On 5 November 2018, international media reported that Iran vows to sell il, bust US sanctions. When he was elected in 2013, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani sharply criticised his predecessor President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for widespread corruption, which was partly a result of an attempt from Iran to bypass United States and UN-imposed sanctions.
Before signing the Iran nuclear deal that eased these sanctions in 2015, Iran tried to bypass the United States and UN by selling its oil through undercover government and private channels. This strategy laid the groundwork for unprecedented corruption, which included Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, the police and even privates citizens who sold Iranian oil on the black market. This allowed sizeable fortunes to amass, with millions of US dollars never finding their way to Iran’s tax coffers.
But only two years latter, Rouhani came into office and promised to stop bypassing and establish transparency to fight massive corruption rooted at the heart of the government. Now it seems President Rouhani has forgotten his sharp criticism, which was welcomed by experts and voters. He admits that Iran will bypass sanctions once again “with great pride”. He omits the consequences for the Iranian economy, which is still suffering from the country’s former attempt at bypassing sanctions.
Back in 2007, an international commission of inquiry report revealed that international sanctions are an invitation to all manner of corruption, including money laundering siting Iraq a case in point. More than two decades ago, from 1995 to 2003, the United Nations ran an oil-for-food program for Iraq. The country was then under the iron fist of the then President Saddam Hussein.
What was true back then is just as true today. However, it appears that the United States Treasury has learned from the past. For that reason, it has taken the extraordinary step of publicly detailing a brand new scheme of abuse by naming names.
The Iraq-related UN racket was exposed by a commission headed by former United States Central Bank Chief Paul Volcker. Volcker’s book exposed a scheme that could serve as the plot for a major movie. The central character is a Syrian national Mohammad Amer Alchwiki. He runs a company called Global Vision Group in Moscow. At the core of the scheme, stated the United States Treasury, are the Iranians who are breaking United States sanctions by shipping oil and helping the Syrians to pay for it.
The Global Vision Group has been arranging the shipment of millions of barrels of oil from the National Iranian Oil Company to the Syrian government using vessels insured by European companies. The United States Treasury said: “Since at least 2014, vessels carrying Iranian oil have switched off the Automatic Identification System (AIS) onboard before delivering oil to Syria, as a means of concealing the true destination and recipient of this Iranian oil.”
Then, the Assad government uses the Global Vision Group to assist in moving hundreds of millions of dollars, which originated with the Central Bank of Iran, to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard which serves as paymaster to Hamas and Hizballah. Illustrative of how money laundering schemes operate, the participants in this racket used intermediary companies to hide their operations.
According to the United States Treasury dealings with the Iranians by Alchwiki’s group were managed through a Russian company Promsyrioimport, which is controlled by the Russian Ministry of Energy, and an Iranian pharmaceutical company, with funds coming from the Central Bank of Iran.
The United States Treasury has targeted nine individuals and organizations for sanctions in this scheme, but will this action make any difference? Peter Rudolf, Senior Researcher at German Institute for International and Security Affairs argued that it may well end up forcing the Iranians and Russians to establish new operations to achieve their purposes. But it seems unlikely that the United States action will diminish the determination of the Iranian and Russian governments to support the Syrian regime and to use Iranian oil in the process.
Lain Cameron of Oxford University asserted that sanctions, as we have seen often, and as seen so clearly in this case, push the sanctioned groups and governments into operating schemes through intermediary companies to cover the illicit flows of goods and cash. Bribery becomes a standard part of the process. Cash transfers across borders are hidden as far as is possible, and often successfully.
Frank Vogl, Co-founder of Transparency International and author of a book entitled “Waging War on Corruption: Inside the Movement Fighting the Abuse of Power” underlined that sanctions could be more effective if a far tougher anti-money laundering set of measures were in place by the governments that control all important Western financial centers. According to Frank Vogl, it is ironic that theUnited States Treasury should be so vigilant and effective in investigating and exposing sanction-busting schemes, and so understaffed and ineffective in exposing illicit financial flows into the United States.
Lain Cameron noted that the United States does not have in place a system that requires the naming of the beneficial owners of shell companies that are controlled by foreign citizens and own investment assets in the United States. The U.K. has this, and it ought to be a model for all countries. Republican and Democrat leaders in both houses of the United States Congress have been giving increasing support to draft legislation that could to a degree resemble the approach that the British have taken.
Sanctions and corruption
Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture
Agriculture remains the most important sector to provide both food and a livelihood to the majority of the people, also in Ethiopia. With the current ongoing reforms, the Government includes natural resources, crops, livestock and fisheries in the portfolio of the Ministry of Agriculture, all providing a wealth of opportunities to produce nutritious foods and income, not only for the producers but for all involved in the entire chain until the consumer. Now, climate change has been threatening agriculture production for some years now, as the weather is changing and becoming more unpredictable as we see more frequent droughts, heaver rains, higher temperatures and so on. Adjusting ourselves to the changing environment, techniques and approaches are being developed into so called climate smart agriculture. Drought resistant crops are being developed and used, while we also see a shift in suitability for certain types of agriculture. Indeed, threats but also opportunities are presenting themselves.
All along the emphasis in agriculture seems to have been on producing more food and providing some measure of food security. But even though the world and this country produce enough food to feed all, that does not necessarily mean that all mouths are fed, leave alone they are fed with nutritious food. More often than not people eat foods that provide energy, less though foods that contain highly required micronutrients and vitamins. Enter the current emphasis on nutrition-sensitive agriculture, essential to help fight malnutrition and stunting as it puts nutritionally rich foods, dietary diversity, and food fortification at the heart of overcoming malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies. Nutrition-sensitive agriculture brings a variety of foods onto the market, recognizing the nutritional value of food for good nutrition, and the importance and social significance of the food and agricultural sector for supporting rural livelihoods. Food systems will thus be better equipped to produce good nutritional outcomes. To properly address the problem of malnutrition, interventions are needed throughout the entire food system, from production to processing, transport, consumption and waste management. Improvements will also be needed in complementary sectors such as health, education, water and sanitation to eliminate the spread of infectious diseases and to share knowledge on successful nutrition practices. Government integrates nutrition-sensitive strategies into agricultural development policies to ensure nutrition sensitive programs are funded and implemented, while cross-sectoral coordination is essential for sustainable, comprehensive advancements in eliminating malnutrition. Increasing nutrition-sensitive agricultural production, makes more nutritious food available and affordable, which improves both the health and the economic status of the community. Also, promoting sustainable production practices like conservation agriculture, water management and integrated pest management can improve nutrition levels without depleting natural resources. Family farming, home gardens and homestead food production projects can make a wider variety of crops available at the local level. Also, micronutrient content in foods can be enhanced through processing, plant breeding and improved soil fertility. In addition to changes in the agriculture sector, government can promote nutrition-sensitive agriculture by incorporating nutrition-sensitive concepts into relevant farm policies and programs.
A nutrition-sensitive approach can contribute to physiological, mental and social development, enhance learning potential, reduce nutritional disorders and contribute to the prevention of diet-related diseases later in life. An holistic approach, as emphasised by the Government, incorporating explicit nutrition objectives into agriculture, health, education, economic and social protection policies, is essential in pushing malnutrition back.
Now, both Government and development partners are aware of the importance of applying nutrition-sensitive agriculture.and the Government developed a nutrition-sensitive strategy two years ago. The below is quoted from the introduction of that strategy, derived from which I can see many opportunities for farmers and the private sector engaged in agriculture.
“The problem of food and nutrition security remains the main health and development issue for the country. The prevalence of stunting among children 6-59 months old is 40% and the prevalence of wasting and underweight is recorded to be 9% and 27% respectively. Micronutrients deficiency is also pervasive and severe in the country. About 44% of under five children, 30% of adolescents, 22% of pregnant women, 17% of women of reproductive age are anaemic. Consumption of minimum acceptable diet by children is only 4 % which is very high when compared to other sub-Saharan countries (EDHS 2014). This puts Ethiopia among the countries with high malnutrition burdens.
Considering that about 84% of Ethiopians live in rural areas and are primarily engaged in agricultural activities, initiating and strengthening Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture (NSA) in the agriculture sector is critical. NSA aims to maximize the positive impact of the food system on nutrition outcomes while minimizing any unintended, negative consequences of agricultural policies and interventions for the population. It is a food and nutrition-based approach to agricultural development that focused on year-round availability, access and consumption of diverse, safe and nutritious foods and sustainable agricultural systems at the heart of overcoming malnutrition and its consequences.”
Who takes the opportunity?
Ton Haverkort
Dirty Work
Gambella’s land is extremely fertile and if managed properly could feed the entire Ethiopian population. However, because of poor management, bureaucracy, ineffective loan systems, corruption, and security problems the region has failed to live up to its potential. Investors in the area complain about poor regional administration, and economic experts argue that the farms do not benefit locals. Adege Nigussie, was one of the first investors in Gambella and owner of Westren Agro Processing Industry Zone, but because of regional mismanagement he shut down his business in Gambella. He sat down with Capital’s reporter Tesfaye Getnet to tell his story and talk about the state of commercial farming in Gambella.
Capital: What is the state of commercial farming in Gambella today?
Adege Nigussie: Mechanized farming started in Gambella during the Derge regime following the proclamation “land to the tiller” this caused large farms to become fragmented and decreased productivity. Then the Derg created state run farms to alleviate reoccurring famines. After the down fall of the Derg regime, commercial farming began and some companies such as Bazin and Agri Mech were successful. After the Ethiopian millennium about 90 international and local investors purchased land and ran commercial farms. When banks began giving loans for rain fed agriculture, about 1,000 local investors appeared in Gambella, but to answer your question there are only 10 investors who are engaged in commercial farming the rest are gone with the wind.
Capital: Why does Gambella not have a significant amount of farm exports when it has such fertile land?
Adege: You are right the Gambella region has virgin arable land. Its arable land is almost equivalent to the Netherlands which is one the world’s top agricultural producers and exporters.
However; it is able to feed its 16 million people and export products but Gambella is not able to feed its 300,000 people. Ethiopia’s export GDP in agriculture contributes 83.9% out of which Gambella contributes less than 10% Most sectors in Ethiopia have properly articulated policy and regulations and so does agriculture. We need to figure out what the problem is. One dilemma is that sectors like agriculture are being led by political appointees who often do not have any clue about effective policies while people who actually know what they are doing are often in subordinate positions. 
Capital: Are the county’s policy and regulations enough to guide commercial farming in Ethiopia?
Adege: Most sectors in Ethiopia have properly articulated policy and regulations and so does agriculture. We should make a proper evaluation to find out where our short comings are. As far as we are concerned we feel that most sectors like agriculture are being led by political appointees who want to be an expert while the expert in the area tends to be subordinate.
Capital: What happened with your farming investment in Gambella?
Adege: Our business was one of the few profitable farms in Gambella because there were not many local or international investors. But soon an organized gang came and disturbed our farm. They were made up of laborers but apparently were organized by ministry level people. I was put in jail five times for no reason other than I was from a certain ethnic group and that I had money.
Even though we endured many inflictions, we were the first to invest in a cotton farm in Abobo Wereda. We purchased additional land to potentially build an agro processing plant and cotton gin. Once people saw that we were doing well they worked harder to sabotage our operation.
My land was invaded and then without notifying us people constructed buildings on the land. When this occurred we appealed to responsible government bodies from the Prime Minister to the Wereda Administrator and ARRA to prevent people from unlawfully occupying our land. While we were taking the case to them, they unlawfully imprisoned me over five times without any conviction. Now we have decided to take the case to the court to get our land back or financial compensation.
Capital: How to you plan to get your land back and restart commercial farming?
Adege: This is a new era when justice will prevail for all citizens and we will see growth. We are very optimistic that we will get our unlawfully confiscated land returned or be financially compensated. With regards to the plan we have for the upcoming year, we will enhance our cotton farm productivity and build a cotton knitting plant in order to add value and make products for the export market.
Capital: Why do you think local people in Gambella don’t invest in farming there?
Adege: Most investors throughout history have been from government affiliated groups. This is because they are the only ones who get loans and know information through government channels. Disadvantaged groups including native populations do not get transparent information and are not able to tackle problems. In the Gambella region there is only one native investor his name is Okum Ojulu.
He got land from his brother and developed a farm for over 10 years. He was able to get a loan and became the first and only local individual farmer. The other farms were from the farm union at Pugnudo being developed by native people.
Capital: GMO cotton is allowed to be used in Ethiopia and other GMO crops like corn are being studied. Some think it will enhance production and others fear it will reduce soil fertility and hurt our environment and health. What is your stand on GMO seeds in the country?
Adege: Cotton production has suffered from low yields because seeds have stayed around a long time and pests such as the Mealybug and Pink Bollworm diminish its production. Cotton production in Ethiopia was about 60,000 tons/h in 2012/13 however; it declined to 38,000 t/h in 2017/18 while we import 19,000t from India to meet the 2017/18 local demand. When we see the demand of cotton in Ethiopia, it has increased alarmingly because many industrial parks were being built and numerous international textile companies are attracted to Ethiopia (such as H & M) the cotton market will likely increase. Therefore, we should use BT cotton to meet the growing local demand and international exports while we also should use organic cotton product for the organic market.
Capital: What kind of reforms do you think should be initiated to transform commercial farming across Ethiopia?
Adege: Ethiopia should enhance commercial farming. The country should facilitate the market system to the investors. It needs to create ties with agricultural universities with a vicinity agriculture office in order to facilitate chemical supplies, soil fertility tests, seed supplies and skilled human resources. It needs to avoid the entire political entrepreneur and make the investment open to the genuine entrepreneur. Costs can be reduced by using combiners and up to date technology, while leaving the financial sectors to professionals only.
Peace must break out among our youth
One Saturday morning the lady who washes clothes, Zenebech (Zeni), arrived home with a beautiful young girl. Usually she comes alone and does her washing singlehandedly. I took a close look at the young girl. She takes after her mom. The only difference between the two is that poverty has squashed Zeni like lemon and put a soot black seal on her red cheek. Zeni is a kind of lady who does not want to sit idle. If there isn’t any clothes to wash, she will ask to do something else.
“She is my daughter,” she said while grabbing the big basket which was stuffed with dirty clothes, “she insists on supporting her old mom.”
“Oh, you have a pretty daughter. Did you not tell me that she went to a university? …” I asked after greeting the young girl.
“Yeah… you know the current problems with these universities… I don’t want her to die a dog’s death. She is the only daughter I have been blessed with… I am scared, Gashie! … I called her to come back home as soon as possible after observing the incidents we have been witnessing in some universities. It is better for her to sit with folded hands at home with her poor mother than get killed cold-bloodedly. I don’t want her tiny head crushed with a thick club or cudgel… Don’t you think, Gashie, it is much better to die together here than to be left far off like a dead body of a truant dog?” Zeni said with downheartedness …
Zeni receives 250-500 birr per month from every household for the service she gives once a week. If it is a big family, she will have a pile of dirty clothes to clean. Here she is paid from birr 400-500. Using the money, she feeds two of her children and herself. She is a widow. The first born, daughter, is so good at her lesson that she passed school leaving examinations and joined a university last year. But now she can not continue her education due to the sporadic conflicts occuring in the higher learning institutions of the country.
Zeni’s son is still pursuing his high school education. He is likely looking forward to joining a university next academic year. But Zeni’s worry is that how will he be sent out of Addis in such situation. This is the problem many parents are facing this time in our country…
The word university is defined by Oxford Dictionaries as a “high-level educational institution in which students study for degrees and [it is also a place in which] academic research is done”.
Young people who are staying in and coming out of the university are the future leaders, physicians, military personnel, nurses, teachers, engineers, journalists, accountants, scientists, philosophers, chemists, biologists, pharmacists, linguists, generals, prime ministers, presidents, mayors, political leaders, writers… of this country. The fate of this country falls in their hands. If they have been trained in a proper manner, they will play significant roles in keeping their country in the track of development. If they are made to learn in a crooked or unproductive way (this is to mean poor curriculum and education system), the upcoming result will be bad. Poor education system can have contributions for the production of unproductive posterity. We will likely to have backward, uncivilized, impolite, disrespectful, vulgar and insolent generation. One can clearly see the wrong track this country will take being ruled by such generation. Generally, the education system will play decisive roles in the fate of this country. What is written in black and white in the Bible is a good example for such way of nurturing young ones.
“For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” – Luke 6:43-45 (KJV)
I am of the opinion that if a country wants to march along the track of development peacefully, special emphasis should be given to the young ones and the education sector. The concerned body of the education sector in particular should think of designing promising type of schools’ curriculum before the young ones are herded in to schools, colleges and universities. If there is needed to include in the curriculum, for instance, moral education, this must be given due attention. Efforts should thus be put forth to help the production of well-mannered, productive, disciplined, passionate, nation-building… citizens from the very grassroots levels way up to the tertiary stages of the school system. The young people should be taught in such a way that they can become the building blocks of the nation. To the best of my belief this is how social transformation can be achieved through well-designed education system.
What is the purpose of going to school? Why do we learn? The simplest response might be to know about things or a subject matter and at length to get engaged in a job. What we are taught commonly is that “education is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and habits”. What our universities are expected to achieve through their efforts are these things. They are responsible to train the young people to responsibly think, plan, act and solve problems. If this is done, we can say the students are well-educated.
To say an individual is educated, there should occur behavioral or attitudinal change within him/her. If s/he doesn’t show behavioral change in terms of big thinking or positive progress or improvement, it can’t be said the individual is educated. If universities are not well-maintained (in terms of curriculum design, types of relevant courses or fields of studies…), they may fail to live up to their expectations.
When we come to our point, it is our belief that educated people are expected to do what they do as well-trained or well-educated human beings. In this regard, they are different citizens. They are much better than non-educated ones. This is to indicate that students are expected to solve their problems through round table discussions, civil arguments, debates, tolerance, respect… They should try to defeat one another not by fighting or killing but through dialogue, tolerance and respect. They are not expected to kill or fight one another. Those who try to solve problems through violence and force are not certified they have been changed through education. Such things are rather expected to be done by barbarians and beasts. Think of the difference between beasts and human beings. Being wild can never be associated with trained and educated modern people.
Any activist or politician who is said to be educated have to do things in a civilized manner. His/her positive thinking and productive outlook can be regarded by others as exemplary. S/he is the one who does not do things in a biased or partial manner. A genuine activist will thus not be a cause for conflicts or disagreements. Please think of some of our activists or politicians here in our country. How can we say they are the product of well-organized school system? They are not! They are rather the product of crooked educational system. They lack moral, discipline, civility… Afterall, you cannot make a straight line with a crooked ruler.
These days our universities have been changed in to conflict zones or battle grounds. Many of the young students in the universities are not acting like educated ones. They are armed with cudgels, stones, clubs, iron bars and penknives instead of books and pens. The young students do not do researches but rather they look busy killing one another, cudgeling their own school mates or brothers and sisters to death.
The young daughter of Zeni, the cothes washing lady, has been forced to quit her education and has returned home. She is among the citizens who are expected to change themselves (their lives), their respective families, communities and the country at large. But due to the said problems, whatever their causes are, she cannot utilize the privilege to change herself through education. How unfortunate she is! What is her choice? She does not want to sit with folded hands at home. She was determined, for the time being, to help her mother by washing clothes. Unfortunately, this young educated lady has been forced to do similar work her mom, the uneducated one, is doing. What will she do next? Probably she will soon find herself to be a commercial sex worker. Then she saves some money and hits the road to Arabian countries or to Europe across Libyan deserts… Jesus on the cross! … Where is the progress? Where the hell is the transformation? Can we say this should be the last destination of the young lady and her brother who are looking forward to changing their lives for the better?
The writer can be reached at gizaw.haile@yahoo.com
By Haile-Gebriel Endeshaw
