Donors are embarrassed by blatant TPLF use of their money to disenfranchise the poor and sell their land to wealthy foreigners. Groups such as the Oakland Institute and Human Rights Watch have repeatedly demonstrated that foreign aid is actually hurting Ethiopia’s poor instead of helping them.
The United States, U.K. and Germany have worked out a face-saving formula that should help them fend off criticism of their money harming the very people they purport to help. They have entered a land use contract euphemistically called a “land country partnership.”
The partnership “will support improved rural land tenure security for all, including…communal and pastoral areas.” The agreement “will strengthen transparency in land governance.” The effort appears to pressure the TPLF to curb some of its most blatant behavior. But the agreement has no mechanism to enforce violations of these limited checks on the government’s behavior.
Will land grab slow down?
Ethiopia: Featherstone – G8 Land Deal to Boost Land Rights in Ethiopia
By Allafrica.com
December 9, 2013
On Dec 09, the Governments of Ethiopia, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and the Federal Republic of Germany announced agreeing to enter a land country partnership to work together to improve rural land governance for economic growth and to protect the land rights of local citizens in Ethiopia.
This partnership builds on existing programs and represents an important vehicle for increased coordination and collaboration among the Government of Ethiopia and its development partners. The announcement came after the representatives of the heads of state from G8 member states gathered in London to mark the handing over of the G8 Presidency from the United Kingdom to Russia.
The partnership with Ethiopia will support improved rural land tenure security for all, including through appropriate land use management in communal and pastoral areas. It will strengthen transparency in land governance, including by promoting responsible agricultural investment through an improved legal framework and practices.
Speaking for the UK, International Development Minister Lynne Featherstone said:
“I welcome this announcement that the Governments of Ethiopia, the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom are entering a land country partnership.
“Having secure rights to land will help people across Ethiopia to grow the food they need, boost incomes, defuse conflicts and deal with the impact of climate change. This joint partnership will make sure Ethiopia can make the most of its valuable resources and attract the investment and income needed to boost growth and fight poverty.”
Ethiopia’s Minister of Agriculture Tefera Derbew said:
“The Ministry of Agriculture of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia welcomes this joint partnership in the context of supporting the implementation of Ethiopia’s Rural Land Administration and Use plan under its policy and strategic frameworks. It will help the country to ensure and sustain its economic development by strengthening rural land governance in view of fostering food security and realising constitutionally recognised rural land related rights of Nations, Nationalities and People of Ethiopia. I hope the current harmonisation, co-ordination and alignment mechanisms of Rural Economic Development and Food Security Working group (RED-FS SWG) and Sustainable Land Management Platforms will serve as an engine to further deepen our joint partnership on rural land.” German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Dirk Niebel said in Berlin: