New Report: Norway weakens food security

TAPER: Ethiopian farmers lose when foreign companies buy up farmland in Africa,

according to new report. Among the investors is also Norway. Reuters

By Pernille Dvergedal

(AP) The new report concludes that Norway oil fund gives foreign companies control of the topsoil at the expense of locals.

NOT SUSTAINABLE: Wenche Fone Church Aid
believes there is an urgent need for review
of the consequences of "land grabbing". Reuters

- The Fund will promote sustainable development and this can hardly be called that. But we see that they invest in many companies that are climate worst in the world. Here they have a way to go, says Wenche Fone and development policy leader NCA.

Norway will be one of the world's leading countries when it comes to development in poor countries, however, we support companies that work against sustainable development, according to a new U.S. report. We take from the poor and give to ourselves. For where large companies from USA, Europe, North Africa and Asia, serving on the purchase of cheap African soil, they lose their local farmers both jobs and food security, according to a series of reports about the sale of agricultural land from Oakland Institute. And investors are your savings in the form of oil fund.
 

Fone believes it is a great need for a review of the consequences of what is called "land grabbing":

- It is very unfortunate. Large capital of driving small farmers. We do not generally believe that this is local small farmers to succeed. They lose the right to their own soil. The very serious in a situation of food crisis. They are already suffering instability and high food prices.

- Can not think of anything

Petroleum Fund's Advisory Council on Ethics has excluded some companies because of unethical activity, but none of these have been linked to investments in agricultural land in Africa. It is not something they are considering currently.

- We can not think of everything all the time. We have selected some sites that we think are particularly important, such as child labor, climate and water management, where we believe we can make a difference, says Øystein Sjolie from Norges Bank, which is responsible for the operational management of the Fund.

He would not comment on individual companies that are involved in land acquisition, or what kind of dialogue, Norges Bank has with them, but says that it is difficult to have a complete overview of all the companies' activities. The acquisitions have a negative effect on development in the countries he is skeptical.

- In general, good for a country to get investment from foreign companies that have greater expertise. It has also been considerable economic growth in the poorest parts of the world in recent years. It is difficult to imagine that it has nothing to do with foreign investment to do.

- They invest in almost all
Andrew P. Krog Lund, Head of Environment and Development Organization in DevelopmentDoes not agree with Sjolie:

- I have never been told about such success stories. It would surprise me if there were such cases. It is one of the reasons that the world community is concerned about the issue. In principle, countries need the land itself, to cook for themselves.

He believes we take with one hand and give with the other.

- They invest in almost anything. It was a great political battle to get through the Oil Fund would be subject to ethical guidelines. Now the second phase of the struggle that the Fund says it is impossible to go through the individual companies.

Director General of Treasury, Martin Skancke, says there is a continuous evaluation of the ethical considerations that should be taken, but that "land grabbing" is not one of them so far:

- In sum, we have a good and robust system that is a good example for many. I have not seen the report and could not comment on individual companies, but we have a very high ethical threshold in relation to other companies.

Desperate sellers

High prices for food and other commodities, as well as a matunderskudd in many countries agricultural land in Africa an attractive investment for Norway. The average price for land is one-tenth of what it is in Brazil or Argentina. African leaders desperate for foreign capital.

Through the Fund invests in companies in Norway that could lead to the local peasants are the losers and undermine food security in countries that already have too little food. Environment and scarce water resources are either not taken into account, writes Oakland Institute. In addition, there is a lack of transparency surrounding land purchases. Farmers who use the land are in many cases not asked and do not know about the deal before the bulldozers driving into the area.

The reports covers the purchase of agricultural land in Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia. The Norwegian oil fund has stakes in several companies that are discussed, including Indian Ruchi Soya which controls 250,000 goal in the region Gambell in Ethiopia for the production of soybeans.

- It is difficult to see how any major investment in the country from foreign companies can really be beneficial to local communities - what is needed is investment in local agriculture, says one of the authors, Joan Baxter, to forskning.no

WORLD REFUGEE DAY: THE PLIGHT OF ETHIOPIAN REFUGEES HAS WORSENED

June 20/2011

WORLD REFUGEE DAY:  THE PLIGHT OF ETHIOPIAN REFUGEES HAS WORSENED

From Yemen to Lampadusa,from Libya to Norway the plight of Ethiopian refugees has worsened. Hundreds have died trying to reach safe harbors, hundreds are in squalid prisons all over the world, many more are facing deportation threats and a substantial number have been victimized, beaten and raped by human traffickers.

Much as it may come as a surprise to the Western powers cuddling the Meles Zenawi regime, it is one of the most repressive regimes in the region and thousands are fleeing from it. War, persecution, fear, total insecurity and ethnic discrimination have all pushed Ethiopians to leave their country. More than 35,000 political prisoners languish in dungeons and labor camps all over the country, far too many have been disappeared since 1991; dissent is repressed and ethnic discrimination rampant. The latest example of massacres and State terror is Ogaden but there were many examples over the years. Many journalists have either been jailed or forced into exile. Sale of children for dubious adoption and trafficking of young girls for modern slavery in the Middle East is on the increase.

There are by far too many very valid reasons for Ethiopians to flee from their land. However, their legitimate asylum demands have been rejected more and more not only in neighboring countries but also Europe (including Norway that had a positive reputation the past). SOCEPP calls on all democratic forces and human rights bodies to support the Ethiopian people’s yearning for the respect of their rights and to give due assistance and support to the refugees who are fleeing repression and persecution of all sorts.

INJUSTICE ANYWHERE IS INJUSTICE EVERYWHERE

SOCEPP, POSTFACH 51213, BERLIN 13372,GERMANY

SOCEPP, 30 RIGA COVE, WINNIPEG,MB R2P 2Z7,CANADA

E MAIL: SOCEPP @AOL.COM

WEB SITE: WWW.SOCEPP.DE

Ethiopia's Sport Festival

Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,

It is common knowledge that the sharp differences between the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and the Ethiopian People have taken a new shape after the 2010 Ethiopian National Elections more than ever. The way EPRDF had rigged the elections made it evident that the struggle of the Ethiopian People for freedom and democracy in its own country was yet far from over.

Having this in mind, Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJ) was able to sit and discuss the whole range of issues not long after the elections. In particular, the National Executive Committee of UDJ met for several times to look into itself critically. It evaluated every move had it made and checked the footsteps of every executive member before, during and after the elections. The National Executive Committee presented the findings of its evaluation to the National Council with the proposal of setting up a new committee that would analyze the whole situation and prepare its grand strategy and detailed Five-Year Action Plan.

The Strategy Committee that comprised Ato Seeye Abrha, the Honorable Girma Seifu, Ato Belay Fekadu, Ato Dawit Asrade and Ato Daniel Shibeshi, after three months of intense preparation, presented a strategy and five-year document to the National Executive Committee first, and then to the National Council. The Strategy and Five- Year Plan was endorsed by the National Council and was made ready for implementation. The document is in its final shape and will be published and be made available to the public.

Based on the Strategy and Five- Year Plan, UDJ is currently undertaking various activities that are considered necessary for strengthening itself and fostering the peaceful struggle so as to realize its goal of achieving freedom and democracy in Ethiopia.

Therefore, we wish to bring to your attention the following developments within UDJ.

It is to be remembered that the National Council, during its regular meeting on February 6 this year, had made the necessary changes in the membership of the National Executive Committee. The number of UDJ's National Executive Committee members has been reduced from 18 to 13. Accordingly, the former First Vice Chairman, Engineer Gizachew Shiferaw, has been replaced by Dr. Negasso, and has been assigned as the head of the Foreign Relations Committee with the rank of vice chairman. Ato Asrat Tassie has also been assigned as the head of the Organizational Affairs Committee at the rank of vice chairman. Five educated and tested youths have joined the National Executive Committee as non-voting members.

Moreover, the National Council at its regular meeting of May 28, 2011, elected its leaders for different posts that were vacant due to different reasons. Dr, Negasso Gidda was elected as Chairperson of the party, while Ato Andualem Aragie was elected as the Head of Public Relations Committee and Ato Dawit Asrade was elected as the General Secretary of the Party. UDJ will hold its General Assembly in the coming few months.

The strategy of the party has critically analyzed the need for rebranding our party and making it a home for all Ethiopians. We now clearly understand that it is time for liking up all Ethiopians to the peaceful struggle and making an all out- move against the repressive regime is essential.

The supports of the Ethiopian people at home and abroad has been instrumental to the boosting of our confidence to believe in our struggle, fill our deficiencies, delineate our way forward and bestow our party members with clear ideological orientation. We also believe that the continued support of our supporters abroad and of the Ethiopian people at large will contribute greatly to the success of the struggle.

The purpose of my message to you today is, therefore; to renew our relationship, put it in a better shape and call up on every Ethiopian to support UDJ in its struggle ahead. We also would like to have your continued comments and suggestions. We would be very much pleased to receive your comments that could help us rectify our mistakes. We will do our level best to update you on developments within UDJ regularly.

Thank you very much for your support and constructive comments so far.

Sincerely,

Andualem Aragie

Head of Public Relations Committee, UDJ

June 1, 2011

When the Nile Runs Dry

By Brad Holland

A NEW scramble for Africa is under way. As global food prices rise and exporters reduce shipments of commodities, countries that rely on imported grain are panicking. Affluent countries like Saudi Arabia, South Korea, China and India have descended on fertile plains across the African continent, acquiring huge tracts of land to produce wheat, rice and corn for consumption back home.

Some of these land acquisitions are enormous. South Korea, which imports 70 percent of its grain, has acquired 1.7 million acres in Sudan to grow wheat — an area twice the size of Rhode Island. In Ethiopia, a Saudi firm has leased 25,000 acres to grow rice, with the option of expanding. India has leased several hundred thousand acres there to grow corn, rice and other crops. And in countries like Congo and Zambia, China is acquiring land for biofuel production.

These land grabs shrink the food supply in famine-prone African nations and anger local farmers, who see their governments selling their ancestral lands to foreigners. They also pose a grave threat to Africa’s newest democracy: Egypt.

Egypt is a nation of bread eaters. Its citizens consume 18 million tons of wheat annually, more than half of which comes from abroad. Egypt is now the world’s leading wheat importer, and subsidized bread — for which the government doles out approximately $2 billion per year — is seen as an entitlement by the 60 percent or so of Egyptian families who depend on it.

As Egypt tries to fashion a functioning democracy after President Hosni Mubarak’s departure, land grabs to the south are threatening its ability to put bread on the table because all of Egypt’s grain is either imported or produced with water from the Nile River, which flows north through Ethiopia and Sudan before reaching Egypt. (Since rainfall in Egypt is negligible to nonexistent, its agriculture is totally dependent on the Nile.)

Unfortunately for Egypt, two of the favorite targets for land acquisitions are Ethiopia and Sudan, which together occupy three-fourths of the Nile River Basin. Today’s demands for water are such that there is little left of the river when it eventually empties into the Mediterranean.

The Nile Waters Agreement, which Egypt and Sudan signed in 1959, gave Egypt 75 percent of the river’s flow, 25 percent to Sudan and none to Ethiopia. This situation is changing abruptly as wealthy foreign governments and international agribusinesses snatch up large swaths of arable land along the Upper Nile. While these deals are typically described as land acquisitions, they are also, in effect, water acquisitions.

Now, when competing for Nile water, Cairo must deal with several governments and commercial interests that were not party to the 1959 agreement. Moreover, Ethiopia — never enamored of the agreement — has announced plans to build a huge hydroelectric dam on its branch of the Nile that would reduce the water flow to Egypt even more.

Because Egypt’s wheat yields are already among the world’s highest, it has little potential to raise its agricultural productivity. With its population of 81 million projected to reach 101 million by 2025, finding enough food and water is a daunting challenge.

Egypt’s plight could become part of a larger, more troubling scenario. Its upstream Nile neighbors — Sudan, with 44 million people, and Ethiopia, with 83 million — are growing even faster, increasing the need for water to produce food. Projections by the United Nations show the combined population of these three countries increasing to 272 million by 2025 — and 360 million by 2050 — from 208 million now.

Growing water demand, driven by population growth and foreign land and water acquisitions, are straining the Nile’s natural limits. Avoiding dangerous conflicts over water will require three transnational initiatives. First, governments must address the population threat head-on by ensuring that all women have access to family planning services and by providing education for girls in the region. Second, countries must adopt more water-efficient irrigation technologies and plant less water-intensive crops.

Finally, for the sake of peace and future development cooperation, the nations of the Nile River Basin should come together to ban land grabs by foreign governments and agribusiness firms. Since there is no precedent for this, international help in negotiating such a ban, similar to the World Bank’s role in facilitating the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty between India and Pakistan, would likely be necessary to make it a reality.(Highlighting is that of this poster)

None of these initiatives will be easy to implement, but all are essential. Without them, rising bread prices could undermine Egypt’s revolution of hope and competition for the Nile’s water could turn deadly.

________________

Lester R. Brown is the president of the Earth Policy Institute and the author of “World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse.”

Refugees refused support by the UNHCR and killed by the guards