Ethiopian program to lease farmland for food production to private investors encounters setbacks- report

(Photo : Reuters) Two managers (second from left, center) with Karuturi, an Indian company with commercial farms in Ethiopia, checked the corn harvested by workers at Karuturi’s farm in Bako, Ethiopia.

A report from Bloomberg said the plan of the government of Ethiopia to lease farmland to private investors has suffered various setbacks.  The government set the program in place starting in 2008 in a bid to triple its food exports by 2015. One of the first to take advantage of the program is Bangalore, India-based agricultural firm Karuturi Global Ltd. Managing Director Ramakrishna Karuturi told Bloomberg that 80% of the land leased, which was located in the country's Gambella region, is located in a flood plain. For up to seven months of the year, their 100,000-hectare concession gets flooded by the Baro River.