Role Op Agricultural Education

ROLE OP AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE IN ETHIOPIA by Dean Alexander Elliott A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major Subject: Vocational Education Approved Signature was redacted for privacy. Charge of Major Work Signature was redacted for privacy. Hea Ma^ctr^partrnent Signature was redacted for privacy. Dé ah of Graduate Iowa State College 1957 il TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 COUNTRY AND PEOPLE .... ..... 5 History 5 Geography 16 People 30 Government 38 Ethiopian Orthodox Church lj.6 Transportation and Communication pif. NATIVE AGRICULTURE 63 Soils 71 Crops 85 Grassland and Pasture 109 Livestock 117 Land Tenure 135? GENERAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION 162 Organization and Administration 165 Teacher Supply and Teacher Education 175 Schools and Colleges 181}. AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS EXCLUSIVE OF THOSE IN SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES 211]. United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration 211]. United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation. 225 United States Technical Assistance 2lj.O AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES 273 Community Schools 273 Harer Teacher Training School 276 Ambo Agricultural School 279 Jima Agricultural Technical School 285 Imperial Ethiopian College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts 3lJi Scholarship Program ^k-o RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT AND EXPANSION OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION IN ETHIOPIA 3^9 Schools of General Education 3£l Community Schools 3^2 Technical Assistance Activities Other than Those Involving Schools and Colleges. 355 Agricultural Secondary Schools 3^5 ill Page College of Agriculture 357 Research 358 Extension 359 Scholarships 360 SUMMARY 362 SELECTED REFERENCES 369 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 38l APPENDIX A 382 APPENDIX B 386 APPENDIX C 389 1 INTRODUCTION A number of American colleges and universities have assumed contractual responsibilities with the United States Government in providing technical assistance to underdevel oped areas since World War II. In most instances, the col lege or university has been called upon to organize, in a particular country, a program of agricultural education de signed to augment existing educational facilities sponsored by other agencies. The present study is a descriptive sur vey of the overall agricultural education program in Ethio pia, including activities carried on by the host Government, the United Nations, and the United States Government through a contract arrangement with the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical Arts College, There are three general parts to the study. The first is a description of certain factors which, in Ethiopia, are fundamentally associated with agricultural education. These include the country and people, the native agriculture, and the existing general education facilities. The second part consists of a description of the agricultural education which has been carried on to date in Ethiopia. The third part consists of recommendations for the expansion and im provement of agricultural education in Ethiopia. An effort has been made to present the information in 2 such a way that it may be of value In the United States as well as in Ethiopia. In the latter country, the study should be useful in outlining an expanded program of agricultural education. The recommendations which have been presented should be directly applicable. Beyond this, it is hoped that the study may be of some use as a reference for students in Ethiopia where there Is relatively little in the way of in digenous writing. An attempt has been made to make the material readable as well as informative. In the United States, the survey should be useful in bringing about a clearer understanding of problems which have been encountered in establishing a program of agricultural education in one underdeveloped country. Also, it should be useful in planning future technical assistance for Ethiopia and, to a limited extent, for certain other countries. Many sources were utilized in securing material for this study. Officials of the Imperial Ethiopian Government were very cooperative in discussing matters pertinent to the study. The same was true of officials of the United States technical assistance mission in Ethiopia. Unclassified re ports from both agencies were utilized. All of the afore mentioned were primary sources. Ethiopian libraries In various parts of the country and the British Museum in London were visited. Both primary and secondary sources were re viewed at these centers. In addition, secondary sources of 3 information were obtained from various libraries in the United States including the Library of Congress. At the time the collection of data was begun in 1953» there arose a particularly perplexing problem regarding the spelling of geographical names in Ethiopia. This was due, in part, to the fact that there is no satisfactory system of transliteration between Amharic, the national language of Ethiopia, and English. However, by the time writing was begun in September, 1956, the problem had been largely re solved as a result of research which has been carried on by the Imperial Ethiopian Geography and Mapping Institute in Addis Abeba. Under the direction of Dr. Gordon B. Shilz, the Institution has undertaken, among other activities, a standardization of the spelling of geographical names in Ethiopia. The spelling of names as proposed by the Insti tution has been used where possible throughout the study. Obviously, certain discrepancies have arisen in connection with quotations and names of publications, institutions, etc. In these instances spelling has been made to comply with the original, although the preferred spelling may have been included. Throughout the study, a special effort has been made to avoid comparing practices, methods, and facilities in Ethio pia with those in the United States or another highly indus trialized nation. This was done because it is considered h neither necessary nor even desirable that development in Ethiopia follow, exactly, the pattern set in highly indus trialized nations. 5 COUNTRY AND PEOPLE There are a number of factors associated with the coun try and the people that have a bearing upon the development of agricultural education in Ethiopia. These include the history of the country, the geography, the transportation facilities, the people, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and the present Government. The rough terrain, the lack of transportation facilities, and the diversity among groups of people have had a retarding effect upon agricultural educa tion. The Government, as is explained later in this manu script, has done a great deal in recent years to promote edu cation in agriculture. History A brief survey of the history of Ethiopia, formerly called Abyssinia, may be divided into five parts including the historical origin, the Axumite kingdom,^ the period of isolation, the growth of the present state, and the Italian ^Technically the country was not named "Ethiopia" until I9I4.I. It was first known as the "Axumite kingdom." Later it was known as "Abyssinia." At the close of the Italian conquest the present Emperor decreed that the country should be called "Ethiopia." 6 conquest.* Only the most important events in each period will be mentioned. The Historical Origin The history of the country is closely linked with a highland region known as the Central Plateau and the peoples who have occupied this mountain fortress. Here were begun the rudiments of government which (fere gradually expanded to encompass the remainder of the country. With few exceptions, kingship has descended among highlanders. A productive agriculture, plenty of water, and the availability of the basic necessities of life within the Central Plateau have enabled its inhabitants to survive wars even though isolated from the outside world. It is probable that the primitive inhabitants of the 2 highlands were of Hamitic stock. There is a twofold basis for this statement. First, early Egyptian stock was predom- 3 inantly Hamitic in origin. Second, the Gall a, Danakil, and ^•Confusion arises regarding terminology. The "Ethiopia" referred to in the Acts of Apostles, Chapter 8, can scarcely have been that which is known today. Historians point out that it must have been an earlier kingdom which existed on what is now the Nubian Desert in northern Sudan. ^Alega Taje of the Swedish Mission, Asmera, in his processed pamphlet, Abyssinian History, written in 1922, traced the historical connection between early Ethiopian tribes and Biblical figures. 3 A. H. M. Jones and Elizabeth Monroe. A history of Ethiopia. Amen House. London, England. 1935* p. 7. 7 Somali tribes which now Inhabit areas surrounding the Central Plateau are racially and linguistically akin to Hamites. Early in the first millennium B, C. the Hamites were forced from the northern extremities of the highlands by in vading Semitic colonizers who came from Yemen in southwest Arabia.* The immigrating Arab tribes probably did not all come to this land at one time but came in successive waves spanning a period of several hundred years. Thus, there appears to have been a gradual mixing of invading Semitic and indigenous Hamitic peoples. One of the immigrant Arab tribes, Ge'ez, has given its name to the fundamentally- 2 Semitic classical language of the country. Geez is also the liturgical language of the Church although as such it is declining in use. From Habashat, the name of another Arab tribe, may have been derived the term "Abyssinia," the name often applied to the country but not preferred by 2 its people. The Axumite Kingdom Successive invasions by Arabs and subsequent mixing with the indigenous tribes formed the core of the Kingdom of Axum which was centered in the city of the same name in 3-Ibid., pp. 7-8. ^Margery Perham. The government of Ethiopia. Faber and Faber, Ltd. 2l|. Russell Square, London, England. 19lj.7. pp. 12-34. 8 what is now Tigre Province. The kingdom came into prominence about 75 A. D. and remained a strong influence on the Central Plateau for over six centuries. One of the most important events of this period was the Christianizing of the Axumites which occurred during the fourth century A.

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