Country review paper of Ethiopia. Agrarian reform and rural development in Ethiopia
Anonymous
Country Review Paper, WCARRD Secretariat, FAO, UN 73: 207
1978
Document Number: 636530
In March 1975, Ethiopia proclaimed a land reform which was national in scope and consonant with the objectives of the Ethiopian Socialist Revolution which began in February 1974. This land reform - its antecedents, why it was necessary, and its objectives, successes, and constraints encountered to date - forms the subject of the paper. The paper is divided into three major sections. Part I. Land and peasants in Imperial Ethiopia, focusses on a brief description of the national economy, on regional land holding structures and land tenure relations and on an analysis of the problems which emerged from these structures and relations. It is concluded that the pre-reform feudal structure was incapable of meeting the demands of national development, and for that reason the structures themselves became the focus of increasing criticism by allied progressive elements among the officials. Part II. Revolution and land reform in Ethiopia, reviews the contents of the Proclamation to Provide for the Nationalization of Rural Land, issued in March 1975, as well as the importance of land reform within the context of revolution and the national objective of a socialist transformation of agriculture in Ethiopia. In addition, the process of land reform implementation is briefly reviewed to demonstrate the importance of various public institutions in collaboration with peasant action and organization which were necessary for a successful implementation. Part III, Man and land in socialist Ethiopia, focuses on the changes realized to date in the rural sector, as well as on the various obstacles to more rapid rural development which have been overcome in the 3 years since the land reform was implemented.