Agricultural transformation in Ethiopia : state policy and smallholder farming

Abstract

For thousands of years, Ethiopia has depended on its smallholding farmers to provide the bulk of its food needs. But now, such farmers find themselves under threat from environmental degradation, climate change and declining productivity. As a result, smallholder agriculture has increasingly become subsistence-oriented, with many of these farmers trapped in a cycle of poverty. Smallholders have long been marginalised by mainstream development policies, and only more recently has their crucial importance been recognised for addressing rural poverty through agricultural reform. This collection, written by leading Ethiopian scholars, explores the scope and impact of Ethiopia’s policy reforms over the past two decades on the smallholder sector. Focusing on the Lake Tana basin in northwestern Ethiopia, an area with untapped potential for growth, the contributors argue that any effective policy will need to go beyond agriculture to consider the role of health, nutrition and local food customs, as well as including increased safeguards for smallholder’s land rights. They in turn show that smallholders represent a vitally overlooked component of development strategy, not only in Ethiopia but across the global South.

<p>CONTENTS: State Policies and Questions of Agrarian Transformation / Atakilte Beyene -- 1. Agricultural Input Supply and Output Marketing Systems / Fentahun Tesafa -- 2. Agricultural Investment Alternatives and the Smallholder Farming Sector / Kassa Teshager Alemu -- 3. Large/Scale Canal Irrigation Management by Smallholder Farmers / Atakilte Beyene -- 4. Determinants of Climate/resilient Agricultural Practices among Smallholder Farmers / Nigussie Abadi and Girmay Tesfay -- 5. Sociocultural Dimensions of Food: The Case of Teff / Gedef Abawa -- 6. The Impact of Malaria Epidemics on Agricultural Production in Dembia and Fogera, 1950/2000 / Fantahun Ayele -- 7. Women Farmers’ Land Rights in the Context of Constraining Cultural Norms / Mulunesh Abebe Alebachew -- 8. Rural Transformation through Robust Land Rights / Daniel Ambaye -- Concluding Remarks / Atakilte Beyene</p>