Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s hopes of ushering in a new era of commercial farming ventures rested in large part on the shoulders of the Gambella Regional State. Recent years have seen hundreds of investors granted licenses and credit to establish commercial farms in the southwestern corner of the country, but little has come from the efforts.

In recent years, Gulf economies have tackled their food dependencies not just by importing foodstuffs but through land enclosures, or the purchasing of agricultural land abroad, particularly in the Middle East, North and East Africa (but also as far as the United States and Australia)

With scarce arable land and water resources, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are expanding their agricultural diplomacy to improve food access and vying for agricultural cooperation with Africa

The Bodi people have been decimated since the Gibe III dam came into operation and diverted the Omo River’s waters to large-scale irrigation schemes.

The Swiss-based multinational ASC Impact claims to have acquired 22,000 hectares in Ethiopia’s remote Gambela state along the border with South Sudan for large-scale tree plantations, carbon credits and agriculture.

The case stems from accusations lodged by the Djiboutian Ambassador in 2018, asserting that Karuturi neglected to meet the terms of agricultural agreements signed in 2011 and 2012 for activities in Ethiopia.

With 56 deals under its belt, the UAE has 14 more farmland acquisition deals in the pipeline in 2024, mainly in Africa

With vast lands conducive to tree growth, Kirchmayer and ASC Impact believe that Africa is ripe for reforestation initiatives that support mass timber production and other green projects.

Elite Agro Projects plans to establish a wheat farm in Ethiopia, where it already operates a flower farm.

The Supreme Court of India has cancelled anticipatory bail granted to Ram Karuturi who is accused of defaulting on a US$6.5 million loan taken in 2011 from the government of Djibouti to develop 15,000 ha of agricultural land

Researchers say the construction of a dam and sugarcane plantations has dispossessed the Lower Omo’s peoples of their farming and grazing lands and irreversibly altered the natural cycles of the Omo River.

In recent years, the Ethiopian government has been enthusiastically renting large swathes of its territory to both local and foreign investors, regardless of who is already living there.