A Study On Land Reform During The Ethiopian Military Government

The change of land system is one of the main symbols of Ethiopia’s historical evolution.The feudal land system is the basis of maintaining the monarchy system,and it is also the root of riots,coups,famines,revolutions and other problems.The emperor owned all the land and had the right to distribute the land to local elders,nobles and churches loyal to the royal family in order to stabilize his rule.The vast majority of farmers are difficult to get land and often become tenant farmers.This land system leads to low production efficiency and slow social development.Under the impact of famine and rising international oil prices in the first half of the 1970 s,this land system collapsed with the overthrow of feudal monarchy.During the military regime,the reform of land public ownership aimed to solve the ethnic contradictions between the north and the south,correct the inaction of the Selassie government and the neglect of officials at all levels of rural agriculture.In the process of reform,the military government issued a series of announcements.Among them,the "announcement on land reform No.8" abolished the private ownership of land,and all land was returned to the state and distributed to farmers;In 1975,Announcement No.31 explicitly abolished the feudal landlord land system and proposed the establishment of farmers’ associations throughout the country;Announcement No.71 stipulates its executive organization,decision-making,division of labor and other contents;The announcement on rural land use fees and income tax on agricultural activities issued in 1976 stipulates that the government collects a lower tax rate from farmers,which means that the field is more operable for farmers’ associations.However,the harmonious and stable situation in the early stage of reform was soon broken.First,farmers are required to join farmers’ associations and participate in collective work;Secondly,the agricultural marketing company was established with the strong support of the government.Farmers must provide them with a specified amount of grain regularly,and the grain purchase price of this company is far lower than the market price;Finally,women face more challenges in land use due to the persistence of traditional norms,customary practices and poor legal services in a patriarchal society.On the whole,the land reform during the military regime had both advantages and disadvantages.It broke the traditional feudal land system and stimulated farmers’ production enthusiasm to a certain extent;However,the farmers’ Association forces farmers to work collectively on state-owned land,coupled with the repeated lowering of grain purchase prices by agricultural marketing companies,which greatly reduces their production enthusiasm and creativity.In addition,the military regime’s preference for land distribution,lack of fairness and other internal factors,as well as external factors such as drought,plague and war,Ethiopia’s agricultural productivity continues to decline and is simply unable to cope with severe famine.This land system has many disadvantages,which is also one of the main reasons for the collapse of the military regime.