Bargain prices on Ethiopia's prime farmland! Who's down for some land grabbing?! Anybody?

Ethiopia is forcibly relocating 70,000 people from Gambella to make fertile land available for foreign investment in agriculture--aggravating current hunger while laying the groundwork for future famine in Ethiopia

Large-scale land investment should be seen as an extension of the historical processes of state formation, says this paper from Chatham House

AGCO Corp. held its first Africa agriculture summit in Berlin on Jan. 23. The tractor company says it will fund the development of Model Farms and Training Centers in Algeria, Ethiopia, Libya, Morocco, South Africa and Zambia to teach farmers how to use its technology.

Saudi Star has begun rice cultivation on 10,000ha of land in Gambella and a 10,000ha irrigation project along the already-compromised Alwero River. Only grain that does not meet export requirements will be sold locally.

“There is no villagization programme,” Sai Ramakrishna Karuturi, founder of Karuturi Global, told Mint via telephone. “This is a completely jaundiced western vision. They assume anything in Africa has to be done by the whites and the Chinese and Indians should have businesses only in their own countries.”

Ethiopia has forced at least 70,000 people off their land so it can lease fertile fields to foreign investors, a move that has left some locals starving in barren, remote villages.

BBC radio investigates report by Human Rights Watch that claims Britain is indirectly funding a brutally enforced resettlement programme in Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian government has denied forcibly relocating tens of thousands of people off their land to make way for foreign investors.

Many of the areas from which people are being moved are slated for leasing by the Ethiopian government for commercial agricultural development, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch.

The Ethiopian ministry of agriculture is against the firm Karuturi’s plan to install thousands of Indian farmers in land it has leased in the Gambela region.

Rich soil, a tropical climate, and an abundance of water: the region of Gambela in the west of the country is fertile. Foreign investors are renting thousands of hectares of it to develop intensive agriculture without regard for the environment and the population, reports Le Monde.

Sai Ramakrishna Karuturi talks to the Times of India about his African safari.

Land has been the play-thing of centralising authoritarians throughout Ethiopia's recent history.

Channel4News Jonathan Rugman has special report from Ethiopia on the revolution in agricultural production - but small tenant farmers say they now have less food to eat than before the changes began.

The article suggests the need to render the government a custodian (and not owner) of land in conformity with the FDRE Constitution

A Saudi Arabian company has leased tens of thousands of acres in western Ethiopia to grow rice for export. The Ethiopian government says it will help provide food security for its citizens, but some who live in the region, say they’re not seeing any benefits.

Investment by Indian-owned Karuturi Global has raised questions about whether Ethiopia is literally giving away the farm, or conversely, launching a 'green revolution' to help Ethiopia feed itself.

Issue number 4/2011 of 'New Routes' by Life & Peace Institute (Uppsala)

Joining the neo-colonial bandwagon, Indian companies are taking over agricultural land in African nations and exporting produced food at the cost of locals

Domestic and foreign investors are expected to grow sugar cane and other cash crops on a large-scale in the south of Ethiopia, an area known for its numerous indigenous tribes.

In three years, 15,000ha will be covered with a sugarcane plantation in Gambela Province.

Karuturi Global is now one of the biggest private land owners in the world. They have invested over a quarter of a billion dollars in Ethiopia and Kenya alone. BBC reports.

"We are using knowledge and resources from Latin America and North America, capital from this part of the world (India) and land from Africa to make hopefully a heady cocktail,"says Sai Ramakrishna Karuturi

Oakland Institute speaks about the findings of their latest round of in-depth research into land grabs in Africa.

In the acceptance speech for the 2011 ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’, GRAIN demands an immediate end to land grabbing and a restitution of lands to local communities.

On 31 January 2012 in Dubai, 2nd Commercial Farm Africa features panel of experts and in-depth analysis on land utilization & investment policies in Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Sudan, Namibia, Ghana and Ethiopia.

Saudi Star Agricultural Development Plc, perhaps the biggest agro industry firm in Ethiopia, has added a big name to its roaster: Fikru Desalegn, former state minister for Capacity Building,

“We have finalised deals with four big agro companies in India for joint ventures for different crops that we are looking at growing – rice, maize, oil palm and sugarcane,” says Karuturi.

The 19th century had the Great Scramble for Africa, when developed nations raced for several decades to lay claim to new territories and their riches. This century may yet be known as the Great Selloff of Africa.