Some policy implications of the resurfacing of rural factor markets following agrarian de-collectivization in Ethiopia

Prior to 1975, agriculture in Ethiopia was organized largely under feudalistic/imperial arrangements, The Ethiopian military government (1974-1991) issued the Land Reform Proclamation in 1975 which nationalized and redistributed most of the agricultural land among rural households. Land redistribution was meant to achieve equal land area per household and improve agricultural performance. Sale of land and hiring of agricultural labour were prohibited and there were fears that livestock would be nationalized. Following the ousting of the military regime in 1991, there has been a reduction of the imperfections in rural factor markets. Results from a field survey in the central Ethiopian highlands indicate that selling, hiring, renting, and exchanging of agricultural land, farm labor; and animal traction are increasing. These changes will influence agricultural production in many ways, particularly if reform with respect to rural factor markets is encouraged and accorded appropriate policy support

Monitoring changes in land-use practices following agrarian de-collectivisation in Ethiopia

Since 1975, agricultural land tenure arrangements in Ethiopia have changed from a feudal system, to a socialist model with semi-collectivist villages and, from 1991, to a small-holder system based on private (freehold) ownershiBy surveying a random sample of 94 households in the Ethiopian highlands, the paper examines (a) how de-collectivisation has affected important parts of the agrarian structure such as land tenure and common property and (b) the subsequent responses of farmers in terms of their land-use practices. The results provide some grounds for optimism that the freeing-up of the land market will bring with it more sustainable land-use practices