Updated 1656 GMT (2356 HKT) June 3, 2015
In 2008 prices of some foods, including
wheat, soared by 130% in a single year and the United Nation's Food and
Agriculture Organisation's food price index shot up 40%.
The
result was a frenzied scramble that saw countries acquire an estimated
40 million hectares of land in foreign countries, most of it in Africa.
A
great deal of attention has been paid to the role of the US, the
largest investor in land in the world, China and Middle Eastern
countries. Much less attention has been given to the role of India. A
global land monitoring initiative, Land Matrix, ranks
India as one of the top 10 investors in land abroad. It is the biggest
investor in land in Ethiopia, with Indian companies accounting for
almost 70% the land acquired by foreigners after 2008.
Indian
land deals in Ethiopia are the result of the strong convergence in the
two countries' domestic political-economic policies. Both advocate the
privatisation of public assets and increasing reliance on free trade and
open markets.
India's
investment in land has been driven by the need to obviate the effects
of spiralling food prices by outsourcing food supply. Ethiopia's
decisions are driven by its development policy based on
commercialisation of agriculture and reliance on foreign investments.
Rough
estimates suggest Indian firms have acquired roughly 600 000 hectares
of land in Ethiopia. This is more than ten times the size of land
acquired by firms in India under the country's special economic zones
policy. India is followed closely by Saudi Arabian firms, with 500 000
hectares of land, in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia's sweet success 00:57
Ethiopia's love for coffee 07:23
A taste of Ethiopia 08:06
Shopping for herbs and spices in Ethiopia 07:10
What drives Indian firms to Ethiopia
India's
ability to feed its 1.22 billion people is under increasing strain.
This is due to a rapidly growing population, low agricultural
productivity, reductions in farm sizes, declining water tables,
increasing control of the seed sector by multi-nationals and a gradual
withdrawal since the 1990s of the farm support system.
India introduced special economic zones
in 2005 hoping it would lead to agricultural development through the
consolidation of land holdings. The intention was that this would lead
to industrialisation.
But the policy
exposed the oldest contradiction of capitalism -- primitive accumulation
which includes privatisation of land, the forced expulsion of peasant
populations and the conversion of common, collective and state property
rights to exclusive property rights.
Widespread resistance movements began in many states, stalling some of the biggest zones, most notably in Nandigram. The protests led to the fall of the Left Front state government of West Bengal in 2011 after 34 years in power.
To meet consumption needs
the Indian government started encouraging firms to seek land abroad for
growing crops. This was driven by two factors: it was struggling to
make more land available for investors and the spike in global food
price crisis in 2008.
The lure of Ethiopia
The Ethiopian agricultural sector lies at the heart of the government's development strategy. It has set out to attract more foreign investment in large-scale commercial agriculture as outlined in its 1993 policy which was later reformulated in 2005.
The
policy marked a move towards a more trade-orientated approach, and a
desire to attract foreign investors. Over 3.5 million hectares of land
has been earmarked for investment by foreign firms.
Need for caution
Foreign investors need to tread carefully when acquiring land in Africa. This is best illustrated in the Gambela
region of Ethiopia which I visited earlier this year. The area has been
the centre of large-scale land acquisitions by Indian as well as other
foreign investors.
According to the
Ethiopian constitution, land is administered by the regional government.
However, the federal government's move to govern land investments
through a centralized agency called the Agricultural Investment Land
Administration Agency has led to discontent among Gambela regional
government officials.
The concern is
that the behaviour of foreign companies is not being managed adequately.
There is a strong sense that land deals in Ethiopia have benefited both
the foreign investors and domestic private capitalists with close ties
to the ruling party.
A recent study
found that foreign investors are farming less than 8% of the land they
have acquired. During my visit I learnt that Karuturi Global Ltd, an
Indian firm which has 100 000 hectares of land in Gambela, had only 1
000 hectares under production.
A lack
of consultation with people living in the area is also a problem.
Gambela is an ecological hotspot with Gambela National Park at its
centre. It is home to Nuer and Anuak people whose livelihoods are
threatened by investors illegally clearing trees in the park. These
clearances happen mostly without consultation. This has led to conflict in the region.
Given
the political nature of international land deals and the role states
play in shaping policy and practice, there must be scrutiny on the role
governments play in such deals because of their close alliance with
private capital.
This is especially so
for India. It can ill-afford to be tainted by accusations of complicity
in land deals that disadvantage the people of Africa given the role it
sees for itself in promoting co-operation among countries in the south to mitigate the effects of skewed power relations with the north.
No comments:
Post a Comment