(30 May 2012, Arabian Business)--Saudi Star Agricultural Development, owned by Saudi billionaire
Mohamed al-Amoudi, said it plans to overcome local opposition to its
Ethiopian rice project by offering jobs and training, a month after five
people working on it were shot dead.
Criticism by residents may subside when the 10,000-hectare (24,711-acre) plot is developed and 5,000 jobs are created on the farm in the southwestern Gambella region in about two years, Saudi Star CEO Fikru Desalegn said in an interview yesterday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital.
Ethiopia is leasing 4m hectares of land to foreign investors in regions including Gambella as part of a commercial- farming drive. Advocacy groups such as the US-based Oakland Institute have said the programme has resulted in rights violations and forced the relocation of more than 1m people. The government says resettlement has been voluntary and unrelated to the investment programme.
Providing employment for residents of the Gambella will "definitely teach the public it is very useful for them," Fikru said. Other benefits for the 13,000 residents of the area will include investment in infrastructure such as roads and vocational education by the company, he said. Read more from Arabian Business »
Criticism by residents may subside when the 10,000-hectare (24,711-acre) plot is developed and 5,000 jobs are created on the farm in the southwestern Gambella region in about two years, Saudi Star CEO Fikru Desalegn said in an interview yesterday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital.
Ethiopia is leasing 4m hectares of land to foreign investors in regions including Gambella as part of a commercial- farming drive. Advocacy groups such as the US-based Oakland Institute have said the programme has resulted in rights violations and forced the relocation of more than 1m people. The government says resettlement has been voluntary and unrelated to the investment programme.
Providing employment for residents of the Gambella will "definitely teach the public it is very useful for them," Fikru said. Other benefits for the 13,000 residents of the area will include investment in infrastructure such as roads and vocational education by the company, he said. Read more from Arabian Business »
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