An internal document recently posted on IRRI's website reveals that the Institute has been advising Saudi Arabia in the context of its strategy to acquire farm land overseas for its own food production.
In June 2009, the Indian company Karuturi took up intensive farming in Ethiopia. The harvest will be exported to Asia and Europe.
Indiens et Saoudiens sont sur le point d’effectuer leur première récolte sur sol éthiopien. Le pays a prévu de céder 2,7 millions d’hectares aux étrangers.
Le gouvernement éthiopien mettra 2,7 millions d’hectares à disposition des investisseurs étrangers, 1,6 million d’ici à octobre, à des conditions privilégiées. Enquête excellente de l'Hebdo en Ethiopie et au Madagascar.
Land buying firms no longer disclose their identities to avoid tarnishing their image
"Jamais deux sans trois", dit-on. L'adage se vérifie avec la concession du Malawi, après l'Ethiopie, de quelques 55 000 ha de terres agricoles en faveur de Djibouti.
Ginbot 7 unequivocally believes that Ethiopian sovereignty trumps contractual obligations.
Ethiopia is on the defensive over a plan to offer 2.7 million hectares of land to foreign, mainly Asian, companies despite millions crying out for food aid from the international community.
Ethiopian government has defended its plan to offer 2.7 million hectares of farmland to foreign companies despite millions of citizens who need food aid from the international community.
The terms of farmland deals are hardly made public. Although a theoretical possibility exists in a few cases for some transfer of technology for agricultural development, risk also exists to peasant farmers who cannot compete with well-resourced commercial farms. Take, for instance, the case of barley and oilseeds producers in Ethiopia.
The consensus is that Africa is being out-gunned. While regulations & rules are debated, the amount of land being bought up by foreign investors is increasing at a rapacious speed.
Emami Biotech's project has already begun at Awash Sebat Kilo some 250 km east of the capital Addis Ababa growing Jatropha, sunflower, castor, pulses and various herbs at a cost of $24 million.
