Invitation - Convention on the Great Land Grab Saga in Ethiopia and India on 6th Feb.

2013 Dear Friends and Comrades, This is to invite you as a delegate to the Convention on the Great Land Grab Saga in Ethiopia and India for a day-long conference on Feb. 6, 2013, India International Centre, New Delhi to deliberate on the ongoing land takeover in India and in African countries like Ethiopia by the Indian companies. The Convention is being co-organised by Indian Social Action Forum, The Oakland Institute, Kalpavriksh and PEACE. The convention will bring together activists resisting this land grab in different parts of India and Ethiopia to share their experiences, sufferings and collectively ponder on the way forward in challenging these land grabbers let loose by the so-called 'world's largest democracy.' The draft background note and draft agenda is attached. The accommodation is already booked for the outside delegates in Indian Social Institute. Kindly provide the details of your arrival in Bus/Train/flight to New Delhi at the earliest. We also take the opportunity to inform you that the meeting will be followed by another Convention on struggles against land grab and fabrication of false cases against activists all over the country during February 7-8, 2013 at Indian Social Institute, New Delhi*. In Solidarity Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director, The Oakland Institute, Oakland, USA Ashish Kothari, Member, Kalpavriksh, Pune Anil Chaudhary, Director, Popular Education and Action Centre (PEACE), New Delhi Wilfred Dcosta, Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF), New Delhi

*http://www.insafindia.net/2013/01/national-convention-on-struggles.html

Convention on the great land grab saga in India and Ethiopia (Feb. 6, 2013, India International Centre, New Delhi)

Draft Agenda

9.00 AM:

Registration

9.30 AM -9.40 AM: Welcome Address 9.40 AM-9.50 AM: Introduction 9.50-10.00 AM: 10.00 AM-12 PM: Speakers: Followed by open session 12 -1.30 PM: Speakers: 1.30 -2.15 PM: 2.15 -3.15 PM: Speakers: Followed by open session 3.15-5.00 PM: Political patronage of companies in India and Ethiopia in the era of economic globalization Speakers: Followed by open session 5.00-5.30 PM: Way ahead for joint struggles Lunch Land grabbing, Indian experiences Land grabbing, Indian experiences Inaugural Address Land grabbing experiences from Ethiopia

Draft Background Note Control over land and natural resources has recently become a subject of heated debate in India, and is, today, one of the central fault lines of Indian politics. New research in December 2012 by the Society for Promotion of Wastelands Development (SPWD), New Delhi and the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), Washington predicts massive resource takeover spurring conflict in 130 districts of India. The research indicates that India is a leader among land-grabbing emerging nations. Not only are rights flouted at home but Indian firms are doing the same abroad. The ongoing land takeover in India is captured in new findings released recently and illustrated on a map recording recent protests in 130 of Indias 602 districts, in virtually all states of India, most of which took place in 2011 and 2012. The government agencies and investors are responsible for a growing spate of violent clashes in the nations forest and tribal areas. The study argues that the reports of civil unrest, gathered from a review of newspaper articles and court cases, are the outcome of a massive transfer of resources from the rural poor to investors, aided by the government. The Indian government acts as a facilitator to the whole process rather than the main player. It is supporting the conventional new Greenfield foreign direct investments, merger and acquisition purchases of existing firms; public-private partnerships; specific tariff reductions on agricultural goods imported to India through the negotiation of regional bilateral trade and investment treaties and double taxation (avoidance) agreements. The largest single line of credit approved by the Exim Bank so far has gone to Ethiopia ($ 640 million) for its Tindaho Sugar Project and it is also widely expected to facilitate Indian investments. The soft loans, with an annual interest rate of 1.75 per cent, are to be repaid over 20 years. Indian companies are the second largest investors in the Ethiopian economy with approved investments worth nearly $5 billion and land lease agreements for over 4.4 lakh hectares across Ethiopia, 1 lakh hectares of which has been granted to a single Bangalore-based company, Karuturi Global Ltd. International. According to a news report in the Indian Express, The land lease rate in Punjabs Doaba region is a minimum of Rs 40,000 per acre. In contrast, in most African nations, the land lease rate in terms of Indian currency comes to Rs 700 per acre. This means that for every one acre in Punjab, Indian investors can own 60 acre in Africa. With a per capita land holding of 1.5 acre in Punjab, agriculture is ceasing to be a sustainable activity. Oakland Institute's (OI), co-organising this convention, has been doing pioneering research and working with Ethiopian groups. OI was targeted by the Ethiopian
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government for highlighting ongoing human rights abuses related to large scale land deals. See OI response*. The convention will bring together activists resisting this land grab in different parts of India to share their experiences, sufferings and collectively ponder on the way forward in challenging these land grabbers let loose by the so-called 'world's largest democracy.' Presentations from Ethiopian & Indian activists. *http://www.oaklandinstitute.org/open-letter-government-ethiopia