Land Grabbing and Food Security in Ethiopia: The Dilemmas of Sustainable Development

This paper will discuss the issues of large agricultural land lease agreements of Ethipin government with investors and the dilemmas it is facing in tackling the problems of food security in the country. Many African countries, including those with severe food insecurity problems would like to pretend that they can feed their people and far beyond as per their agricultural resources potential figures that appear in the national statistical data - particularly their vast farmlands. But the facts on the ground are quite different for many of them are importing food items and agricultural inputs, while a good number of them are prone to recurring famine and drought. In an ambitious effort to meet their respective Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), some African countries have adopted very impressive national plans and programs. Ethiopia is one of such countries that adopted a national MDGs implementation program with components such as eradication of poverty, ensuring food security and environmental sustainability in its endeavors to achieve a track record sustainable development by the year 2015. Despite its remarkable dedication and concerted efforts to meet the MDGs, Ethiopia is still suffering from a chronic food insecurity problem. The country’s environmental resources are exploited for many centuries and had become susceptible to a looming disaster to be triggered by a slight change in the climatic conditions. The problems of food insecurity in the country is aggravating as a result of the current scramble over its farmlands by foreign investors whose objectives are to ensure their own food and energy security and making of profit. The foreign investors are engaded in the production of crops for their home consumption and the growing of plants for their biofuel projects. The paper will further discuss how the large agricultural land lease contracts with foreign and local investors are likely to affect the livelihood of the poor peasants and pastoralists in Ethiopia. The acquisition of the vast farmlands by the investors has already caused massive displacement of local communities and environmental degradation - including loss of the forest cover, encroachment upon protected areas, depletion of freshwater resources by irrigation and the dwindling of the wildlife stocks. Despite the existence of relevant and fairly good environmental protection laws adopted by the country, the large agricultural land lease agreements are seen as acts of violations of the environmental and economic development policies of the country by the government. Given the facts surounding the terms of lease agreements, the exercise could aptly be described as “land grabbing” oracilitated by the state. Some of the investors have openly stated that the land lease deals were unbelievably cheap and termed as “throw-away price”. Amidst the prevailing shortage of farmland for the fastgrowing rural population, the current call for more foreign direct investment in the agricultural sector of Ethiopia would seem to be a challenge rather than an opportunity to ensure food security and sustainable agriculture