The role of foreign investment in Ethiopia’s smallholder-focused agricultural development strategy
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Date
2011
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape
Abstract
Recent foreign agricultural investment in Africa has generated a great deal of interest and criticism,
with western media warning of a neo-colonial ‘land grab’.
This paper moves beyond this narrow assessment by examining the political and social dynamics of
foreign agricultural investment in Ethiopia, a country that has figured prominently in recent
debates. The paper links macro-level analysis regarding the types of projects and their role in the
Ethiopian economy to case studies of investments at the micro-level, which examine changing
patterns of land use and implications for displacement, employment and technology transfer. The
paper concludes that the expansion of foreign investment in Ethiopia is part of a government move
towards an export-led development strategy. As such, macro-benefits in terms of increased foreign
exchange earnings come at the cost of increased micro-level risks to those living near new
investments, in particular, politically marginalised pastoral populations in remote regions.
Description
Keywords
Ethiopia, Foreign agricultural investment, Land grab, Smallholder agriculture, Displacement
Citation
Lavers, T. (2011). ‘The role of foreign investment in Ethiopia’s smallholder-focused agricultural development strategy’, LDPI Working Paper 2. PLAAS, UWC: Cape Town.