Working Paper Working The Political Economy of Agricultural Extension in Ethiopia: Economic Growth and Political Control Kassahun Berhanu May 2012 This paper was produced as par t of the FAC Political Economy of Agricultural Policy in Africa (PEAPA) work stream Working Paper 042 www.future-agricultures.org 1. Introduction • EPRDF’s close cooperation with the west in the fight against thriving political Islam in the sub-region has also brought it into conflict The central argument in this paper is that, for the past with some radical Islamist movements two decades, state-led agricultural extension in Ethiopia, engaged in terrorist activities, for example implemented by excluding other players in general and in mainland Somalia. Tight political control non-state actors in particular, has facilitated uncontested throughout the country may be seen as a control of the public space by the incumbent Ethiopian means of ensuring that such groups do not People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). In addition to its presumed economic ramifications, the establish a foothold within Ethiopia. ongoing agricultural extension scheme that is a major component of transforming smallholder agriculture • Last but not least, EPRDF’s Marxist-Leninist is driven by political imperatives aimed at effectively past espousing the role of a vanguard party controlling the bulk of the Ethiopian electorate whose still inherently persists forcing it to emphasize votes in periodic elections are crucial to the regime’s control in its management of public affairs. perpetuation in power. Despite the aforementioned, however, it could In this vein, I argue that the urge for effective control be assumed that control and patronage in a large of the majority among the electorate is necessitated by and populous country like Ethiopia characterized by the existence of potential and actual threats to regime numerous diversities, competing claims, and multiplicity survival as indicated below: of incompatible interests could serve only short-term goals that cannot endure over a longer period. Cognizant • The Tigray People’s Liberation Front that of this, EPRDF is striving to bring about economic played the crucial role in ousting the development and improvement in people’s livelihood previous military dictatorship and which is through which citizens would develop stakes in the now at the heart of the EPRDF government continuity of the system. This is why official government has its origin and support in Tigray region declarations repeatedly state that implementation of with a population of less than 5 million in existing economic policies, including those concerned a country of 80 million. Even in Tigray itself, with agrarian transformation, would elevate the country local constituencies are contested by other to the status of a middle-income economy under which protagonists that are inimical to TPLF’s citizens could be extricated from underdevelopment. policy directions. Hence the vitality of the In this vein, EPRDF believes that a robust middle class Front cannot be maintained in the absence that subscribes to its socio-economic and political of control and patronage mediated by the programmes as a reliable constituency of support advantage of incumbency. by paying allegiance to its drives of transforming the Ethiopian political economy and state-society relations • EPRDF is a coalition of four ethnic-based can be forged in due course. It thus hopes that the regional organizations whose legitimacy is majority of Ethiopians would develop a sense of common highly contested and challenged by other belonging expressed in voluntary coexistence within protagonists in the regional states of the the polity. Specifically, EPRDF sees the success of the federal system. This necessitated tight control agricultural extension programme as critical to the and patronage as instruments of survival. realization of these goals, believing that the resulting broad-based agricultural growth would weaken support • TPLF/EPRDF is accused by Pan-Ethiopian for the forces that are opposed to its dominance and political and social forces of abandoning the survival. Whether such broad-based agricultural growth unity and territorial integrity of the country is indeed to be achieved and whether this brings the and of endorsing Ethiopia’s dismemberment anticipated political benefits are matters to be seen in the by facilitating Eritrea’s secession and elevating years to come. In the meantime, it is hard to see any other ethnicity as an overriding organizing principle exit strategy for the EPRDF from desisting from its tight of political life. political control other than that of increasing popular support through broad-based growth and prosperity, • Threats from armed separatist groups, like the thereby allowing political liberalization. Ogaden National Liberation Front in Somali and the Oromo Liberation Front in Oromia As this paper documents, however, this leaves the regions, are another factor that prompted agricultural extension programme playing an important EPRDF to entrench a system of control and dual role as short and medium-term strategies. On the patronage. one hand, it is a central part of the government’s strategy for promoting broad-based agricultural growth whereas • The Eritrean threat expressed in hosting it functions as a valuable tool for political control and separatist and unionist movements of various mobilization across the country on the other hand. persuasions striving to effect regime change For both reasons, the government has made public in Ethiopia could also be taken as one of the investment in agricultural extension a high priority reasons for EPRDF’s recourse to control. over the past two decades – in contrast to many other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, there may be Working Paper 042 2 www.future-agricultures.org tensions between the two objectives, with the control country is home to over 70 ethnic groups characterized imperative leading to a less flexible and responsive by diverse cultural, linguistic and religious makeup. service for farmers, thereby reducing its productivity Notwithstanding its long history of independence, and growth impacts. Ethiopia stands among the lowest in terms of socio- economic development indicators. The multi-ethnic The paper contributes to the PEAPA project alongside character of Ethiopia’s population is reflected in the studies of Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, incumbent constitution that provided for a form of Mozambique and Tanzania. It also draws on research government characterised by ethnic federalism on the for the Africa Power and Politics Programme (www. part of formally self-governing regional states. Ethiopian institutions-africa.org) which has compared the historical history over the last four decades in particular is replete and contemporary political economies of Côte d’Ivoire, with episodes of recurrent drought and cyclic famine Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, plus sporadic interstate conflicts. Diversities expressed Tanzania and Zimbabwe. in high and rugged mountains, plateaus, deep gorges, river valleys and plains, contrasting landscape with Data for this study is elicited from different diverse soil types, and a range of agro-ecological zones complementary sources like key informants comprising (frost, highland, temperate, lowland and desert) form the knowledgeable individuals, former and current physiographic setting of the polity. The central highlands employees of agricultural offices, experts of vocational that spread in and around the north-western and south- training institutes, and smallholders engaged in eastern massifs separated by the Ethiopian Rift Valley agricultural extension schemes. Moreover, relevant policy accommodate 88 per cent of the human population, 75% documents and published and grey literature in the form of the livestock and 95% of the total cultivated land (EEA of consultancy reports, research papers, edited volumes, 2004/05). and journal articles were reviewed and analyzed. Ethiopia’s agro-ecological configuration is broadly divided into five zones where each has its own rainfall 1.1. Background pattern and agricultural production system. Most of the sedentary agricultural areas are located in the highlands With a population of about 80 million, living in a total while the semi-arid and arid lowlands are dominated by land area of 1.1 million sq km, Ethiopia is the second most agro-pastoral and pastoral production systems. populous country in Africa (CSA July 2010). It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Eritrea in the north, Djibouti The role of the agricultural sector and its impact on and Somalia in the east, and Kenya in the south. The the different aspects of socio-economic life is signified Source: Ethiopian Mapping Agency-EMA, 1984 Working Paper 042 3 www.future-agricultures.org by its contribution to GDP (46%), source of livelihood for persons/square kilometer (Teller, Tesfai and Assefa 2007). the overwhelming majority of the population (80%), food In the lowlands bordering Sudan, Kenya and Somalia, supply, and export trade and foreign exchange earning the variation ranges from 2 to 40 persons per square km, (84%). Ethiopian agriculture is dominated by smallholder which indicates that nearly 80% of the population lives farms that produce the bulk (over 90 percent) of outputs in only 37% of the total landmass while the remaining for consumption and the market (Zenebe et al 2005). 20% inhabits 63% of the total land area (ibid). Agriculture