Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Lppsala Agrarian Reform in Ethiopia A Refo in Ethiopia Dessalegn Rahrnato Scandinavian Institute of African Studies Uppsala, 1984 Dessalegn Rahmato is a Research Associate at the Institute of Development Research, Addis Ababa University. For information about the Institute's research activities and publications, write to: Institute of Development Research Addis Ababa University P.O. Box 1 176 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. ODessaleg-n Rahmato 1984 ISBN 91-7106-226-2 Printed in Sweden by Motala Grafiska AB, Motala 1984 Publisher's Preface This book is the first full-length study of the land reform and the resultant social changes in rural Ethiopia. The author, Dessalegn Rahmato, a research fellow at the Institute of Development Research, Addis Ababa University, conducted the study as part of his own wider research on the problem of transition in agrarian societies. Dessalegn spent three months in 1982 as a guest researcher at the Scandinavian Institute of African Studies (SIAS) during which time he wrote part of the draft of the manuscript. The final draft was written in Addis Ababa during the spring of 1983. SIAS is happy to publish this important study which will contribute to the understanding of the process of change taking place in rural Ethiopia. Michael Stdhl Director SIAS Contents 1 INTRODUCTION 9 The Study 9 The Research Areas 10 The Scope of the Study 14 2 THE AGRARIAN SYSTEM UNDER THE OLD REGIME 16 Introduction16 The Landholding System 17 Tenancy and Petty Prop- rietorship 22 The Organization of Rural Production 27 Other Limita- tions to Peasant Production 30 Social Classes in Rural Ethiopia 33 3 THE LAND REFORM 37 3.1 The Legislation 37 The Reform Proclamations, 1975-82 37 3.2 The Process of Land Distribution 40 Introduction 40 Land Distribution: Measures 41 Land Distribution: Eligibility 49 Land Distribution: Re- sources 50 3.3 The Results of Land Distribution 52 The Pattern of Holdings 52 The Beneficiaries of Land Distribution 56 Land Distribution and Rural Diffe- rentiation 58 3.4 Land Reform and After 62 Introduction 62 Land Reform and Rural Technology 64 Agricultural Prices and Taxation 66 Rural Conditions: Prospects 68 The Emerging Agrarian Structure 71 4. PEASANTS AND PEASANT ASSOCIATIONS 74 4.1 Introduction 74 General 74 Tasks of PAS: Rural Development 75 Tasks of PAS: Administration and Adjudication 77 4.2 Peasant Associations: Structure and Leadership 81 Structure 81 Leadership 84 PAS and Local Government 90 4.3 Peasants and Peasant Associations 92 Peasant Participation 92 Relations between Peasants and PAS 93 Conclusion 96 5 PEASANTS AND AGRARIAN REFORM 97 A Summary of the Issues 97 6 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 102 Acknowledgements I wish to express my gratitude to officials of the Ministry of Agriculture in the areas of our study, to local administrative staff and rural development agents and, above all, to the many peasants and peasants leaders without whose assistance and patient co-operation this work would not have been completed. Part of this study was written in Sweden and England. I would like to thank the Scandinavian Institute of African Studies for enabling me to spend three months in Uppsala (Sweden), and UNESCO, for another three-month stay at the Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, England. October 1983 Dessalegn Rahrnato Short Glossary of Ethiopian Terms Awraja, Woreda For administrative purposes the country is divided into 14 provinces. Each province is further divided into awra- jas, and each awraja into woredas. The woreda is the lowest administrative unit, and the one closest to the rural community. An official, usually resident in the rural community, who served as the administrative link between the community and the state in the old system of local government. In some communities in the south this role was carried out by the Qoro. False banana plant. A long-maturing root plant which pro- vides the staple food of the population in south-central Ethiopia. A unit of local measurement; one Gasha is approximately 40 hectares. The lowest level or unit of urban and rural organizations. The kebbelle Peasant Association is the primary organiza- tion of the peasantry. Negarit Gazeta The official gazette where all legislation is published. Province W'e have used this term rather than the recently adopted substitute, Administrative Region, for convenience and to avoid confusion. The latter term, besides being rather cumbersome, does not quite convey the meaning of the Am- haric Kzj'le-Hagger which is the term technically more appropriate. A domestic cereal and the staple crop of the population in northern Ethiopia. Woreda See Awraja. Zematcha Students and teachers (about 50 thousand in all) who were participants sent to the countryside and the urban areas to 'organize and politicize the masses' in 1975 and 1976. Currency Birr At the official exchange rate, 2.07 Birr is equal to 1.00 U.S. dollar. Chapter I Introduction The Study In content and implementation, Ethiopia's agrarian reform can be considered as a thorough and radical one. It accomplished its purpose, namely the eli- mination of landlordism, quite speedily-a remarkable achievement consider- ing that at the time the reform was promulgated the new government had not yet firmly established its presence in the countryside. The reform is undoubtedly the most important and the most far-reaching social measure of the Provisional Military Government of Ethiopia, and its impact on the fabric of rural society is far more profound than any of the reforms carried out since the overthrow of absolute monarchy. In brief, it provides for the distribution of land to peasant households, and abolishes peasant dependence on the landlord, along with the landlord himself. All rural land is under 'public ownership', and tenancy and the hiring of labour have been done away with. Since 1979, the government has called on peasants to engage in collective forms of production, but it will be a while before this policy will bear fruit, and in the meantime, independent peasant production will constitute the backbone of the country's rural economy. We shall not attempt in the essay to present a comprehensive analysis of Ethiopia's agrarian reform, but rather will consider briefly the process of land distribution and the land system that has evolved as a result. The sections that follow will consist of: (a) A brief look at the agrarian structure under the old re~ime.We shall argue that the standard approach to the analysis of the old agrarian system is inadequate and needs to be reconsidered. (b) A summary of the content of the reform legislation (c) A discussion of the process of land distribution and its outcome, and the evolution of Peasant Associations. (d) Some issues on agrarian reform based on the Marxist classics. The Ethiopian rural setting contains a wide variety of ecological zones or agro-ecological regions, of agricultural systems and practices as well as socio- cultural experiences.' 'For a discussion of the diversity of ecological zones and agricultural systems in Ethiopia see E. M'estphal; Agricultural $stems in Ethiopia (Wageningen: CAPD, 1973). Also; FAO, Agriculture in Ethiopia (Rome: FAO, 1961; compiled by H.P. Huffnagel). TVestphal has identified 11 agro- ecological regions and 4 agricultural systems in the country (pp. 8 1 - 173). Obviously the impact of the land reform has not been uniform throughout, and in each region significant variations in substance as well as in detail have emerged. The material for this study was collected in four select woredas or sub-districts located in three of the major agricultural zones of the country.* Apart from their location, the areas selected for the study reveal significant differences in terms of agricultural practices, demographic characteristics and cultural ex- periences. In addition, each of the woredas forms a part of a more or less distinct socio-cultural region, and each region has had a separate local history and rural economy prior to the overthrow of the ancient regime. The system of land holdings and the politico-administrative status of each of the regions were dis-similar enough in the past to give each area a distinctive local identity. The tables and figures shown in the text reveal, of course, conditions in the localities where the data was collected; however, we believe that insofar as the agrarian processes and socioeconomic forces set in motion by the reform are concerned, our findings are of wider scope and relevance. The areas of our study are the following: 1. Bollosa woreda, Wollaita awraja, Sidamo province in Southern Ethiopia. 2. Manna woreda, Jimma awraja, Kaffa province, in South-Western Ethiopia. 3. Yilmana Densa woreda (hereafter cited as Adet woreda), Bahr Dar awraja, Gojjam province in Northern Ethiopia. 4. Sibu Sire woreda (herafter Sire), Kekempte awraja, Wollega province, Central-Western Ethiopia. Our findings are for the most part based on data gathered by means of questionnaires, personal observation, and information obtained through inter- views and discussions with peasants and peasant leaders, rural development agents, and administrative officials in each of the woredas. In addition, we have also made use of records from woreda archives and documents available at local ofices of Peasant Associations and rural development agencies, as well as published official and semi-official sources. A comprehensive evaluation of the impact and consequences of the land reform on rural Ethiopia as a whole has yet to be made and in the meantime we hope this short study will serve to fill a gap.? The Research Areas Bollosa. The Wollaita region, in which Bolloso is located, and of which the latter is one of the most productive woredas, falls within what is known as the zone of *The meanings of Ethiopian terms frequently used in this work are given in the Glossary.