From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sun Jun 28 2009 - 14:30:49 EDT
India joins 'neocolonial' rush for Africa's land and labour
India, once the colonial jewel of Britain's empire, has been accused of
'neo-colonialism' in Africa where its business people have joined a race
with China, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere to buy up agricultural estates and
take advantage of cheap labour.
By Dean Nelson in New Delhi
Published: 1:46PM BST 28 Jun 2009
Indian farming companies have bought hundreds of thousands of hectares in
Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Senegal and Mozambique, where they are growing
rice, sugar cane, maize and lentils for their own domestic market back in
India.
Its government has given soft loans as aid to support the overseas ventures
in what has been described as a challenge to China and Saudi Arabia in the
new scramble for Africa. China, South Korea, and a several Arab countries
have led the way in creating new African mega-farms to outsource domestic
food production and use cheaper labour.
Critics have described the development as modern "piracy" and "land
grabbing" from countries that have in the past been blighted by famine and
severe food shortages.
South Korea has bought just under 700,000 hectares in Sudan, while Saudi
Arabia has signed a deal for 500,000 hectares in Tanzania.
India is now catching up fast with its government offering financial
incentives for companies to produce food in Ethiopia and other African
countries. Pulses, cooking oils and maize are in short supply in India.
More than 80 Indian companies have invested an estimated £1.5 billion in
buying huge plantations in Ethiopia. The largest among them is Karuturi
Global, one of the world's largest producers of cut roses. It has signed
deals for just under 350,000 hectares to create what it claims is the
world's largest agricultural land-bank. The Bangalore-based company, which
has also bought farm land in Kenya, is growing sugar cane, palm oil, rice
and vegetables.
Indian farming is dominated by small, family-run holdings, bullock cart
transport, and legions of middlemen. The slow, cumbersome system is cited as
the main reason why a large proportion of Indian produce rots before it ever
reaches the market – the annual loss is valued at up to £6 billion.
So Indian companies see in Africa the possibility to build more efficient
and far larger agricultural operations. This is an separate motivation from
that of many Arab countries that buy African land to produce food that their
homelands cannot.
Raju Poosapati, Vice President of India's Yes Bank, which advises investors
in Africa, said a government ban on non-Basmati rice exports had driven
Indian companies to grow it in Africa to sell overseas. Indians are now
eating more meat and that has led many companies to grow maize animal feed
in Africa as there are no government incentives for Indian farmers to grow
it at home.
Sharad Pawar, India's agriculture minister, rejected claims that the
government supported a new colonisation of African farmland. "Some companies
are interested in buying agricultural land for sugar cane and then selling
it on the international markets. It's business, nothing more," he told The
Daily Telegraph.
Government documents meanwhile show the details of official support, and
just of under £500 million in soft loans to encourage African countries to
export food to India. New Delhi has also cut import duties for food produced
in Ethiopia.
A report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said more than 2.5
hectares of African land had been bought by foreign companies since 2004 and
voiced concerns that poor villagers might be ousted to make way for
investments. It also said it feared some of the deals may be open to
corruption.
Devinder Sharma of India's Forum for Biotechnology and Food Security said
the companies buying up land to export food from Africa were "food pirates"
and compared them with the English companies that shipped food from Ireland
during the 19th century potato famine.
"There are 80 Indian companies trying to get land in Ethiopia, and it's all
to be imported back to India. The government of India has been encouraging
them," he said, and warned of danger if famine returned to Africa.
"If food is being shipped out and poor people are dying, what will happen?
There would be riots," he said.
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