External Capitalist Forces Wreak Havoc in Africa





The exploitation of resources in Africa is not new, but the extent of agriculture "land grabbing" in African countries is unprecedented, becoming the new colonization of the twenty-first century. State violence against indigenous pastoral of Kenya and civil rights in the region of oil-rich Nigeria has increased, leaving thousands dead, the military burn entire communities to land and the police committed extra judicial killings, rapes, beatings, looting, arson and intimidation.




  The African land grab

In the midst of a food and economic crisis, the "land grab" trend has developed an international phenomenon. The term refers to the purchase or lease large tracts of land by the rich countries, insecurity Food and private investors, mainly from poor countries and developing countries to produce crops for 'export. About 180 cases of such land operations have been reported since mid-2008, as nations attempt to extend their control over land for food production and investors seeking to make profits in bio fuels and soft commodity markets.

Why Africa? As it is estimated that 90 percent of arable land in the world, is already in use, research from several countries as a result less affected by development, those in Africa. The race ground acceleration was caused by the shortage of food in the world that followed the sharp rise in oil prices in 2008, water scarcity, and the insistence of the European Union and 10 per percent of all transport fuels should come from bio fuels made from plants by 2015. Devlin Kuyek, a researcher based in Montreal, said that investment in Africa is now considered a new approach to food supply for many governments. "Rich countries are looking Africa not only to a return of capital, but also as an insurance policy. Food shortages and riots in 28 countries in 2008, decreased water, climate change and population growth have made huge set attractive land. Africa has the most land, and in comparison with other continents, is cheap, "he said.

An Observer survey estimated that up to 50 million hectares of land have been purchased in recent years and is currently being negotiated by the governments of wealthy investors and work with government subsidies. For example, Ethiopia is one of the hungriest countries in the world, with over 13 million people need food aid, but, paradoxically, the government provides at least three million hectares of his land on more fertile for the rich and some people easier to export food for their own people.

The trend towards Africa at the European level is characterized by many as the new colonization of the twenty-first century. Oromia in Ethiopia is one of the centers of the race on African soil. HIRP Haile, president of the Oromia Studies Association, said in a letter of protest to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, India has purchased one million hectares, Djibouti, 10,000 hectares, Saudi Arabia, 100,000 hectares, and Egypt, South Korea, Chinese, Nigerians, and other Arab investors have all been active in the state. "The Saudis are reaping the harvest of rice, while starving Oromo man as we speak," he said.

Head of the race are the agro-food international investment banks, hedge funds, commodity brokers, and sovereign wealth funds and pension funds in the United Kingdom, foundations and individuals from certain Land cheapest worldwide. Together they travel the Sudan, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia, Congo, Zambia, Uganda, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Mali, Sierra Leone, Ghana and elsewhere. Ethiopia alone has approved 815 foreign-funded projects in agriculture since 2007. All surfaces that investors have not been able to buy can be rented for about a dollar per year per hectare.

Saudi Arabia and other states in the Middle East emirate like Qatar, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi, is thought to be the biggest buyer. In 2008, the Saudi government, which was one of the largest wheat producers in the Middle East, has announced its intention to reduce its domestic production of cereals by 12 percent per year to keep its water. E 'spent $ 5 billion to provide low-interest loans to companies in Saudi Arabia wanted to invest in countries with high agricultural potential.

A supporter of land grabbing, Lorenzo Cotula, senior researcher at the International Institute for Environment and Development, co-authored a report on trade with the African land of the United Nations . While stating that well-structured deals can guarantee jobs, better infrastructure and better crop yields, admitted that they are treated that could cause serious damage, especially if local people were excluded from decisions on Land use and whether their land rights are not protected. In fact, land theft has impacted human rights of African people. According Kuyek, details of tenders in the field usually occurs between high-ranking government officials with little consultation with local farmers are often blurred. And in many cases, land which officials said was "used" is actually managed by local farmers in the traditional way of providing food and water for their communities.

Indian environmentalist Vandana Shiva argues that large-scale industrial agriculture not only throw people off their land, but also requires chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, irrigation intensive and large-scale transport, storage and distribution, which turns into a huge mono culture landscapes. "We are witnessing the dispossession on a massive scale. This means less food is available and local people will have less. There will be more conflict and political instability and crops will be eradicated. Small farmers in Africa are the basis of food security. availability of food on the planet will be reduced, he said.

For many, the land rush seems yet another wave of African extraction of resources that will be useful to governments and foreign companies at the expense of Africans and small farmers. The International Institute for Sustainable Development and the World Bank argued that the reports show that "more reasonable and appropriate to invest in food systems is to invest in small farmers," says Kuyek. "But here we are only large industrial agriculture."





  Agricultural biotechnologies

Historically, industry, agriculture, comes from the expansion of agricultural biotechnology in the West. The introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the United States and other countries has benefited mainly companies holding patents, paving the dependence of farmers on chemical fertilizers and pesticides produced and used by a few U.S. companies at the expense of human health, soil quality, and environment.

A consortium of multinational corporations entanglement, funded by taxpayer dollars through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), aims to promote the goals of biotechnology abroad, particularly in Africa, where Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia have been identified and were the reasons for this test. The obvious beneficiaries of this trend are the handful of international companies that hold patents and technology, the production of herbicides and pesticides required by the use of these seeds. Although the technology promised drought tolerance and higher yields in years, without providing there is no concrete answers resistant varieties available at the times of near-drought, adapted to some areas that are naturally high in captivity, the science that focuses on building soil quality and capacity of the soil retain more water, or push-pull and solutions that deal with pests naturally, attract beneficial insects by planting species compatible or act as decoys for pests.

The G8 has recently committed $ 20 billion in aid to promote food security in Africa, but the consultants of the environmental biotechnology of the current administration is more likely that these funds directly to biotechnology multinationals and promote land acquisition. These strategies proved to extract additional resources from Africa and impoverish the very foundation of food security, investment in small farmers in Africa.

  Oil an underlying cause of police and military attacks on civilians in Kenya and Nigeria

  Kenya:  During 2009 and 2010, the Kenyan government carried out a brutal campaign of violence against the indigenous Samburu people in north-central Kenya. Kenyan police forces conducted armed assaults on at least ten Samburu pastoral communities in Samburu East and Isiolo Districts, committing extra judicial killings, rapes, beatings, thefts, arson, and intimidation multiple times. Their actions have caused the Samburu people to suffer death, injury, terror, displacement, economic hardship, property loss, and vulnerability to disease and famine. These crimes have been reported and protested, but no action has been taken by the government of Kenya to investigate or prosecute the offending officers or their superiors. While police say operations in Isiolo and Samburu East were intended to bring greater security to the region, unconfirmed reports that a Kenyan military officer has leaked documents that suggest this ongoing campaign is aimed at forcing the Samburu to abandon their [pastoral] way of life have surfaced. A further motive for the aggression against the Samburu was suggested when, on October 12, the Kenyan government announced that it had awarded a $26 million lease to a Chinese firm to drill for oil fifteen miles away from Archer’s Post, one of the areas most affected by the violence and cattle confiscations. It is the first of eighteen contracts the government is negotiating with Chinese firms for oil.

  Nigeria:  The Nigerian military has carried out helicopter and gunboat attacks by land, air, and sea on the oil-rich Niger Delta; reports indicate hundreds, possibly thousands, of Nigerian civilians may be dead. Entire villages have reportedly been burned to the ground. Nigerian military reportedly carried out attacks in the area in an effort to oust from the region groups protesting decades of environmental exploitation, destruction, and human rights violations, including the torture and execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Nigerian activists. As many as thirty thousand civilians have been displaced without adequate food or water, and aid agencies have been barred from the region.

For years, activist groups in the Niger Delta have advocated for fair distribution of oil wealth to local communities in the impoverished region. One of the main groups in the Niger Delta, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), declared an oil war and threatened all international industry vessels that approach the region. Eighty percent of the oil extraction in Nigeria is in the Niger Delta. Major oil firms in the area, Shell and Chevron, have made record profits in recent years. Yet the oil-rich Niger Delta remains impoverished, with no schools, no health facilities, or basic infrastructure. Most food in the region is imported due to the decades of contamination of the water and soil by oil and gas companies operating in the region. Thus, the military blockade ultimately means starvation for thousands of people.
 
  Update by John Schertow

In the months following the report, the Kenyan police had two other large-scale attacks against the Samburu, one of seven distinct indigenous peoples of Kenya. These attacks, like those that occurred in 2009, were caused.

For centuries, indigenous peoples have participated with each other for scarce water resources, livestock to replenish stocks in periods of drought, their desire for cattle grazing, and gain the favor of their communities. But for the last fifteen years, arms dealers have weapons available to the public, transforming the traditional struggle of peoples' survival and dignity in one of unnecessary violence.

The government then ordered the police to get rid of illegal weapons and restoring peace and stability in the region. However, once there, the police immediately criminalized Samburu and began attacking their villages, steal their property and to confiscate their livestock.

"The brutal intrusion ... [At] modified and dismantled our oral history. We shall never be the same, "said Michael Lolwerikoi in a letter from the heart on behalf of Samburu U.S. group Cultural Survival (CS).

In January 2010, sent a delegation of the CS research to gather evidence of attacks. They had received reports from Africa since February 2009. The Delegation of the research has not been able to verify some of the reports, including those of the army, but after spending two weeks in Kenya, because of the Samburu of "limbo" is clear. In April 2010, published a report on their findings: ". When the police are the authors'

Ultimately, visit the organization in Kenya has played a key role to end the unnecessary attacks Samburu. After their report was received by the Minister of Internal Security of Kenya, the police ordered to stop using force and to conduct the operation to disarm peacefully. Since then, the SC said there were no other large-scale attacks on the Samburu. However, there is still room for history to repeat. "This is something that should clearly international pressure, because the police in Kenya continue to enjoy impunity," said Paul Palmer, a member of the delegation of research and report author. "[ E '] reflects what happened during the post-election violence be investigated by the International Court of Justice, "he added.

It is also necessary for the international exhibition, and it has never been provided major coverage of these tragic events. Palmer said he tried to join the journalists of the Guardian, the New York Times, and others, but none of these journalists.

The Samburu are asking the government to compensate their losses. And they, with the Borana, Rendille, Turkana, Somali, Meru, Pokot and they want to build a lasting peace in the region, with the help of their old and traditional. And everyone is eager to get rid of weapons. "This is something that everybody wants," Palmer said.

For more information and to learn what you can do to help, please visit http://www.culturalsurvival.org.

  Student Researchers:
~  Amanda Olson and Michelle Sewell (Sonoma State University)
~  Delana Colvin, Shannon Cree, and Anna Kung (DePauw University)


  Faculty Evaluators:
~ Mandy Henk and Kevin Howley (DePauw University)
~ Mickey Huff (Diablo Valley College)
~ Peter Phillips (Sonoma State University)


  Sources:

John Vidal, “Food, Water Driving 21st-century African Land Grab,” Mail & Guardian, March 7, 2010, http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-03-07-food-water-driving-21stcentury-african-land-grab.

Paula Crossfield, “Food Security in Africa: Will Obama Let USAID’s Genetically Modified Trojan Horse Ride Again?” Civil Eats, August 6, 2009, http://civileats.com/2009/08/06/will-obama-let-the-usaid-genetically-modified-trojan-horse-ride-again.

Thalif Deen, “Land Grabs for Food Production Under Fire,” Inter Press Service,
October 23, 2009, http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48979.

Stephanie Hanes, “Africa: From Famine to the World’s Next Breadbasket?” Christian Science Monitor, December 17, 2009, http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-Issues/2009/1231/Africa-from-famine-to-the-world-s-next-breadbasket.

Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, “Massive Casualties Feared in Nigerian Military Attack on Niger Delta Villages,” Democracy Now!, May 21, 2009,” Democracy Now!, May 21, 2009,  http://www.democracynow.org/2009/5/21/nigeria.

Justice in Nigeria Now, “Military Attacks Raze Niger Delta Villages Killing Civilians; Civil Society Groups Call for Immediate Ceasefire,” May 21, 2009, http://uk.oneworld.net/ article/view/162969/1.

OneWorld.net, “Nigeria Oil Violence Forces Thousands from Homes,” May 26, 2009, , http://us.oneworld.net/article/363376-new-outbreak-violence-niger-delta.

John “Ahniwanika” Schertow, “Stop Killing and Starvation of Samburu People in Kenya,” Intercontinental Cry, November 20, 2009, http://intercontinentalcry.org/stop-killing-and-starvation-of-samburu-people-in-kenya.

Paula Palmer and Chris Allan, Kenya Human Rights Research Delegation, “When the Police are the Perpetrators: An Investigation of Human Rights Violations by Police in Samburu East and Isiolo Districts [Kenya],” Cultural Survival, April 20, 2010, http://www.culturalsurvival.org/files/Samburu%20Report%20Final%205-5-2010.pdf.

Shepard Daniel with Anuradha Mittal, “The Great Land Grab: Rush for World’s Farmland Threatens Food Security for the Poor,” Oakland Institute (Oakland, CA), http://www.oaklandinstitute.org.

  Corporate Coverage:

Andrew Rice, “Is There Such a Thing as Agro-Imperialism?” New York Times, November 16, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/magazine/22land-t.html.
 
 

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