How 'land-grabbing' is wrecking lives
18 March, 2011 | The Guardian
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What happens when you are forced to leave the land that has fed
your family for generations? What is the impact of wealthy
foreigners having access to the best agricultural land in a very poor
country? These questions will be addressed in Land Ownership in
Ethiopia, the second Guardian film to be shown on the special
website, produced in association with Christian Aid.
Ethiopia is one of the most malnourished countries in the world, with
more than 13 million people needing food aid. Now its government
is offering to lease at least 3m hectares of the most fertile land in the
Gambella region to rich countries and individuals. They will use this
land to grow and export food, and other goods, for their own
populations.
Since 2007, Ethiopia has approved 815 foreign-financed
agricultural projects. Any land in Gambella that investors have not
been able to buy is being leased for about US$1 a hectare a year.
The Ethiopian government is urging investors to grow high-value
crops, such as soya beans and palm oil, that will generate revenue
for food aid, rather than cereals, which would provide food to eat.
These foreign investors include international agri-businesses and UK
pension funds, with high rates of return predicted.
Gambella has become one of world's biggest testing grounds for this
growing phenomenon of "land-grabbing". Land has already been
cleared of the forests that cover much of this region. Several
hundred people living in the area's villages have been told they will
have to leave their ancestral land so that it can be leased for
agricultural projects. Most villagers are refusing to cooperate. The
government is threatening to resettle them by force.
So what will be the long-term impact on the people of the Gambella
region? How can their future security be assured? And what
happens if, as predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, food production in Africa halves over the next 10 years?
To find out more, watch the film here from Monday 21 March
at guardian.co.uk/poverty-over.
Courtesy
18 March, 2011 | The Guardian
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What happens when you are forced to leave the land that has fed
your family for generations? What is the impact of wealthy
foreigners having access to the best agricultural land in a very poor
country? These questions will be addressed in Land Ownership in
Ethiopia, the second Guardian film to be shown on the special
website, produced in association with Christian Aid.
Ethiopia is one of the most malnourished countries in the world, with
more than 13 million people needing food aid. Now its government
is offering to lease at least 3m hectares of the most fertile land in the
Gambella region to rich countries and individuals. They will use this
land to grow and export food, and other goods, for their own
populations.
Since 2007, Ethiopia has approved 815 foreign-financed
agricultural projects. Any land in Gambella that investors have not
been able to buy is being leased for about US$1 a hectare a year.
The Ethiopian government is urging investors to grow high-value
crops, such as soya beans and palm oil, that will generate revenue
for food aid, rather than cereals, which would provide food to eat.
These foreign investors include international agri-businesses and UK
pension funds, with high rates of return predicted.
Gambella has become one of world's biggest testing grounds for this
growing phenomenon of "land-grabbing". Land has already been
cleared of the forests that cover much of this region. Several
hundred people living in the area's villages have been told they will
have to leave their ancestral land so that it can be leased for
agricultural projects. Most villagers are refusing to cooperate. The
government is threatening to resettle them by force.
So what will be the long-term impact on the people of the Gambella
region? How can their future security be assured? And what
happens if, as predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, food production in Africa halves over the next 10 years?
To find out more, watch the film here from Monday 21 March
at guardian.co.uk/poverty-over.
Courtesy
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| Ethiopia's government is offering to lease at least 3m hectares of the most fertile land in the Gambella region to rich countries and individuals. Photograph: Christian Aid / Glyn Riley |
