Mereja Forum

[Ethoash]

dr.Axumezana

in other forum u talk about land policy calling for privatitzation

what do u mean by that u want the farmers to sale their land? if that is the case what safty net do they have once they sold out their land?

do u remember in Addis Ababa srounding area the oromo farmers sold their lands for 100,000 birr and most of them doesnt know how to handle money and they start spending it there is no tommorow and the money soon finished and they go back and protested they lost their land ..even so they finished the money drinking and womizing so u want this to be repeated i really i dont understand what those people calling for land privatization if u do please tell us.

to me there is always an middle ground after your answer i will tell you my own solution

[Axumezana]

The objective of privatization of land is to make structural change in the economy by creating enabling environment for big scale farmers that use mechanized and irrigated farming, eliminate subsistence farming and to empower citizens to build their own affordable houses based on their capacity.
On the issue related to farmers selling their land and loosing their strategic asset, even today they are loosing their land for a very low compensation payment from the government , whereas the government and its corrupted officials make millions of birr from leasing revenue and corruption respectively. If land is privatized, the farmer will get much higher price, based on market prices. Of course the farmer is expected to use the money wisely! These days every family has educated children or family members and the probability of using the money wisely is higher. Industrialization also creates employment opportunity for low skill labor.

[Ethoash]

Axumezana

now let us consider the worst scenario... the poor farmers sold his land to highest bider and lost his land then what ? he have lquid cash in his hand u must know how hard it is to save money so let assume the poor farmers finished his money with in one years and he have no money or land then what would we say to him...

i know u said the poor farmers have educated kids i understand this but what i am talking few famers who faild and spend thier money reducrdless of their educated childern what are u say to them? do u have any safty net? or they r their own.\?


my second question is is Ethiopia have land problem? do we have shortage of land we should have to touch our farmer land? can we give free hold government land to investors even free land free tax if they brining the billion dollar and know how and techolgoy why would we make them pay for the land when they brining 100,000 job and create wealth.

[Axumezana]

Let us not forget that in the real world only the fittest survives. If the land is owned by the farmer, the decision to sell the land solely lies on him and he should take responsibility on consequences of his decision. With the existing system the land is owned by the government and the decision to take away that land from the current tenant is solely done by the government and it's corrupted officials and the farmer is overnight loosing his livelihood by force.

On your 2nd question , the availability of free land depends on the location. Most of the unutilized land is available at the low lands and this land could be continued to be owned by the government until it is sold to private investors either on lease basis or direct sale( I do not support foreigners to own land indefinitely). Even if it is sold to Ethiopians, the government has to make sure the private owners are using it per the sell agreement and should be able to repossess it , in case not utilized per the agreement. Management of the sell agreement of free lands is very crucial to avoid people from hording lands and recreate the abolished Feudal system. On the densely populated areas most of farm land is occupied by subsistence farmers and I am with the opinion that the substance farming is one the reasons why Ethiopia has been exposed to famine and it has to be abolished not by force but by market dynamics( allowing the farmers to sell the land based on market price at the time they wants to do so).The subsistence farming system encourages each farmer to live in his/ her comfort zone which is less risk but keep the countries resources( labour( the farmer ) and the land unproductive).

[Ethoash]

Axumezana

you really make me laugh when u said sorry in the real world only the fittest survives.... i think they lie to you they dont leave the poor and the sick along even in America the poor survived with welfare system ... in Europe forget it they live like a king ... in Canada they figure it out it is very cheap to pay someone few dollar then arresting him and cost them more jailing them ... u think those unemployed will get away just because they lost their land they will be their to beg, to steal, even to commit crime they become unemployed and migrate to city and be come nuisance... they start producing more children in to poverty and eat out of garbage and make the city unlivable

so my idea is not total privatization but the ownership deed can be given to them and their land Gps register so no one have the right to sale their right without their consent . even themselves cant sale it ... but as owner they can lease their land just everything and owner can do but not selling their land .. for example if they lease their land the money must be hold in land bank and the farmer get his money by monthly this way the money might last him 20 years and he will get his land again to release it and start making money

in short that land must be seen as safety net ... and few of their buddy must come together and start mechanized farming if that is required... it is in the best interest of the farmer not to farm the land himself because as groups they can use mechanized farming and he might not needed so he can go somewhere and make additional... income while his land giving him yearly income ... if the bank knew the farmer have monthly income then they can invest on him they can build modern house that he can pay out of his monthly income . many of his live can be modernized become of his monthly income we can build him solar power to light his bulb and tv.. ect. we can build biogas and use the gas to cook for food and stopping cutting trees. we can dig for shallow water for drinking water and garden farming ... he can even start small business or small farming such as keeping chicken and milk cow...

[Axumezana]

I take your proposal as an option, because the farmer is not forced to sell with out his consent and he leases it at market lease rates )except the proposal to micromanage how to use their money is not appropriate and not practical.Your proposal also does not radically change the subsistence farming based agricultural economy, but I believe radical change is strategically important for Ethiopia. Your proposal also does not address how ordinary Ethiopians get a small plot of land to build house( that is a chronic problem as of today and we see the government cruelly destroying houses in the name of "የጨረቃ፥ ቤት" with out addressing the root cause of the problem).
On your comment about the safety net system I understand that each country has it's own policy! Personally I believe on the biblical principle (Bible ref: Thessalonians 3:10) " Who does not work shall not eat" . However, I also believe the safety net system is required to bring people out of temporary (transitional safety aid system) crises or support them life time if they face life long health related damages. But I do not agree for people to live in the lazy "comfort zone" of exploiting the safety net system. That is the other coin of slavery & neocolonialism ( addict them with safety net/aid and keep them lazy, unproductive and uncompetitive too keep them unreactive, while exploiting their resources).

[Ethoash]

Axumezana

Very Good discussion .. I agree with you welfare system make you lazy .. i understand this but i said Welfare for luck of word to describe what i try to say... when i said the former can lease and get his money by monthly installment that money is his safety net... i dont want him to sale his one hector land and become landless hence this so called welfare money come to him monthly ..

now the biggest different with USA OR WESTERN welfare system .. this land income is guaranteed income ... he can work while keeping the money from his land lease this way the more he work the more he make in Western welfare system they don't encourage u to work if u work they take your welfare money so how in hell u going to work when u make the same money as government give u while u lose your medication and dental free policy

government housing also doesnt encourage ownership in Western society they make you renter for next 30 years and you will not show any improvement but what we talk about in Ethiopia house ownership .. you pay reduced rent that goes to your ownership of your house the more you pay the more it goes in to your house mortgage the sooner you pay off the sooner you become owner of your own house so it encourage hard work

3rd...about the land as safely net... i am only talking about one ጋሻ መሬት what the government give them under ደርግ (derg mengistu haile mariam rule)
the government micro manage that one hector of land because it belong to government .. as u said if the land is privatized the farmer can buy more land and he can be free to do whatever he want for example if he buy 9 hector of land he will have ten hector with the government give away land.. so he can sale his 9 hector land or lease them or do whatever he want but not the one hector that the government give him ... he we assume the exceptional farmer work harder and need more land to farm then they would be free to buy more land from government or from land owner based on lease... and pay up the lease just like rent monthly ...

more to come for now this is enough. i hope you understand my english

[euroland]

You two Agames
Worry about if the Aide trucks will arrive in time to feed your starving people.

dr.Axumezana

in other forum u talk about land policy calling for privatitzation

what do u mean by that u want the farmers to sale their land? if that is the case what safty net do they have once they sold out their land?

do u remember in Addis Ababa srounding area the oromo farmers sold their lands for 100,000 birr and most of them doesnt know how to handle money and they start spending it there is no tommorow and the money soon finished and they go back and protested they lost their land ..even so they finished the money drinking and womizing so u want this to be repeated i really i dont understand what those people calling for land privatization if u do please tell us.

to me there is always an middle ground after your answer i will tell you my own solution

[Axumezana]

Ethoash,

Thank you also for the good discussion and for the points you raised and I share your concerns. As an example as of today, the Indian hundreds of millions of poor people( they call them untouchable) face survival challenges and abuse by the land lords, because they do not have any land and it is my strong view that Ethiopia should not go to the Feudal system directly or indirectly to where India is today. However, I also believe the existing land policy of Ethiopia has to be changed to address the following:
(1) The existing system allows the government to make huge money from leasing land to investors, while giving a very small percentage of that to farmers as compensation and uproot them from their land.
(2) The existing system has become increasingly difficult for ordinary Ethiopians to acquire a small plot of land to build house( that is a chronic problem as of today and we see the government cruelly destroying houses in the name of "የጨረቃ፥ ቤት" with out addressing the root cause of the problem)
(3) Subsistence farming has locked farmers in their comfort zone for generations with low productivity, hand to mouth income and vulnerable to famine

[Axumezana]

Ascari euroland you people are like a dog that makes noise to get attention ( while its owner is chating with people), because you suffer from Ascari syndrome illness.https://mereja.com/forum/viewtopic.php? ... e#p1290931

[TesfaNews]

Explain this Ethoash

[Axumezana]

Tesfanews, how many thousands of Eritreans are as of today in Tigray as immigrants?

[TesfaNews]