The Political Economy of Plantation Agriculture in Ethiopia: The Case of Flower Sector in Holleta Cluster

The research deals with political economy of planation agriculture with the main focus on land and labour relation in flower sector. It includes the process and mechanisms of enclosure, dispossession and transformation of land use rights of famers and the labour regime following land dispossession in flower growing area in Ethiopia. The study adopted a comprehensive approach by taking into account local and international issues and the political/economic context under which flower sector is carried out. The Marxist political economy theory of class and class analysis is used to analyze nature of transformation and class relation on land and labour as well as understand the level/structure/ of accumulation. The research findings show that domestic and international institutions (state and financial) as well as foreign and local investors played a role in establishing and strengthening flower sector investment in Ethiopia. The finding also shows that the control of land through enclosure and dispossession, changed land property relations (use rights in the case of Ethiopia) and labour relations. Land dispossession led to land concentration in the hand of capitalist investors to make profit/surplus for accumulation and reinvestment. Flower sector is a capital and labour intensive sector and has become globally competitive. Flower sector investors employed more unskilled and non-skilled workers per hectare than other plantation crops. Flower sector created employment opportunity but did not offer decent working and living conditions for workers. Workers live in the state of insecure income, poverty and precarious working conditions; low wages, absence of leaves, forced overtime work and freedom of association and bargaining. Low wages and poverty forced workers to engage in other activities such as farming and self-employment for survival. Flower investment created smallholders famer (dispossessed) who are struggling to continue farming by engaging in sharecropping and rent as well as other wage and self–employment. As a result, wage workers consisting flower workers, dispossessed people and other famers created in flower growing area. Landless and unemployed youth whose parents land is dispossessed by investors subsequently could not inherit land as well as found job as their place is occupied by migrant low wage workers emerged in flower growing area. Power relationship between classes determined the share of benefits from flower farm and the amount of accumulation. Not all groups are equally benefited from flower farm as different class has as difference experiences. Flower investment enhanced surplus value and accumulation for the capitalist investors and benefitted few part-time and seasonal workers. However, the sector dispossessed small farmers their land and exploited flower sector wage workers. Finally, flower investment is challenged by environmental pollution, absence of farmers’ integration, inefficient utilization of land and bad working condition of labours.