Making investment in flower farms while millions of people are starving cannot be described as “successful agricultural policy” by any one with commonsense. But here we are dealing with a government of dummies (yededeb mengist).
—————————–
(Source: Reporter)
Prime Minster Dictator Meles Zenawi said yesterday that the establishment of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) is necessitated as a result of the successful agricultural policy of the government that is helping farmers produce more food products than before.
He made this remark at a meeting held at the United Nations Conference Hall to mark the official launch of the ECX.
“The country’s food production increase in the past five years is made possible due to our well conceived and correct agricultural policy. This in turn has paved the way for the establishment of ECX that is expected to revolutionalize the country’s backward and inefficient marketing system,” Meles said.
According to the Prime Minster, the ECX will open doors for a “transparent” and “efficient” marketing system that will help the development endeavor of the country.
“It is my belief that the main objective of the ECX will not be met unless it further widens its operational capacity by incorporating all the stakeholders into one table,” he added.
Deputy Prime Minster and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Addisu Legesse on his part said that the government had been exerting its utmost efforts to solve the country’s existing marketing system problems.
“First, we have been consulting with producers and traders to solve the chronic problems faced by the market. On the other hand, we have conducted studies and researches to set up a Commodity Exchange market that will bring a grass-roots level change in the marketing system,” he added.
He explained that with the assistance gained from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPI) a taskforce comprising different stakeholders had been studying the policies and issues involved in it two years ago and had also traveled to India to gather experiences from there.
“After securing the government’s resume, the Commodity Exchange Market Project has been started. We are grateful for the assistance extended from the International Policy Research Institute, the World Bank, USAID, IFAD, UNDP, SIDA and WFP,” he told participants of the conference. The two-day-long National Forum is aimed at bringing together stakeholders numbering 1,500.
Dr. Eleni Zaude G. Medhin, Chief of the ECX Project, on her part, made a speech in which she labeled the ECX “a result of a dream–a dream to change Ethiopia”. Considered by many as the master-mind behind the ECX project, Dr. Eleni said, “We are here to witness the realization of that dream, even as it is unfolding.”
She added that the ECX project, which has taken 18 months of analysis, design and building, is aimed at revolutionizing the agricultural economy of the country through the market institution that is being launched. In connection with the launching of the ECX, she said that three necessary elements are helping the realization of the project: solid analytical foundation that is based on years of research, political will and support and active participation by these to whom the system is designed.
According to the ECX, the market will start trading wheat, maize, sesame seed and peas, beans while teff and coffee will follow suite soon. It also said that, in a bid to recruit 100 founding members, so far 137 applications were submitted and 62 members have been pre-approved.
23 thoughts on “Meles says his agricultural policy is successful”
What a successful policy! Yes, only 9 million farmers are starving as I write this comment and possibly only around 15 million will starve by September, 2008 due to the failed Belg rain. The urban population is undergoing a hidden starvation due to the soaring cost of living. The majority can at best afford a meal a day. This is also another success of the agricultural policy of Woyane, who deserve another Yara-like prize.
very funy.
Allow me to add more Alphabet to the acronym and call this new child of the mafia – TPLFECX. This is one more blind spot for them to carry out the loot that has began 1990. Soon they will have all the control to mask the looting with legal entities in Ethiopian name. 18 years in power they are still the Tigray TPLF.
Brother, I believe “ye dedeb leba” explain the behaviour of TPLF.
yededeboch woyane “researchers” ECX. Is that Ethiopia’s NASDQ. hahahahahaha. Very FUNY
Dear Brothers, I dont like blind opposition. This marketing system is indeed a necessity to the poor farming community. So far the beneficiaries, next to weyane, were the middlemen merchants. This system will give power to the farmers. Weyane was oppossing everything that was done by Derge. If we also continue like that, we are of no difference than the former.
Oh lord have mercy for the people of Ethiopia and the whole horn of Africa. All these hoopla report by this thug Meles is to cover-up the bloodshed that is taken against the innocent people of Somalia and the slaughtering of the young weyane soldiers. Someone please tell this guy in the name of GOD, although we know he is the father of all aetheist, he can only be a leader some where in the out planet earth; if there is. The more that he is at in power the more the innocent Ethiopians are being victimized around the globe; for no attainable reasons!
tha savage meles is a jock.
The respected historian Jhon Henry Clarke once told his African and African-American audience that Africa is being reconquered all over again this time through the active participants of its own citizens who are agents for Western powers but labeled as democrats by their masters. The worst that can happen is when these agents decide to establish a stock axchange through wich african products are expected to easily flow to the master’s at the cheapest price while the average African starve to death.
yededebit dedeb!
Even if the foreign mecernarry has beeen trying to hold the ethiopia’s farmers as his hostages to staye in power through his bad agricultural policy, the farmers have already abandoned him and voted for kinijit. His agricultural policy did not free his terrorist group [TPLF’ FROM BEGGING. when their bosses are in economical crisis , TPLF could not accomudate enough food the ppl. now the sources of nile has faced for electrical crisis . I have never seen any country which developed it economy by begging.
What’s Meles’ definition of success? It must defy reality the reality in Ethiopia. Fod shortage, even famine in some corners, is still ravaging Ethiopia, includng in the fertile parts of the country. The majority of the urbanities across Ethiopia cannot even afford ‘injera’ and ‘shiro wat’. Yet, Meles claims his agricultural policy has been successful. Give us a break, Meles!!
Elias,
How come you forgot to correct the word Prime Minister to Crime Minister Meles Zenawi, I think meles likes the word prime while he wants to do many crimes. By the way another funny article. They keep giving us the tplf economic startagy as the ethiopian, the tplf economic groth as the ethiopian, the tplf corruption as ethiopian, the tplf crimes as ethiopians…in short they talk the opposite from what they do. The no. 1 article in the TPLF manifesto says in big….WE MUST LIE THE ETHIOPIAN PEOPLE REGARDLESS OF ANY PRESSURE FROM INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL. …this what we all keep fail to understand from tplf and get disappointed on each actions they do. Shame on weyane supporters!!
When, in 1991, Meles was asked what he expected would happen in Ethiopia in ten years time, he said that everyone will have three meals a day !!!
After 18 years of his brutal rule, the majority of Ethiopians can not still afford a single meal a day (inspite of yearly inflow of millions of tone of USAID food) What exactly is happening in Ethiopia ??? A society, divided ethnically and which is not at peace with itself will not be expected to show any meaningful development.
Let us get rid of the Woyanes and their ethnic policies, and a real economic and social development will surely follow.
Tell it as it is!
Most Ethiopians are farmers, and as productive farmers, they have been supporting Ethiopia through their hard work for hundreds of years until they got confused by having lost their farm lands to the Woyanne regime and Woyanne taking some of their lands and selling them to a foreign country.
How come these three prominent Ethiopians – Meles Seitanawi, Deputy Prime Minister, Addisu legesse, and Dr. Eleni Zaude G. Medhin – tell a lie at the United Nations Conference Hall by advocating that they have helped “farmers to produce more food products than before,” and this was done, according to their assertion, due to their “correct agricultural policy.”
The Ethiopian farmers have never been short of producing plenty of farm products, but due to the transportation problems, they have never been able to bring their products to the market, and even if they do, Meles’ political gangs always cheat them by buying their products cheaply and selling them at the highest price, there by getting more profits than the farmers, and the farmers go home having been cheated and exploited by Meles and his political parties. We hear Meles talking about ‘transparency,” but at the same time, we see him stashing millions of dollars from the sesame products, cotton products, mining industries and other productive factories into his own pockets. Does he really pay taxes on those products? Does any one dare to ask him how much money he and his wife make a year? Has he ever told to the world how much money he has in the World Bank? What is then the use of talking about transparency if he doesn’t tell us what he is doing with all the Ethiopian money he has been amassing since he came to power? What kind of help has he given to the Amhara farmers, to the Oromo farmers, to the Ogaden farmers, and to many other Ethiopian farmers? Has he helped them build irrigation systems, fight the drought, fight the frost, fight the hail, fight the birds, the insects, the rats, and other natural disasters that consume the farmers’ crops?
I remember very well as a young student at Zebena-Mariam, Debark. I have seen the farmers of this district fighting with thousands of rats invading and destroying their crops as the farmers try to destroy the rats by puffing smokes into the rats’ halls, but their work was in vain, and they have to give up because the rats were so many that the farmers have nothing to do, and the government gave them no helping hands.
As always the farmers work tirelessly from sun rise to sun set, and when the farmers are ready to harvest their crops, then Woyanne sends his closest allies to the farmers’ fields to see how heavy the farmers’ crop is; then he would put heavy taxes on them. To pay their taxes, the farmers sell their products at any price so that they could pay their taxes on time; otherwise, they would go to jail.
Therefore, when Meles is talking about “helping farmers,” what kind of help is he talking about? Taxing the farmers heavily, cheating and exploiting the farmers every year is the kind of help he is talking about, I think. If indeed there is an increase in food production, why is part of the Oromia region is starving to death? May be, according to Meles, those people do not belong to Ethiopia, and Meles does not care if the people of Oromo perish for lack of food, while he is talking there is plenty of food in Ethiopia.
By the way, the increase in food production Meles is talking about could be the sesame production from the Humera-Setit agriculture owned by Meles and his wife Azeb Mesfin or Golla. This may be true because Meles and his wife have taken care of the Humera-Setit agriculture more than any other Ethiopian agriculture since it is their own taken by force from the farmers.
To me, “…correct agricultural policy” is when the farmers are given back their farm lands, when the government is helping the farmers to get the values of their products, when the farmers are getting transportation help to bring their products to the market, and when they have a say on the values of their products; this is what “correct agricultural policy” is to me and, I believe, to the Ethiopian farmers in general.
And what makes Ethiopian’s marketing system “backward and inefficient” is that Meles has refused to provide farmers with modern transportation system and to buy their products at the market values. He forces the farmers to sell their products at lower prices. It is his policy that makes the Ethiopian marketing system weak and backward and full of bribery and haggling.
Meles, Addisu Legesse, and Dr. Eleni, you have been in power for 17 years and still have failed to establish a Commodity Exchange market in Ethiopia, and you have been getting assistance from every direction, but you do not know what your priorities are – not to feed the hungry, not to shelter the homeless, and not to cure the sick, but to buy sophisticated weapons and bully your neighbors and your own people; that is where your priorities have been so far and at this particular time.
Dr. Eleni, do you think the creation of ECX project is the result of your dream, and this false dream of yours will change Ethiopia? I doubt it because none of you know what is good for Ethiopia; you simply talk about dream and change. In America when they say “the American dream,” they mean it, and they work hard to achieve that dream, but in Ethiopia, you don’t even have a dream to make Ethiopia a free country from a dictatorial leadership, from arresting its citizens and sending them to jail without telling them what their crimes are.
Yes, you have had a dream, and your dream was to take Ethiopia by force, to separate Eritrea from Ethiopia, to make Ethiopia a land-locked country, like Chad, and to remain in power for ever ad ever. This, of course, have been your dream, and it is a bad dream, and the result of your bad dream has changed Ethiopia from bad to worst; you have divided the country into various ethnicities for your own political purposes. So, I believe, you have a dream to change Ethiopia from a wealthy country to one of the poorest countries in Africa, from a peaceful country to a pugnacious state, and from a historically, culturally, and morally rich country to a barren country. These are the results of your ungodly dreams for Ethiopia, your country.
Dictator Meless is leading and cheating 65 million people who have never tested Coca Cola in their life.
A few days ago I was watching a TV program on Cuba’s revolution and the role played by Castro in the late 1950s.When they made agrarian revolution peasants in the country werw exhilarated. Industrial workers did the same when American companies were nationalized.This reminds us of the Ethiopian revolution of 1974.But look where the two countries are found.The average income in Cuba Now is 20USD per month, while in Ethiopia the per capita income is 120USD.Cubans are allowed to have mobile phones a few days ago later than Ethiopians.
I brought this comparison to amplify that Socialism or Socialist economic planning is a failed system as a whole.Therefore, the Woyanes, if they have the wisdom, should learn from their failures rather than taking a defensive position and adopt a new land tenure policy as the one envisaged by the prominent economic scholars of Kinijit.The only way out that salvage the nation from poverty is social- capitalism.Land should sold out whether we like it or not!Otherwise we will remain poor like the Cuban Chinese,Vietnamese farmers! Meles’s rethoric is simply bla bla!
Although I am for change as EPRDF is not a perfect government. However it has also some positive contribution one of the positive contribution is land ownership. One can lease but not own the land for ever.
Alaska is sold to USA from Russia, The area that became Alaska was purchased from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867, for 7.2 million dollars.
Guantanomo from cuba The first U.S. presence on Guantánamo Bay was a Marine battalion that camped there on June 10 1898, and the first American casualties of the Spanish-Cuban-American War were two marines killed there the following day.
Five years later, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt signed an agreement with Cuba’s new government, leasing the bay for 2,000 gold coins per year. The agreement was forced on the new Cuban government through the Platt Amendment, which gave the U.S. authority to interfere in Cuban affairs.
The Lease Agreement signed on February 16 1903, granted the U.S. “the right to use and occupy the waters adjacent to said areas of land and water… and generally to do any and all things necessary to fit the premises for use as coaling or naval stations only, and for no other purpose.”
I was one of the main opposant of land being owned by the government.
Now I am living in Europe. By no means land should not be sold. In this regard I support EPRDF. Who has the money? An average Ethiopian income is 120 dollar. Who will buy the land? Simply foreigners, those who salvaged their nationality and those who immigrated. Locals do not have the wealth.
We should not sell our land.
Land to the people
No selling of land
This is my present stand. However, I am not dogmatic. Even if the who ever government comes, there should be a pilot test before privatizing on selected area, it should be done slowly in 50 year range. There is nothing to hurry. God has created the earth to last long.
Hi Everyone, With all the due respect to everyone’s opinion here and with all the disagreement many of us have with many of the policies of the tplf junta, the two things the EPRDF unelected regime might have done right is the leasing of land and the establishment of the ECX. I for one do not agree (including the argument based on rationalizing the fear that the eritreans might use the ethnic division against us just like the time of the dergue if we do not establish an ethnic state) with the division of Ethiopia along ethnic lines. In my view it’s very destructive, divisive and would bring more harm than one can imagine. I also am in complete disagreement with the tplf junta’s crackdown on the opposition, the media, the civic organizations and their grip on the military, the police and the judiciary to fulfill their wishes only. Having said that, I also do not believe in having a kind of the bush mentality..” either you are with us or against us “, which led to the unilateral invasion of Iraq by anglo-saxons leading to the quagmire they are in now. I want to get rid of the mentality that get the tplf into power in the first place and that kept them there for the past seventeen years. I always wander when people now blame the tplf for letting Eritrea succeed from Ethiopia even though that was what the dergue told the Ethiopian people would happen unless they got rid of the eplf and its firstborn the tplf. The two narrow minded tribalist groups did exactly what they set out and said they would do if they were given the power. Now, the majority of Ethiopians would not agree with these minions but they have the support of the neo-colonialists and some greedy buisnessmen, who want to be praised for hiring 15 thousand out of 81 million poor people and stashing billions of dollars to entertain teenage mistresses all over the world. What also sickens me is that the leader of these minions, meles keles zenaw is poersonally profiting from a modern day slavery deal of sending The Ethiopian Youth to arab countries to work as maids and servants and some put the figures between 3 to 4 thousand US dollars per head, that in one year alone had seen 6 thousand boys and 32 thousand girls being shipped to the middle eastern countries. The repression, the corruption, ethnic nepotism, the disparity of wealth and institutional, educational and health failures in the country are open to anyone who would not want to close their eyes. However, we the Ethiopians should have known that when we helped these minions upsurp to power and continue to sustain them with all the help they need to stay in power. One way we did that for may years is by having the mentality and practice that any difference of opinion should not be tolerated. The Grandfather of Ethiopian Unity and without any doubt the TRUE SON OF ETHIOPIA, PROFESSOR MESFIN WOLDEMARIAM, always says..” the country is for all of us and we need to learn how to usher different opinions and learn from one another”. Alas, it went to deaf ears and the “WE KNOW IT ALL MENTALITY” is one that divides us all big time and make us pery to tplf’s continued suppression over our people. Hence in order to get rid of the dictatorial regime we need to practice democratic (one that can accomodate the differences in opinions/policies/operational methods and applications)ways of doing things. The new generation of Ethiopians should learn from the past mistakes of the dergue,eprp, meison, hibret, hailu-shawel and co., eppf, and/or any other namely nationalist organizations which could not bore any fruits since they made their members bicker and fight for every little difference of opinions. But how do we break this bad habit of looking at everything that our percieved enemy does in negative ways? Well, for a start let us have principles to live by … unlike our popular proverb ” Leba teizo dula felega!” , meaning a thief would get punished right on the spot without the due process of law..let us have the mindset that “until proven guilty one is innocent”. This is the approach taken by Senator Obama in terms of the view of black people against hte whites. He in a way told the White Americans that, ‘I will presume you are not a racist unless you prove me otherwise’. Even though this is a different approach his black predecessors and probably the majority of Black(African) Americans have aginst their white counterparts it became the central platform All Americans can work from and Obama gets the support of all Americans from all walks of life. In doing that Obama does not compromise his country’s soverignity, his people’s dignity and America’s foundational Values that the rest of the world covets to have. Therefore the new generation of Ethiopians should also have principles to live by. These principles some may be essentials and others non-essentials. We need not have to compromise on essentials but have the liberty to accomodate differences in non-essentials. This is where my difference of opinion with my Ethiopian brothers who criticize and express their opposition to anything and everything the present junta or any individual in Ethiopia does. It’s with this in mind that I would agree on the land lease system in Ethiopia for the time being since the opening of land ownership would lead us back to the Feudal system under the circumstances. It’s a simple truth that if the privatization of land starts today it’s only the Al- Amoudin’s, who can afford to buy land in mass that would benefit out of it and the poor farmer would not gain anything out of it. However, the use of land leasing to promote one party’s political agenda is what puts us in complete disagreement with the tplf junta and that just like the media, the judiciary and the military should be run indepedant from political interference. The other one is ECX, which would put the Ethiopian farmer in the right direction toaccumulate wealth the same way other farmers in the capitalist society would. My understanding regarding the ECX is the child of Dr. Eleni G/Medhin, now Chairman of the ECX and for those who want to learn about her visions we may watch her Viedo representation on TED. I was hoping her vision to come to frutition and from what I heard her telling the story it’s one infrastructure that is long overdue in our country. I also recognize the danger that the greedy minions of the junta regime and other so called buisness people could use the ECX to profit from the blood of millions of our farmers. But as we say “Kijgjet teferto saiytegna aiytaderm”.. You would not stop sleeping just because you are scared of having a nightmare..Let Dr. Eleni proceed her dreams and let us help her by making sure the structures she created would bring many out of their misery…call me naive but I think we would shorten the time of these minions by putting our efforts together to support good causes in the country and creating mediums that can accomodate the differences in opinions to flow in an amicable manner. Let us stop fighting and calling names those who are trying to do something under the circumstances. Constructive criticism is one thing..but blaming someone for everything that went wrong and labelling him to side with the junta.. would increase the number of friends the tplf would have since we do not allow anyone with a different opinion to come in our midst and they would use them to prolong their grip on the power we need to learn how to praise someone for their accomplishments and start ourselves to be doers not just talkers of the changes we profess to would have liked to see. I hope the new Generation of Ethiopians would take their responsibility seriously and would bring a brighter and better future in the UNITED ETHIOPIAN NATION AS WELL AS THE REST OF THE AFRICAN CONTINENT! GOD BLESS ETHIOPIA AND ETHIOPIANS. THANK YOU.
we have to have
It is better to write about the contributions an individual make, or to quote him/her inorder to clarify a point. But to pass one’s judgement on an individual and to read that in public is not a discourse or an inlightenment. “Denkoro defar new” is a good adage. one has to be a bit denkoro to beat his/her chest and declare to the world that Abebech(that’s me)is the true daughter of Ethiopia. Only denkoros do that.
Abebech.
Lets read what demogag Weyane says quite the opposite.It means starvation is looming in our beloved country.Waw weyane the son of the Nazi
Hi Abebech Gemeda, Our Holy Book the Bible states that, “.. one who calls his brother ‘Dekoro’ deserves the judgement of Hell”. I would not want that to happen to the true daughter of Ethiopia ..so if I were you I would not use this words and obviously you do not understand my whole message which would have redeemed you of your stubborn ways. In case if you would read afterwards of what I wrote there are essentials and non-essentials, which in this case Professor Mesfin Woldemariam is to me and millions of Ethiopians that testified about him is a true hero and Child/Son of Beloved Ethiopia. For you it could be meles keles zenaw…and all you have to ask would be what makes a person a true child? Wihout asking that if you draw your conclusion and jumping into insults would make one.. Well, I’ll leave it to the readers judgement.. but to say the least is not civilized. Thank you..Ewnetu..
There are many issues Ewnetu/Obama of Ethiopia raised.
One is the Bible as the final judge of humans, which I believe is a man made book. Call it Holy or Good, the bible’s “God” is a blood thirsty, full of vengance, and unfair. That god has chosen its own people and I am not one of them.
As far as “True” sons of Ethiopia are concerned, it should not be left to a biased politicians. The people and history have time to sort that out, okay?
Prof. Mesfin currently is a controversial figure within Kinijit. This is FACT. There are those who think he is a hero and there are others who think otherwise. This is where you, Ewnetu, came in and declared to the world (or at least us) about your feeling. As to Mele Zenawi, well . . I think of him as a leader imposed on the Ethiopian people by westerners. And there are other western oriented politicians, even within the oppositions, who are waiting on the side to do the western(democratic) bidding at any cost. Putting morality aside, what really makes a person a “True” son/daughter of a nation?
TPLF has its own “True” sons. You have your own “True” son. And I do not agree with you both.
Abebech.