Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2014 20:20:18 +0200
Land grabbing in Ethiopia - foreign investors and famine
21.04.2014
Although one in 10 Ethiopians is going hungry, the government is leasing
fertile land to foreign investors. Deutsche Welle spoke with Essayas Kebede
from the Ethiopian government about so-called land grabbing.
Countries in Asia and the Gulf - such as China, India and Saudi Arabia -
have rushed to foreign countries to buy farmland to grow crops for their own
people. Food price inflation in recent years has highlighted the need for
greater food security.
Africa has become a prime target, despite concerns about the impact on the
world's poorest people. Locals have nicknamed the practice "land grabbing."
Essayas Kebede is the director of the Ethiopian government's Agricultural
Investment Agency and is responsible for the contractual agreements with
foreign investors regarding Ethiopian farmland.
Deutsche Welle: Mr. Essayas, Ethiopia is experiencing a severe famine right
now. Despite this, you have been tasked by the government to lease huge
swaths of land to foreign companies. Critics have called this irresponsible.
Are you acting in bad faith?
Essayas Kebede: Agriculture is the backbone of the Ethiopian economy.
Fifteen million hectares of land are being worked by farmers and another 15
million are lying fallow. The Ethiopian government's five-year development
plan aims to increase the productivity of subsistence farmers, which is why
we've turned our attention to commercial agriculture operations that can
help our farmers increase their revenues.
Of the 15 million hectares of fallow land that I mentioned, we identified
3.6 million that are suitable for commercial farming. But for that we need
investors. They can come from Ethiopia or from abroad, it doesn't matter to
us, but we urgently need capital and modern technology to increase our
agricultural sector output. That way we can boost our foreign currency
stocks and create jobs.
Deutsche Welle: Are you saying that this policy can help solve Ethiopia's
hunger problems?
Essayas Kebede: We have to increase productivity, but we also have to
increase the buying power of our people. It's the only way they are going to
be able to afford food. The sale of goods produced on large farms will bring
in desperately needed foreign currency, with which we can introduce modern
production methods.
Deutsche Welle: Ethiopian farmers are not allowed to own land, rather they
lease it. Wouldn't it be better to make life easier for them with
microcredits, improved market access and roads than accommodating investors
from India and China?
Essayas Kebede: We are in the process now of regulating land ownership
questions and have already granted the first land titles. Regarding
infrastructure, the government has paved many kilometers of roads and built
new ones. We have established government offices that support local farmers.
A full 85 percent of our population work as small farmers in rural areas and
if we really want to stimulate the economy of our country, we have to
improve the conditions our farmers live and work under. The foreign
companies bring technology that helps our own farmers. Investors build
bridges, schools and hospitals, and people here benefit from those.
Deutsche Welle: There are rumors that the Indian Karuturi Global company has
leased the Gambella farm in the west of the country, which has 300,000
hectares of land, in order to push up its stock price on the Mumbai stock
exchange. However, most of the farm is still lying fallow. Where is the
technology you were talking about, as well as the schools, hospitals and all
the jobs?
Essayas Kebede: We signed an agreement with Karuturi and they are working on
it. Developing farmland doesn't happen overnight. We want to help investors
have successful relationships with us.
Deutsche Welle: But the success doesn't seem to be happening. You have
already threatened to take back 200,000 hectares if there is no significant
progress within two years. Something has obviously gone wrong. How much time
does Karuturi have?
Essayas Kebede: When the time comes, we will sit down together. The clearing
of vegetation takes time and right now, we can't really judge Karuturi's
performance. He has two years to cultivate the first 100,000 hectares and
then one year for an additional 50,000.
Deutsche Welle: Karuturi spokesman Birinder Singh call the land deal a
"win-win" situation
To increase the food supply in the country, at least part of the harvest has
to be sold on the local market. Was that a stipulation in the contracts with
the big multinationals?
Essayas Kebede: It's not our task to take revenue away from investors. As I
said, we want to increase the purchasing power of our people so that they
can afford to buy corn from Karuturi. If the investors can get a good price
here in this country, they will sell here.
Deutsche Welle: Four decades after Ethiopia's first famine, your country is
suffering again. Has the government done enough to try to break this vicious
circle of hunger and poverty?
Essayas Kebede: There are 1.2 billion people suffering from hunger around
the world. It's a growing, global problem and we are part of a globalized
world. If it rains less in Europe, we feel it here. You see, in the 70s we
had a population of 25 million, today it's 80 million. So hunger is not as
widespread as it was then and today our food reserves are higher. In the
70s, the government didn't have the situation under control. The current
administration, however, knows what it's doing. In fact, the chances are
good that Ethiopia will be able to contribute to the global food supply in
the future. We have enough land.
Interviewer: Ludger Schadomsky (jam)
Editor: Rob Mudge
Indian investors clearing Ethiopian land
The Indian investors clear Ethiopian land, but who profits?
The Gambella farm in Ethiopia
The Gambella farm is the size of Luxemburg
farmers working land in Ethiopia
Farmers cannot own land in Ethiopia, they must least it
(image/jpeg attachment: image002.jpg)
(image/jpeg attachment: image004.jpg)
(image/jpeg attachment: image006.jpg)