Addis Abeba — A new investigation by Nigerian publication Premium Times has raised questions over the performance and human costs of Saudi Star Agricultural Development Plc's large-scale rice investment in Ethiopia, reporting that much of the company's 14,020-hectare land portfolio in Gambella region remains idle more than 15 years after the project was launched.
The Saudi-backed venture was promoted as a major agricultural investment and was linked to promises of between $2.5 billion and $3 billion in investment, had projected annual production of one million tons of export-grade rice.
According to MIDROC Investment Group, Saudi Star Agricultural Development PLC (SSAD) was established to undertake large-scale agricultural development projects. It has acquired 10,000 hectares of land for the Alwero Rice Farm and an additional 4,020 hectares at the Abobo Privatized Farm in Gambella Regional State. The company also states that it operates modern rice-processing facilities and a cotton ginnery.
"Alwero rice farm specifically located in the south-west of Alwero river at downstream of the existing Abobo earth fill dam where it is located at about 45 Km from Gambella city," its official profile reads.
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According to Premium Times , the project was undermined by environmental miscalculations, operational challenges and weaknesses in its original feasibility assessments. The company constructed sections of an irrigation network connected to the Alwero River system, but that significant portions of the infrastructure are now dry or abandoned.
Ethiopian culture guide The report qouted Jemal Ahmed, CEO of MIDROC Investment Group, which owns Saudi Star, as saying that the project's initial planning had underestimated environmental challenges, saying that moisture shortages, erratic rainfall and migrating birds had significantly affected production. "The decline in performance occurred because the initial study and investment for the rice project underestimated environmental challenges," the report qouted Jemal as saying.
From the outset, the project has been embroiled in allegations of land grab and displacement affecting indigenous communities in the Gambella region.
A community representative from Abobo Wereda told Premium Times that residents had lost access to ancestral lands and natural resources following the establishment of the agricultural concession. "Fifteen years later, we are locked out of our own lands by fences," the elder was quoted as saying, adding that communities had received no fair compensation while large areas of farmland remained unused.
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The investigation further reported allegations of poor labor conditions at the project, citing workplace records and interviews with former employees. The publication said its review found high rates of occupational injuries and widespread lack of personal protective equipment among field workers, while many local employees were reportedly hired on temporary contracts for low wages. One former worker alleged that local laborers were treated as "disposable labor" and could be dismissed after workplace injuries without adequate medical support or compensation.
Growing frustration has also prompted regional authorities to demand greater accountability over the project's performance, according to the investigation. Gambella Regional State Investment Commission Commissioner Lou Opiew was quoted criticizing the slow pace of development and warning against allowing prime agricultural land to remain underutilized.
Agricultural policy experts interviewed by the publication called for authorities to strengthen oversight of large-scale agricultural investments by linking land leases to measurable targets on production, land utilization, employment and community benefits, alongside independent environmental and social impact assessments.
