Above: Governments across Africa are leasing land to foreign
investors who use it to grow food to compensate for their own
deficit. Officials in Ethiopia hope that the investment can help
improve agriculture, replacing ox-and-plough with tractors, but
some are concerned about whether the deals benefit the lessors.
(Miguel Juarez for The Washington Post)
Video: Ethiopia’s farmland in high demand (The Washington Post)
This is not a solution at all. Teach a man how to fish, instead of giving him fish. Hope you understand what I am saying.
I think it’s a good idea! We haven’t done things with the land until now, this could be the one thing that will help us from going hungry. Our government is doing everything it can to help it’s people. God bless Ethiopia!!!
Pleeez Doro wot. Can you point even to one thing?
I am not a critic of everything the government is doing or does or will do in the future. But, let us pose for a moment and think about what is just reported. The government is giving land to foreign investors to produce in Ethiopian land and send it to their country. Like Saudi’s cereals. the beneficiaries are Sandi’s, the government and the job created for the ordinary people. Where is that leave the farmer? He or she lost their land because they are not mechanized? their produce has to be sold per ECX’s price tag…which is not the market value.
We are pimping out everything that land offers. The gold to the billionaire, the educated to western countries, the land for foreign investors. Our sisters to middle east and our reporters to jail.
when this going to stop?
I wonder…
Begudu
Good point Begudu, and I also support Genenew’s point. Teach them how to fish for them self instead giving hand out all the time.
Land must be given to foreign companies under strict regulations where companies are required to grow organic only and be prohibited from using harmful pesticides, insecticides and fertilizers. In addition, the companies need to allocate a certain percentage of the farm products that they produce to be sold for the local consumers instead of all exports.
350.
Our farmers had been given a chance of owning a farm land and producing farm products. For centuries they didn’t make any progress, rather their production declined from time to time to the point where they can’t feed their families. I think it is a good idea to try another alternative.
Here are some advantages of leasing the farm land:
1. It will open a door for better job opportunity. The farmers could be hired and improve their life style.
2. If there is surplus of such farm product in the foreign country like Saudi Arabia, these investors will be forced by the market to sale their products in local market.
3. The introduction of such big farms and huge agro industry could motivate the indigenous investors to invest in agro industry area. The growth of such investment might lead us to sustainable food security.