Field study of the impact of land reform on living conditions of peasant farmers and rural communitys in Ethiopia - comments on the 1975 legislation; gives a historical account of the evolution of social structures, agrarian structures, commerce and customary law towards a capitalist rural economy; analyses the role of social movements and starvation in the revolutionary process, land allotment, creation of farmers associations and womens organizations, etc.; includes three case studies of land reform patterns. Bibliography, statistical tables.

Field study of post-revolutionary agrarian reform and social change in rural area Ethiopia - looks at the agrarian structure and social classes prior to 1975; comments on land reform legislation adopted up to 1982, land nationalization and land allotment, impact on use of agricultural technology, agricultural price, agricultural taxation, and emerging trends in agricultural development: discusses role, structure and leadership of farmers associations, etc. Bibliography and statistical tables.

Monograph on land tenure and land reform in Ethiopia since 1974 - includes chapters on the agrarian structure, rural area social change, land tax, obstacles to land reform, etc. Maps, references and statistical tables.

One of the few systematic field surveys undertaken following the 1975 agrarian reform in Ethiopia, this study analyzes the conditions constraining agricultural productivity of peasant farmers in the Arsi region and examines how farmers view peasant and government organizations established to attain agrarian socialism. Based on data generated through interviews with farmers, peasant association leaders, and extension agents, Dr. Dejene argues that the low prices for agricultural products, shortages of consumer goods, and lack of improvements in farming technology are among the major obstacles to increasing output among peasant farmers. The author also explores the government policy of transforming peasant associations into oollective farming units, which he finds is supported by only one quarter of the farmers interviewed. His study indicates that peasant institutions could best mobilize labor and resources to generate agricultural surplus and undertake conservation activities that would prevent future famine. Thus the author concludes that present government efforts should emphasize strengthening the cooperative movement rather than establishing collective farming.

Located in central Ethiopia, the Arssi region is one of the most productive in Ethiopia yet it has so far been neglected by scholars. This book scrutinizes the rural development of Arssi by focusing on the Swedish supported experimental venture known as the Chilalo Agricultural Development Unit (CADU) and later as the Arssi Rural Development Unit (ARDU). Ketebo Abdiyo Ensene investigates how effectively this strategy empowered the peasantry to change their farming techniques and produce beyond subsistence level. He also examines the accumulation of alienated land by the northern Ethiopian nobility through land grants, fake purchases, and other futile means of land grabs and the impact that this had on the native population. Finally, the book reassess the importance of the rural land reform of 1975 that followed the collapses of the imperial regime and argues that this was the most significant event in the history of agricultural development in Ethiopia. The assessment of the book in fact goes into the post-1991 period in relation with agrarian development. The Political Economy of Land and Agrarian Development in Ethiopia will be of interest to scholars of Ethiopia, African Studies, economic history, political economy, development and agriculture.

Working paper comparing rural worker organizations and land reform in Northern and Southern Ethiopia - discusses the emergence of agricultural cooperatives and production cooperatives, formation of peasant associations, including membership and leadership characteristics, farming system (ie. Collective farming and private smallholdings) as well as changes in land ownership and distribution. References and statistical tables.

This study traces three different land tenure systems in Ethiopia and Eritrea over a 30-year period from the end of Italian occupation to the end of imperial rule. It examines existing theories of changing property rights in the context of the developing world, and should interest NGOs.

Traditional theories of property rights change have posited an evolutionary progression of property rights towards private property in response to changes in the relative price ratio of land compared to the other factors of production. Using case studies from two areas of Ethiopia and one area of Eritrea the dissertation demonstrates the role of political factors such as interest group preference and state intervention in directing property rights development away from a linear path. The case studies trace the development of three separate systems of property rights throughout the twentieth century up to the Ethiopian revolution of 1974. Analysis of history and litigation in the three areas demonstrates that in none did property rights evolve spontaneously towards privatization. In one area of the study relative price changes did not lead to changes in the system of property rights as the theory predicts. In the other two areas, changes in property rights followed a change in the relative price of land, but these changes were brought about exogenously, by the intervention of the government or interest groups in guiding property rights in a particular direction. There are two theoretical conclusions to the study 1) property rights development does not always occur when we expect it to, other factors such as vested interests and government reluctance can intervene with their development and 2) even if property rights do change in response to relative price changes, they may not always move towards privatization or greater specification. In addition, one interesting empirical result of the research was that in communal systems of land tenure the transaction costs of land transfer are higher, leading to a drag on economic efficiency in the overall economy of the region. Generally, the incorporation of political factors into the model of changing property rights leads to a less parsimonious, but more accurate description of the progression of land rights in developing countries in particular.