Impact Of Large-scale Agricultural Investment On The Livelihood Of Local Community In Gambella Region Ethiopia

The phenomenon of larege-scale agricultural investment (hereafter LSAI) has raised profoundrnconcerns and debates regarding food security, livelihoods, and socio-economic status of the societiesrnwhere such investment projects transpire. Particularly, empirical evidence regarding the impact ofrnLSAI on the livelihoods of the local community is limited. The purpose of this study is, therefore, tornquantify the actual impact of such investment on the livelihoods of the local community and contributernto filling knowledge, empirical, and methodological gaps in the literature. By using a primaryrnretrospective data collected from 505 households and 150 married women in Abobo and Itangrndistricts, this study employed a Propensity Score Matching method to estimate the impact of LSAI onrnfood security and asset/wealth status of the affected households as well as on women empowermentrnlevel. Statistical techniques such as Multiple Correspondence Analysis and Principal ComponentrnAnalysis were employed to construct various indexes. The quantitative analysis was complemented byrnqualitative data collected from 31 key informants and nine focus group discussions. The qualitativerndata were analyzed using content analysis. Various primary and secondary data sources were alsornutilized to analyze and understand the history, policy and legal frameworks, nature, magnitude, andrnbenefits of LSAI in Ethiopia in general and Gambella region in particular.rnThe result of this study indicates that government agencies have a weak capacity to administerrninvestment land and projects and are characterized by flimsy horizontal and vertical coordination andrnintegration. The land governance system is also found to be unresponsive, non-transparent, andrnunaccountable, and characterized by rent-seeking, corruption, and rule of man. The existingrninstitutions, structures, land and investment policies are also failed to safeguard the localrncommunities against potential and actual risks of the investment and to ensure potential benefits andrnrights expected from the investment. Above all, investment projects are poorly integrated to orrnisolated from the local community due to the enclave business model they adopted. Contrary to thernneoclassical but consistent with middle path theories of investment, the study finds that LSAI has arnnegative impact on food security and wealth status of the affected households mainly due torngovernment failure. On the other hand, in line with the argument of the resource in culture theory, thernresult shows that married women’s employment in LSAI projects does not have an impact on theirrnempowerment level.rnIn general, LSAI has contributed to the deterioration of livelihood assets of the local people andrnworsened the food insecurity and wealth status of the affected community than they would have beenrnwithout the investment. Moreover, the federal government and Gambella regional state failed tornrespect, protect, and fulfil food security needs of investment hosting community through LSAI. Fromrnthe gender perspective, women’s access to paid employment in LSAI projects does not improve theirrnempowerment level. We, therefore, recommend that the state should not promote LSAI at the expensernof local people’s livelihoods and urge the government to reform the sector in such a way that take thernlocal context and rights into account and involve local people at each stage of decision making so thatrnthey can directly benefit from employment opportunities, infrastructural development, andrntechnological transfer. Besides, the government need to look at other investment alternative models,rnfor example, eco-tourism (that include diversified production systems of the indigenous communityrnand promote people-centred and empowerment approach).rnrnKeywords: Large-scale agricultural investment, Livelihoods, food security, asset, womenrnempowerment, Gambella, Ethiopia

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