Foreign Direct Investment in Farmland and Land Rights of Pastoralists in Ethiopia: a Quest for Balance
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Date
2017-04
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The FDRE Constitution gave pastoralists communal use right and protection against
displacement, however, in subsidiary land laws, the Government has adopted a contrary position
and declared itself the owner of rural communal lands which it gives and takes back as it deems
fit. One effect of this is manifested in relation to foreign large-scale farmland investment and the
Government has already allocated large areas of pastoral lands for the purpose of the investment
in a way that is affecting the right and interest of pastoralists. Triggered by these, various studies
have analyzed the investment and argued for the land right of pastoralists and against the
expropriation of pastoral lands for the purpose of the investment. However, no single study has
tried to see from development perspective, whether there is a way the investment and right of
pastoralists can complement rather than contradict each other, as it has been the case so far.
Thus, the main issue addressed in this study is whether these two concepts can find a middle
ground when analyzed from the perspective of pastoralists’ right to development and the
obligation of the Government towards pastoralists’ and the nation as a whole. By analyzing the
relevant legal frameworks with empirical data and interview responses; this study contends the
reason for contradiction so far lies in the Government’s failure to adhere to the legal
requirements rather than the simple act of pastoral land expropriation for the purpose of
investment. Specifically, the major findings are, the decision to and the manner of land allocation
disregards the occupancy and landholding right of pastoralists; is not based on a study that
compares the viability of pastoralism or the investment for each instance, thus purely over
privileging the latter and denying the former a chance to be considered as one viable land use; is
driven by the unfounded perceptions and targets of the anti-pastoralism thinking and the aim of
imposing the Government’s own notion of development on pastoralists than the legitimate aim of
development and development activities and the manner of allocation goes against the procedural
right to development and the procedures for expropriation. Therefore, if the Government makes
the necessary shifts by adhering to the relevant laws’, a balance can be struck between the
investment and land right and interest of pastoralists. Such a balanced understanding is important
as pushing for the investment at the expense of the right of pastoralists’ and vice versa, is leading
to the destruction of both as experience to date shows.
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Law