A Saudi Arabian investor has broken the culture of silence surrounding a widely criticized farmland acquisition by foreign investors in Ethiopia, which had hitherto been met with considerable silence. The investor’s comments come as his company, Saudi Star Agriculture Development Plc, awaits a decision from the Ethiopian Agriculture Ministry to expand his farmland from 10,000 hectares to 250,000 hectares.
Accusations of massive "land grabbing" activities have attracted little or no response from government and investors alike, as a cross section of the Ethiopian population questions the government’s decision to lease large strips of arable land to foreign entities. While some of the lands include forest areas, many small local farmers have also been removed from their lands to make way for foreign investors.
But the silence over the land issue was recently broken when Sheik Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi — an Ethiopian born Saudi billionaire — commented on the seemingly relentless criticisms against the extensive land acquisition by foreign entities. “Land grabbing poses no harm on the environment or on the local community,” the billionaire said on February 10, while visiting his commercial farm in Gambela Regional State. A State that "has become the land grabbing hub in Ethiopia", says an Ethiopian national who spoke on condition of anonymity.Read More
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