By Duncan Bartlett
Business reporter, BBC World Service
A new report from the US-based Oakland Institute says that
in 2009 alone, foreign investors bought or leased nearly 60 million hectares of
land in Africa - an area about the size of France.
Hailemariam Desalegn, the deputy prime minister and minister
of foreign affairs, told the BBC the arrangement was an advantage to Ethiopia.
But critics say the process amounts to a series of
"land grabs" that deprive Africa of its own natural resources.
Benefits debated
In Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and China are planning to grow
more than one million tonnes of rice in Ethiopia and take it back to their own
countries.
They are doing deals with the government to acquire large
tracts of Ethiopian land, particularly in the western region of Gambella.
The government argues that most of the land is not currently
being used effectively and this foreign investment will benefit local
communities.
Not everyone agrees.
An Ethiopian who is familiar with the region told the BBC
that local people used the land for agriculture, hunting and for gathering
fruit in times of famine.
He claimed that people had been bribed by foreign companies
to leave their villages, although he was unable to offer evidence of this.
'Big country'
In the past few years, massive amounts of land in Africa
have been bought by foreign organisations.
A new report from the US-based Oakland Institute says that
in 2009 alone, foreign investors bought or leased nearly 60 million hectares of
land in Africa - an area about the size of France.
Hailemariam Desalegn, the deputy prime minister and minister
of foreign affairs, told the BBC the arrangement was an advantage to Ethiopia.
But critics say the process amounts to a series of
"land grabs" that deprive Africa of its own natural resources.
Foreign companies often pay compensation money to people
living on the land they plan to acquire. They also offer them employment and
help with more efficient and productive farming processes.
"Out of the arable land, the amount being sold is only
3%," Mr Hailemariam said.
"Of course it's huge when compared with small countries
in Europe, but Ethiopia is a big country."
The area that is being leased is lowland where farmers are
not willing to go and plough the land, Mr Hailemariam said.
It is often infested with malaria and the climate makes it
unsuitable for small holder farmers, he added.
Food crisis
The other problem facing the country is the rising price of
food. Food prices are now 30% higher than they were a year ago, according to
government statistics.
The world's worst food security crisis is continuing in the
eastern Horn of Africa, a US agency has warned.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network said Ethiopia,
Kenya and Somalia were in the middle of the world's worst food security crisis.
Large-scale emergency assistance was urgently needed
"to save lives and treat acute malnutrition" in the region, the US
agency said.
So will selling food abroad lead to more shortages and
higher prices? Not according to Mr Hailemariam.
"Small holder farmers feed themselves first and sell
when there is a marketable surplus," he said.
"It becomes a problem for the urban poor who have less
capacity to purchase food at inflated prices. That is why we as a government
allocate certain commodities and subsidise them and in that way we can
alleviate some of the problems in the urban area."
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