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Raswork Mengesha  ( StockholmÂ
The fact that, wherever land acquisition by foreign investors has taken place, these “land grabs†have led to displacement, loss of livelihood and often death in the communities affected. Woyane is no stranger to the controversy raised by land grabbing… Indians and Arabs Nationalities are as one of the institutional investors involved in land grabbing deals in Ethiopia. Proponents of the practice promote it as a solution to feed a growing Ethiopian population, claiming that acquiring foreign land prompts investment in local infrastructure and benefits farmers.
In fact, these schemes do not contribute to rural development. Far from increasing food production for local consumption, land grabbing often results in export-oriented crops, including non-food commodities such as cut flowers. Land grabbing has already displaced tens of millions of small producers, worsening poverty and hunger and driving waves of migration. Farmers, who represent the majority of smallholders, have been dramatically affected. Investors are flocking to get their share of the global land grab. Land grabbing deals achieve profitability at the expense of the well-being of woyane and som of its Hodam individuals. To make clear that arable land provides high returns on investment because it is a finite resource submitted to increasing demand. They openly advertise that scarcity of arable land, combined with growing demand for food, and other agricultural commodities, will “result in continued increases in volatility in crop prices and provide opportunities for improved profitability over the coming decade and beyond.†In short, investors can expect to make a profit by buying up, co-modifying and betting on a scarce resource needed for survival.Â
One million people nine human being in ten – are hungry and millions more have been pushed into poverty by raising food prices. Land grabs provide no solution to this crisis but only exacerbate it. They displace small farmers, often by violence, forcing them to look for employment in large cities and contributing to both rural and urban poverty. They replace traditional and sustainable small scale farming methods with industrial agriculture based on the heavy use of pesticides, fertilizers and water – an unsustainable system that will not succeed in feeding a growing Ethiopian population. High investment yields cannot justify investment decisions that lead to serious environmental damage and human rights violations.
·        We demand the government to avoid its institutional participation in land grabbing and sale of farm land to foreigners.
·        We demand to look for more just and sustainable ways to millions voice for land ownership.
 Long live to Ethiopia!
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