Do land transfers to international investors contribute to employment generation and local food security? : Evidence from Oromia Region, Ethiopia
Abstract
Purpose
Like many countries in the developing world, Ethiopia has leased out a huge amount of land to foreign investors. However, empirical evidence on the contribution of international investments to employment generation and food security is limited. The purpose of this paper is to examine the contribution of large-scale farms to local-level food security in Bako Tibe District, Oromia Region.
Design/methodology/approach
Primary data were collected from 200 randomly selected households from two purposefully selected villages in the district. Secondary data were collected from government offices and the literature. Propensity score matching was used to match households based on observable characteristics. Using the World Food Programme (WFP) approach, the food consumption score (FCS) of households was calculated. Finally, the Average Treatment effect for the Treated was determined.
Findings
Findings indicate that foreign land deals increase the odds of households falling into food insecurity and that the employment opportunities are both temporal and marginal. Furthermore, these land deals result in a decline of households’ FCS and thus have a negative effect on households’ food security.
Research limitations/implications
The result is based on a case study which is not generalizable to the whole of Ethiopia.
Practical implications
The result implies that future endeavours should resort to substantial changes in the principles of investment as well as the design and enforcement of contracts on land transfers so that international investors can commit to objectives beyond private profit.
Originality/value
It examines the effect of large-scale land transfers commonly termed as land grabbing on local food security. The paper makes an important contribution to the current policy debates regarding land grabbing in Ethiopia as research about the contribution of land deals to the food security is limited.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The paper is an output of a scholarship from the Food Security Center, University of Hohenheim, which is part of the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) program “exceed” supported by DAAD and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The authors also would like to thank Zewdu Ayalew, Tilahun Woldie, and Getachew Magnar for their assistance in data collection and management.
Citation
Alamirew, B., Grethe, H., Siddig, K.H.A. and Wossen, T. (2015), "Do land transfers to international investors contribute to employment generation and local food security? : Evidence from Oromia Region, Ethiopia", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 42 No. 12, pp. 1121-1138. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-02-2014-0037
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited