East Africa is once again caught in the middle of a global food paradox. As hunger deepens across Ethiopia and Sudan, some of the region’s most fertile farmlands are being diverted to feed animals and people in faraway Gulf states.
For more than a decade, countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been securing long-term leases on vast tracts of farmland in Africa. The earli Instead of reinforcing local food security, these deals have often displaced farming communities and prioritized exports to foreign markets.
Ethiopia and Sudan at the Centre
Ethiopia illustrates the contradiction clearly. The country has more than 20 million people undernourished, yet it continues to allocate fertile land for export-oriented agribusinesses. Saudi Star, a company with close ties to Gulf investors, controls 10,000 hectares in Gambella. Local farmers accuse it of sidelining staple crop production while water from the Baro River sustains rice for export.
Across the border in Sudan, where UNICEF estimated over 220,000 children were at risk of malnutrition in 2024, UAE-owned Al Dahra is cultivating alfalfa — not for Sudanese households but for livestock feed bound for the Gulf. Critics call it a cruel irony: fertile land and water, desperately needed for local food production, are effectively outsourced.
Who Benefits?
Many of these farmland agreements are negotiated with little public scrutiny. Investors obtain long-term water use rights, generous tax incentives, and flexibility on labour or environmental standards. Governments often present the arrangements as opportunities to attract foreign capital and modernise agriculture. Community groups point out that the benefits are uneven. In many areas, small farmers say they have lost access to fields and grazing lands once those spaces were handed over to investors.
Analysts say the underlying issue is governance. Weak institutions, combined with the colonial legacy of cash-crop economies, have left East African states vulnerable to unequal deals. “The result is that some of Africa’s best soils are not feeding African families,” noted one Nairobi-based policy expert.
Calls for Safeguards
Pressure is mounting on international observers such as the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Bank to push for stronger safeguards. Proposals include mandatory community consultations, requirements that part of harvests remain in local markets, and regional standards to regulate foreign farmland leases.
Without the measures stated above, experts warn, East Africa risks reinforcing what some call a “new agrarian colonialism”, a system where global demand dictates how local land and water are used, regardless of hunger on the ground
The Bigger Picture
The situation highlights the difficult trade-offs for African governments seeking foreign investment while grappling with poverty and food insecurity. As Gulf states confront their own water scarcity, Africa’s farmland is becoming an increasingly strategic asset.
Analysts note that the effect of large land leases will depend on how they are overseen. In rural parts of Ethiopia and Sudan, people describe the impact in everyday terms — smaller harvests, higher food prices, and reduced access to farmland that families have used for generations.
