We are writing this formal letter to you on behalf of a representative community of
Ethiopian-Americans and Ethiopians representing Ethiopia’s diverse ethnic, religious,
gender and political orientation in the Washington Metropolitan area and are appalled by
the social, economic, cultural, political and environmental devastation emanating from
land grab in Ethiopia. Among the culprits are a large number of Indian firms. We join
thousands of others across the globe who will soon present a petition on the subject to
governments, the UN family, the international press, academic institutions and
foundations and non-governmental organizations that are dedicated to human, economic
and political rights, the environment, the welfare of indigenous people, fair, inclusive and
equitable globalization to halt a catastrophe in the making.
Madame Ambassador,
Our singular purpose is to urge you, the government of India, leaders and members of the
Indian Parliament, Indian human rights and other civil society organizations, academics,
the Indian Press and the general society to apply immediate pressure on numerous Indian
for-profit commercial agriculture-firms in Ethiopia to halt their plunders of national
farmlands, trees, forests, rivers and waters; and their collusion with the dictatorial
minority ethnic-based and corrupt government led by Prime Minister Meles in the
uprooting, dispossession and displacement of at least 1.5 million Ethiopians from their
homes and their livelihoods. At the current pace of sales and leases by the government,
Indian commercial agriculture firms in Ethiopia will soon control the most critical source
of comparative advantage for the country and its 90 million people, as are part of a
coterie of global firms, hedge funds, academic endowments and known personalities
from 36 countries. These entities operate at will, without transparent and clear terms and
conditions to mitigate social, economic, political, cultural, psychological and ecological
risks and to induce shared benefits. To make matters worse, indigenous people who are
being forced to giveaway their lands are never consulted and, are rarely if ever, offered
viable alternatives.
Madame Ambassador,
The devastating role played by Indian agriculture firms widely perceived as “the new
farmland colonizers in Ethiopia” poses a huge and enduring reputational risk for the
Indian government and for a newly emerging India both in Ethiopia and the rest of
Africa. The perception among a wide-spectrum of Ethiopians and other Africans is that
Indian firms collude with corrupt-ridden and repressive governments such as Ethiopia’s
in dispossessing indigenous people and making them poorer to make profits and to secure
foods for Indian consumers. You will agree with us that this this reputational risk for
democratic India and its private sector must be stopped now. We also believe that these
firms cause unrest and rebellion among indigenous people and indignation among
Ethiopians. We have no doubt this will intensify. On May 1, 2012, rebels in Gambella
killed 6 Pakistani and 4 Ethiopian employees of Saudi Star. We are convinced that such
uprisings will intensify as indigenous people internalize the loss of honor, dignity,
citizenship and source of livelihood and security land grab entails; and recognize the
empty promises offered by the government to offer benefits. You will agree with us that
land is fundamental to Ethiopian identity, sense of security; and has been for thousands of
years. Taking away this source of livelihood is tantamount to naked robbery.
Madame Ambassador,
Neither investors nor the Ethiopian government delivers on promises to communities to
build meaningful and life changing infrastructure such as access roads, community
centers, schools, clinics, safer drinking water and shelters or to offer income generating
alternatives. The government’s touted promise that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in
the agricultural sector that employs more than 80 percent of the labor force will generate
employment, modernize agriculture through a ripple effect, contribute to food security for
the Ethiopian people and bring in foreign exchange that will be ploughed back into the
local, regional and national economy is not borne by facts. On the contrary, foreign and
domestic elite owned large-scale commercial farms generate employment at a rate of
0.005 per hectare (ha) compared to less than 1/2 ha of land that supports a family of 6
people. Ethiopians are employed as day laborers, typically at wages of US$.80 to
US$1.00 per day, far below the globally accepted survival wage of US$1.25 per day. In
2011 hyperinflation, primarily from food stuff, was a whopping 50 percent. Employment
as a day laborer at low wages and no job security cannot lift-up workers from destitution.
There is no single farmer in Gambella or anywhere else where FDI operates that show a
local farmer possess the means to purchase a Deere tractor. There is no evidence of any
investment in agro-industries as a consequence of FDI in lands. Foreign investors
confirm that they are under no obligation to set aside a proportion of their produce to
meet the food security needs of the country. Their primary motive is to produce and
export to rich countries and make profit; and to secure foods for their home consumers.
The most credible gain from FDI is foreign exchange for the governing party. Between
2004 and 2009, it earned US$ 9.2 billion from 607,000 ha of transactions that it did not
plough- back to improve localities and communities. By 2013, Karuturi alone will
produce and export 3 million tons of grain and earn billions of dollars for the Ethiopian
government while millions of Ethiopians will depend on food aid. Is this fair?
All indicators show that the costs outweigh the benefits. Human Rights Watch, Oakland
Institute, the Guardian and Survival International all report that hundreds of thousands
are getting poorer and hungrier in a country called “one of the hungriest and unhealthiest
on the planet.” Millions of people go hungry each day. Millions depend on international
food aid to survive. The Ethiopian government failed to give priority to a smallholder
farming revolution that we believe will do wonders in reducing poverty, generating
employment, reducing escalating food prices and boosting incomes. Outsourcing
Ethiopia’s food supplies to investors will not achieve food security. Saddened by the
depth and breadth of hunger, recurring famine and endemic poverty, Mr. Bill Gates of
Microsoft and a champion of smallholder farming said recently that “Ethiopia has more
food insecure people who need food aid than any country in the world.” It is in such a
destitute country that Indian firms are producing and exporting food stuff and flowers for
export to India and to other markets. This is a travesty.
Madame Ambassador,
The people of India know and appreciate the indignities, loss of honor and self-worth that
people feel when a society is not in control of its own natural resources and country.
Having freed themselves from colonial control, Indians now enjoy a free and democratic
society in which the poor have at least a voice and can turn to a government that is
accountable to them. Given checks and balances, you will agree with us that no Indian
government would allow “India to be used as an empty womb” by anyone. Today,
Ethiopia is an “empty womb.” Millions of hectares of its most fertile farmlands and the
waters and rivers that give them sustenance are given away in a scheme that we can only
characterize as “farmland colonization by invitation.” Indian companies are taking over
for 25 to 99 years duration at the invitation of Mr. Meles’ government. Unlike India, Mr.
Meles Zenawi, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, rules the country with an iron-fist. There
is no free press and civil society is non-existent. Those in regions where land grab is
prominent have no voice to defend their interests. The state owns all natural resources
including land and is in a position to lease or sell farmlands to foreign investors as it
wishes. Just last week, Mr. Meles announced his intention to avail an additional 3.5
million hectares to investors. The World Bank, Oakland Institute, Grain, Meat, and the
Ethiopian Reporter estimate that the ultimate figure may reach 7 million hectares. In
April 2011, the Reporter pointed out that 3,638,415 hectares have either been leased or
promised. By comparison, 75 percent of the Ethiopian farming population leases 12
million hectares; most rely on less than half ha. In Wellbeing and Poverty in Ethiopia, the
World Bank concluded that most Ethiopian farmers are land poor and millions are
landless. So, the government’s argument that lands granted to more than 9,000 individual
contractors from 36 countries and corporations are “empty and unoccupied” is not true.
Madame Ambassador,
The scale of penetration by Indian firms that earned them the widely expressed name of
“new farmland colonizers” or as one local newspaper reported last year, “the new
invaders” is unprecedented. The Ethiopian Reporter confirmed last year that Bangalore-
based Karuturi Global Ltd. acquired the equivalent of 3,000 square kilometers of land, a
staggering 311,900 hectares (the size of Luxembourg bought at less than US$1.0 per
hectare) in the Gambella Region. It owns 50,000 hectares in the Southern Region, making
it the largest Indian commercial farm owner in the country. Spentex Industries Ltd.,
another Indian firm owns 25,000 ha in the Beni-Shangul Gumuz Region. Indian firms
Ruchi and Kenan Industries, own 3,000 and 10,000 ha respectively in Gambella; while
Shapoorji Pallonji and Co., Industries owns 50,000 ha in Beni-Shangul Gumuz; and Al-
midha owns 28,000 ha in Oromia. Panasha International Agro-industries has been
granted 2,500 ha in the Amhara region. This massive “farmland colonization” is likely to
be boosted to 1.8 million ha as promised by the Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister on a
visit to India last year. Indian firms are not alone in the largest transfer of farmland and
water basin resources from the Ethiopian people to foreign investors and preferred
domestic elites. Data from the World Bank, Oakland Institute, the Ethiopian Reporter and
others shows that the Saudi and Gulf State sponsored and financed conglomerate Saudi
Star and its affiliates own or have been promised 460,000 ha (the size of Belgium) in
Gambella; 200,000 ha in Beni-Shangul Gumuz; and produce and export a variety of food
stuff from 1,000 square kilometers of Greenhouse in Oromia. Sheikh Mohamed Al-
Amoudi, head of this monopoly, plans to invest US$2.5 billion by 2020.
In short, Karuturi and Saudi Star are the largest foreign “new landlords” in Ethiopia.
Their adverse impact is equivalent to the “banana republic” syndrome in the Caribbean
and Central America and the “resource curse” in Sub-Saharan Africa that marginalized
their respective societies and kept them poor. Investors gain profits and access to food
security for rich consumers while Ethiopians lose. It is this that led Human Rights Watch
to conclude in “Waiting for Death” that “The Ethiopian government is forcibly moving
tens of thousands of indigenous people in the Western Gambella Region from their
homes.”
Madame Ambassador,
Accordingly, we call on you and the Indian government to apply pressure on Indian firms to:
Desist immediately from engaging in the illegal and exploitative land grab,
disenfranchisement of inhabitants and destruction of the environment,
Disclose the terms and conditions of individual land deals to the Ethiopian public,
Recognize the reputational risks for India and the real risks for investors, and
Know that a future representative government in Ethiopia shall not recognize and enforce
any of the current or future land deals.
Respectfully,
Signed:
Aklog Birara (Ph.D.) on behalf of the community
Email: [email protected]
