This study examined impacts of large-scale farming in Ethiopia on local economic development, household food security, incomes, employment, and the environment. The study adopted a mixed research... Show moreThis study examined impacts of large-scale farming in Ethiopia on local economic development, household food security, incomes, employment, and the environment. The study adopted a mixed research approach in which both qualitative and quantitative data were generated from secondary and primary sources. Three large-scale farms (two foreign and one domestic) operating in Oromia, Gambella, and Benshanguel Gumuz regional states were selected as case studies. The result of the study indicated that large-scale farms generally undermined local level food security and incomes, generated little employment opportunities for the local population, deteriorated the local environment, especially in terms of vegetation cover and soil quality, and contributed little to local economic development, such as infrastructure construction, technology transfer, and generating fiscal revenue and foreign currency. The study concluded that the approach of large-scale mechanized farming contributes little to the economic and agricultural transformation of the nation. Local people generally lose out in respect of land transactions and investments, and they are expropriated from their customary land rights to the benefit of national goals. The outcome contradicts with the ethno-linguistic federal state arrangement of the country in which federated states manage their resources to improve their local development. Show less
