Indigenous peoples’ autonomy: Missing in the land grab debate
(Daniel Berhane) In 2007, in his annual conference with representatives of the Ethiopian youth, drawn from all over the country, Meles was asked why the government doesn’t resettle landless youth from land-scare regions to those with vast unused farming lands, such as Gambella. Meles replied that the government decided to conduct settlements with-in a region, … Read more
Briefing: Research findings on “land grab” deals
“Land-grab” deals involving multinationals in developing countries have often been seen as detrimental to food security and the livelihoods of millions of small farmers, but a new study puts such deals into the context of agricultural investments more generally. “Yes, these deals are important, but in most countries domestic investors acquire more land than foreigners,” … Read more
Survival Int’l: Land grabs in Ethiopia leave tribes hungry
SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE Land grabs in Ethiopia leave tribes hungry on World Food day Violent land grabs in Ethiopia’s Lower Omo Valley are displacing tribes and preventing them from cultivating their land, leaving thousands of people hungry and ‘waiting to die’. As the world prepares to raise awareness of the issues behind poverty and … Read more
Ethiopia offers longer tax holidays, more land for flower growers
(By: William Davison – Bloomberg) Ethiopia, Africa’s second-biggest flower grower, is offering expanded tax breaks and more land in a drive to more than double export revenue from the crop to $530 million annually by the middle of 2015. The country, which has already attracted growers with free land, tax concessions and inexpensive labor and … Read more
Egyptian model farm in Ethiopia | The Egyptian Gazette
An Egyptian model farm is to be created in Ethiopia on an area of some 500 feddans (acres) with the potential for expansion in the regional state of Afar some 600 kilometres north of Addis Ababa. "Executive steps for creating the farm will start within a month," said Abdel-Aziz Abdel- Nabi, the Chairman of the … Read more
Land Grab: The Ethiopian land giveaway (By Graham Peebles)
Graham Peebles, director of a UK based charity, wrote an article claiming that injustices and hardships are caused to ordinary Ethiopians by the leasing of land to foreign agro-investors. He labeled the process‘a colonial phenomenon’, though he doesn’t explain the conceptual basis for using the term. More interestingly, he claims that leasing land to foreign … Read more
Ethiopia: S.Sudan detained 15 for killings in Saudi-Star farm, Gambella
The Gambella Regional State authorities have announced that fifteen people have been detained in Jonglei Region of South Sudan on suspicion of involvement in violent attacks in Gambella region earlier this year. One attack was on a bus en route to Gambella Technical College in March when 20 students lost their lives. The other was … Read more
Interview| Meles Zenawi: I’ll probably teach at the leadership academy
A certain man named Richard Dowden, Director of the Royal African Society, apparently met Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi this month during the World Economic Forum meetings in Addis Ababa. He published ‘a selection of quotes from the interview’ this week. The interview, albeit very brief, covers a range of issues. However, based on Mr. … Read more
Ethiopia: Official discloses New data on Leased Farmlands
An official from the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture disclosed new figures on the size and utilization of the agricultural land leased as well as the harvest and jobs from. It is to be recalled that the Ministry disclosed last year 24 contract documents concluded with Ethiopians and Foreigners for the leasing of 350,099 Hectare (865,095 … Read more
Ethiopian, Pakistani farmworkers killed near Saudi-Star farm
Unidentified gunmen killed five and wounded eight nearby Saudi-Star’s farm in Gambella region, western Ethiopia, on Saturday. (Saudi-star is owned by the Ethiopian-born billionaire Mohammed Al-Amoudi.) The state-owned Ethiopian News Agency reported the incident as follows: Five people were killed including a Pakistani national and eight others suffered injuries in an armed attack that occurred … Read more
