 Kilo Meters (66 miles) from Gambella town. Due
to poor conditions of the road, it took me 2 hours to get there by a car.
The whole 2 hours journey was in the middle of huge farms. When I left my
village some 29 years ago, the farms between the Village of Pinyudo and
Gambella town were owned by Anyuaks (Anywaa), my own people. In fact, before
what we call Ethiopia today became a state and forced itself upon the
Anyuaks, the Anyuak farmers were already there farming their God given
land. Now, when I travelled to my birth village from Gambella town, the
farms between were owned by several global food companies including Karuturi
Global of India and the Saudi Star own by Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Ali Al
Amoudi. These companies acquired 99 years lease from the Ethiopian
government.
What the government did not know is that one cannot eradicate poverty by
leasing farmland to huge global food companies. These global food companies
are arguably the greatest generators of poverty, and consequently social and
political instability in the world today. In the past fifty years, prices
for agricultural commodity have fallen sharply, making cheap food readily
accessible for rich countries and simultaneously making living incomes
increasingly inaccessible in poor food-producing countries.
In 2002, Oxfam reported that the fallen prices for coffee have created
crisis for more than 25 million coffee producers around the world including
Ethiopians. Today, Ethiopian farmers sell their coffee beans for much less
than they cost to produce. This exemplifies the harsh reality of global
food markets for more than a billion people in agriculture worldwide.
Leasing farming land to these multinational food companies (Karuturi Global,
Saudi Star, and so on -) by Ethiopian government will not make lives any
better for indigenous people and for millions of Ethiopian farmers. These
multinational food companies have basic business model that is driven by
investing in technology to boost productivity-resulting in continually
declining prices and continually increasing production. Unfortunately, this
business model, though it takes little heed of social and ecological
realities, goes unquestioned by unsophisticated leadership in Addis Ababa.
According to the economic theory of commodity industries, rising production
and falling prices continue until profits are so low that investment capital
moves elsewhere. The Karuturi Global, the Saudi Star, and the likes are
bound to move somewhere else, once they deplete the long-term fertility of
the soil. However, poor farmers do not have this option. In fact, poor
farmers typically keep trying to expand production even when costs exceed
prices in desperate attempts to maintain their incomes and stay on their
land.
I was puzzled by a statement given by Meles Zenawi when asked what was the
benefit for indigenous people of Gambella from the leased farmland produce.
Meles stated that these multinational food companies are not here for
charity reasons, they are here for profit and as long as the federal
government gets the hard currency from these companies, they are free to
sell their produce wherever they want. This is a very careless statement
from a leader of a country whose job was to look out for the best interest
of his people.
Ethiopians do not need multinational food companies to improve their
livelihood. They do not need to be exploited by these companies. What they
need is for their government to teach and subsidize the farmers and
transform them from subsistence to mechanized formers, not to invit
multinational food companies whose basic model is driven by profit. I call
on all Ethiopians to voice their opposition to this madness, farmland
giveaway, by the current government.
Dr. Magn Nyang can be reached by writing to: magnnyang@yahoo.com