Land grabbing in Sub-Saharan Africa : the case of Gambella region of Ethiopia

Abstract

Since 2008, land grabbing has become trendy, especially in the global South, particularly in Africa. Such a trend can partly be explained by the land rush in the global North, spurred by speculations of the global rise in the demand for farmland due to forecasts of food shortages and surges in demand for biofuels, among other issues. This ethnographic study thus documents the Gambella people’s contestations, perceptions, and the socio-economic implications of the land grabs to pave the way for foreign occupiers. I frame this study within the concept of the international dependency theory. I do this to analyse how land is taken from the people of the Nilo-Saharan linguistic group called the Nuer origin in the Gambella region and pay attention to the socio-economic implications of these land grabs on the local people of the Gambella region within a qualitative research methodology.