John M. Cohen The Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala Integrated Rural Development ed Rura The Ethiopian Experience and the Debate John M. Cohen The Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala 1987 This book has been published with support from The Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA). John M. Cohen is a tenured Fellow of the Harvard Institute for International Development and currently Senior Advisor on Rural Development in Kenya's Ministry of Planning and National Development. He has served as a Peace Corps lawyer to the Government of Ethiopia (1964-66), lecturer in Political Science at Haile Selassie I University (1971-73), and consultant to USAID and SIDA's projects in Ethiopia, most recently as a member of the joint Ethiopia-Swedish mission on villagization (1986). Prior to joining Harvard University in 1979, he was a professor in Cornell University's Rural Sociology Department. ISBN 91-7106-267-X O The Scandinavian Institute of African Studies and John M. Cohen 1987 Printed in Sweden by Motala Grafiska, Motala 1987 Contents List of Tables List of Figures Abbreviations Foreword Preface 1. INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND THE ETHIOPIAN CASE Rise and Fall of Integrated Rural Development Ethiopia Case and the Debate 2. INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT Scope of Rural Development Increased Emphasis on Rural Development Agricultural vs. Rural Development Analyzing the Undefined Expansion of Initial Concept Diverse Views on Meaning and Goals i. Emphasis on Reinforcing Inputs ii. Emphasis on Development Goals iii. Emphasis on Project Type iv. Emphasis on Special Planning Semantics and Analysis Conceptual Framework for Analysis 3. RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN ETHIOPIA AND CE-IILALO Agriculture and Economy in the 1960s Agricultural Policy under Haile Selassie Explanations of Agricultural Stagnation Profile of the Chilalo Region in 1965 i. Geography and Administrative Units ii. Ecological Environment and Climate iii. History of the Region iv. Population Characteristics and Settlement Patterns v. Agrarian Patterns and Resources vi. Town Environment vii. Basic Human Services viii. Markets, Transport and Infrastructure ix. Rural Social Life 4. STRATEGY, ORGANIZATION AND ACXWIlTES OF CADU: 1967-73 Administrative Setting Objectives of the Project Organization and Activities of the Project Strategy, Activities and Results i. Marketing Strategy ii. Extension Program iii. Research Activities iv. Credit and Input Provision v. Supporting Development Services 5. CADU'S ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL ME'ACT PRIOR TO 1974 110 Economic Impact 111 Stimulation of Local Participation 113 Constraints on Project Success 119 i. Land Tenure System 119 ii. Local Government System 122 Green Revolution and Social Effects 125 i. Government Policy on Mechanization 125 ii. Tenant Insecurity and Eviction 127 iii. Tenant Rents and Land Costs 129 iv. Government Land Grants and Tenants 131 v. Markets and Farm Gate Prices 131 vi. Local Government and Dismbution of Benefits 132 Evaluation of Project in 1973 134 6. REVOLUTION AND DEVELOPMENT: ARDU 1974-84 Expansion from CADU to ARDU Effects of the Revolution on Chilalo Debate Over ARDU Design Proposals for ARDU's Third Phase Agrarian Socialism in Arssi: 1976-84 1982 ARDU Performance Evaluation of ARDU Recommendations for ARDU Phase IV ARDU and PADEP Beyond ARDU to BARDU SEAD and Villagization Seventeen Years of Integrated Rural Development 7. CADU - ARDU AND THE DEBATE Problems in Comparative Analysis Project Experience and the Literature Will the Case Study Have Influence? Conclusion Selected Bibliography LIST OF TABLES 1. 1969 Population of Chilalo Awraja by Woreda 53 2. Milk Purchases by CADU Collection Stations 1967-71 82 3. Crop Purchases by CADU 1967168-1972173 83 4. Amount of Credit and Number of Loans Extended by CADU 1967168-1972173 94 5. Comparison of Benefits per Hectare to Tenants and Landlords by Using Improved Wheat Seed and Chemical Fertilizer in 1970 95 6. Distribution of Credit by Type of Farmer 96 7. CADU Sales of Inputs 1967168-1972173 96 8. Agricultural Income Tax Revenues in Chilalo Awraja 1970171-1972/73 113 9. Participation in Program in Selected Years 156 10. Arssi Households and Cultivated Area Served by Project: 1967-84 194 11. Increase in Project Distribution of Credit and Inputs: 1967-84 195 12. Average Crop Yields by Awraja in 1981 196 13. Adoption of Innovation and Yield Increases for Sample of Chilalo Farmers: 1967-80 197 14. Average Income Distribution per Household Before and After Land Tenure Reform 198 LIST OF FIGURES 1. Components, Activities and Types of Integrated Rural Development Projects 33 2. Map of Administrative and Development Divisions of Chilalo Awraja 48 3. CADU Organizational Format up to July 197 1 75 4. CADU Organizational Format Between July 1971 and 1974 7 8 5. Map of Administrative and Development Divisions of Arssi Region 149 6. Proposed ARDU Strategy for Linking Project with New Revolutionary Organizations 160 7. ARDU Organization Chart in 1982 172 Abbreviations AIDB Agricultural Industrial Development Bank AMC Agricultural Marketing Corporation ARDU Arssi Rural Development Unit BARDU Bale-Arssi Rural Development Unit CADU Chilalo Agricultural Development Unit DD0 District Development Office EDDC Ethiopian Domestic Distribution Corporation EPID Extension and Project Implementation Department EthB Ethiopian Birr (US$ 1 = EthB 2.07) called E$ prior to revolution GPTF Grain Purchase Task Force MPP Minimum Package Programme PADEP Peasant Agricultural Development Extension Programme PMAC Provincial Military Administration Committee RDA Rural Development Agent RDC Rural Development Centre SEAD South East Agricultural Development Zone SIDA Swedish International Development Authority Foreword The rural development project in Ethiopia called the Chilalo Agricultural Development Unit (CADU), later known by the acronyms ARDU and SEAD, is one of the oldest and best known projects supported by SIDA. Planning for the project started in the mid-1960s, Swedish support was initiated in 1967 and is still ongoing. CADU was one of the first and also one of the best known examples of the integrated rural development approach tried in the 1960s and 1970s. From the outset it was designed to meet all or most of the needs of small farmers for raising the productivity. The project provided a wide range of different services from agricultural research to rural water supplies and from livestock breeding to rural road construction. It was designed as an autonomous entity outside of the local administration, though gradually it was incorporated into the Ministry of Agriculture. This project offers examples of most of the possibilities, potentials, pitfalls and problems of integrated rural development projects. It has had several significant successes and some notable failures. To this day it can be cited as one of the most carefully planned rural development projects supported by SIDA. It offers a rich body of experience for the Ethiopian Government and for SIDA. From the outset its achievements have been documented in an exemplary fashion. Few projects have been so carefully monitores and evaluated. The project has at times been highly controversial. This was the case in the early 1970s when the then Imperial Ethiopian Government was reluctant to implement a much-needed land reform and the Swedish Government was contemplating withdrawing its support. This has again been the case in recent years, at least in Sweden, due to the use of project resources to promote collectivization of agriculture. This project therefore offers a rich field for study by scholars of social sciences and rural development. It is somewhat sad to not the comparatively few Swedish scholars have picked up this challenge, and that the project despite all is rather poorly documented in Swedish libraries. John M. Cohen of Harvard University has by a very wide margin been the researcher who has contributed the most to documenting the experiences from the project. He wrote his Ph.D. thesis on the project in 1973and has since the been a prolific contributor of articles and monographs on rural development issues in Ethiopia and on this project in particular. This volume is, I believe, his way of concluding the debate around integrated rural development in the context of this project. As everything he writes this book is based on exhaustive research and thoughtful analysis. It makes a most valuable contribution to the debate surrounding integrated rural development and to SIDA's records from its work in Ethiopia. It is my hope that it will also prove useful for the records of the Ethiopian Government. It is an excellent way of documenting one of SIDA's most thorough experiences fiom rural development. Johan Holmberg Assistant Director General, SIDA Preface Throughout the 1970s, integrated rural development was one of the most important development intervention strategies used by Third World govern- ments and international aid agencies. Despite a promising beginning, this approach toward increasing the agricultural productivity and quality of life of rural people is being seriously questioned. Unfortunately, the emerging critique is being written by social scientists lacking detailed case studies of such projects and direct personal experience in their design or implementa- tion. Moreover, it is being articulated with little regard for conceptual rigor by donors wishing to back away from their own initial mistakes. Finally, many of the critics appear more eager to find newer strategies likely to capture the