Ginbot 7 wants to send an unequivocal message to the land grabbers that any land deal that has not been agreed to by the Ethiopian people will not be honored by future elected governments.

Ethiopia’s strategy of leasing farmland to foreign investors is not without critics.

Until last year, people in the Ethiopian settlement of Elliah earned a living by farming their land and fishing. Now, they are employees.

A delegation of 26 Egyptian agriculture companies led by Minister of Agriculture Amin Abaza, is now inspecting land proposed by the Ethiopian government for Egyptian investment projects.

A long term land lease (25 000 ha) for cotton farming in Amhara and Benishangul Gumuz regions for a period of 50 years (renewable)

"This apparent rush to lease so much farmland, much or all of it to foreign interests, during a time of worsening food insecurity should raise concern within the donor community about GoE motivations and negotiating capacity," writes the US embassy in Addis Ababa in December 2009

Al-Amoudi's recently established Saudi Star Agricultural Development Plc requested, two weeks ago, an additional 250,000 ha of land in Ethiopia for sugar beet production.

Ethiopia's potential can be maximized only if we Ethiopians are the producers and sellers of our own agricultural products. What Meles Zenawi is doing now is putting this upside down. He made our potential buyers the sellers of our commodity.

"Leasing or giving away a huge chunk of land to foreigners, who will produce food to be shipped to their own people, and to hope that the money gained in profits will feed the local people is the height of naivete," Gathuru Mburu of ABN said

Au niveau institutionnel, le gouvernement a mis en place cette année, la Société Djiboutienne de Sécurité Alimentaire qui est chargée notamment de la mise en œuvre et la gestion des projets de sécurité alimentaire sur des milliers d'hectares de terres fertiles mis à la disposition de notre pays par l'Ethiopie, le Soudan, et le Malawi.

Official statement of the Oromo Liberation Front declaring the Oromo farmland deals between the Ethiopian government and third parties "null and void".

L’idée n’est pas nouvelle, mais elle fait son chemin depuis la tenue, les 14 et 15 novembre à Addis-Abeba, du premier forum économique entre l’Arabie saoudite et les pays d’Afrique de l’Est. Une manifestation qui a permis à Riyad de plaider sa cause et de renouveler son intérêt pour les terres agricoles de cette partie du continent.