Ethiopia Govt Sells Off Land While People Starve

Ethiopia:
Govt Sells Off Arable Land While People
Starve

03 December, 2011 | Emmanuel Mayah
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Observers can hardly come to terms with glaring contradictions in
Ethiopia's policies that allow it to export food while its people go
hungry. The country has suffered numerous harsh droughts and
famines in recent decades and reportedly needs to increase its
agricultural output by 70 percent in order to feed its population, yet
it is busy selling off its prime arable land to foreign countries.

To escape their own climate change challenges, rich countries like
Saudi Arabia faced with water shortages, have acquired swathes of
choice agricultural land in Ethiopia to grow crops which at harvest
time are flown back to their respective countries.

Melaku Tadesse, National Coordinator of the Climate Change Unit
at Ethiopia's Ministry of Agriculture, said the policy is not a land
grab but preferred to use the term land commercialisation. He said
there is enough arable land to go round. However, Prof. Karanja
Njoroge of Green Belt Movement denounced the system, saying
Africans have no business growing food for others when Africa
imports food to feed itself.

Tadesse says Ethiopia is on the path to building a climate-resilient
green economy. With rain not coming on time anymore,
partnerships have included assistance to small-scale farmers and
pastoralists in adopting a variety of mitigation mechanisms. In a
growing number of communities, farmers are shifting to more
drought tolerant crops and varieties, improved forest management
practices, diversified energy sources, and alternative means of
income from off-farm activities. Similarly, pastoralists have also
divided pasture into wet and dry season grazing areas to better
manage risk, while others have changed the composition of their
herds from cattle to camels and goats, which can better tolerate dry,
hot weather.

Almost 30 years after the popular Live Aid Concert was staged to
save famine victims in Ethiopia, the country is leaning on emerging
economies to avert future environmental catastrophes, especially
those posed by climate change.

Red flags have been flying for many years about the increasing
poverty and vulnerability in Ethiopia caused by variability in climate
with small-scale farmers and pastoralists bearing the brunt of water
scarcity and food insecurity. But preferring to see its cup as half-full,
Ethiopia has said it is winning the battle with the help of emerging
countries in combating climate risks especially in forestry-agriculture
through South-South cooperation.

South-South cooperation is a term employed by policymakers and
academics to describe the exchange of resources, technology and
knowledge between developing countries. It is credited some
significant successes that have been achieved in reducing
dependence on aid programs of developed countries and even more
significantly, in creating a shift in the international balance of power.

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