Agriculture
Study Reveals Gambella Agricultural Land Given to Investors Failed
The Reporter (Amharic) · 4 hours ago · Read the Full Story on The Reporter (Amharic)
AI SUMMARY
A new study reveals that agricultural land granted to investors in the Gambella region over the past 26 years has failed to achieve its production goals and resulted in severe deforestation.
- A study titled "Promised Yields, Lost Forests" was conducted by Dr. Solomon Zena and three other researchers at the Policy Innovation Research Center.
- The government initially planned to transfer 3.3 million hectares nationwide to boost agricultural productivity, attract foreign investment, and achieve food self-sufficiency.
- Between 2005 and 2015, approximately 2.47 million hectares of land were transferred to investors across the country.
- In the Gambella region, 664,000 hectares of land were transferred to investors between 2000 and 2020.
- Satellite data indicates that the land transferred to investors in Gambella has yielded little to no agricultural production.
- Seventy percent of the region's commercial farming land is not being utilized properly.
- The project caused a reduction in forest cover rather than achieving its intended economic and agricultural outcomes.
- The government failed to monitor investors or verify that the land was being effectively utilized.
- The Development Bank of Ethiopia reported that the agricultural sector accounts for 73.2 percent of its total non-performing loans, with high defaults from rain-fed projects in Gambella and Benishangul-Gumuz.
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