Lesson objective

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

• Explain the important role of land as an economic resource in Ethiopia.
• Identify the two main soil types found in most of the Ethiopian highlands.

Brainstorming Question

How do you define land in the context of agriculture in Ethiopia?

Key Terms and Concepts

Land as an Economic Resource in Ethiopia

For a country like Ethiopia, where agriculture is the backbone of the economy, land is a very important economic resource. In the context of agriculture, land refers to both the area extent and the productivity of food crops and other crops. It is well-known that Ethiopia has a total area of 1,104,300 square kilometres, of which 35 per cent is considered suitable for agriculture. The availability of this amount of land for agricultural purposes is directly or indirectly the result of good soil and a suitable climate for the performance of agriculture.

As far as soil types are concerned, most of the highlands have two main soil types that are generally believed to be suitable for agriculture. These soil types are:

• Red-to-reddish brown soils: These soil types are well-endowed with the required minerals for crops and are found in areas of relatively good drainage. Further, these soil types are friable—easy to plough.
• Brownish-to-grey and black soils with high clay content: With proper drainage and conditioning, these soils have excellent agricultural potential.

Regarding the climatic aspect, the formation of different agro-ecological zones due to altitude has multiplied the resource potential of Ethiopia’s land. The presence of different agro-climate zones results in the growth of various types of crops, increasing Ethiopia’s potential for producing exportable items to earn foreign currency.

The Ethiopian people had been struggling for centuries with the inequitable land holdings of the country and effectively removed the feudal system in 1975. The socialist system that came into being in 1975 under the slogan “Land to The Tiller” paradoxically overturned the slogan and ended up with state ownership rather than giving land to the people. The existing government, which gained power in 1991, was expected to remove land rights problems, among others, by giving land to the people in tenure. But it maintained state ownership of land and controls all urban and rural land together with natural resources. Although the state controls land ownership, rural peasants and pastoralists are guaranteed a lifetime “holding” right that gives all rights except sale and mortgage. Even if it is not mentioned in the constitution, urban residents are also provided with the right to get land for residence based on a 99-year lease agreement. The state ownership of land in present-day Ethiopia is far from ideal since it restricts various land rights of use, rent, lease, endowment, and inheritance for different reasons. Since the redistribution of land is highly restricted, access to rural land is also almost non-existent. The constitution is commended for its protection of land holdings against arbitrary state eviction by inserting a provision that gives a “commensurate” amount of compensation during expropriation. However, successive implementation of proclamations has violated this protection by denying market value (fair compensation) for the loss of property.

In short, the amount of compensation in the event of expropriation is insufficient. By creating more access to rural land, liberating land-holding rights, and fairly compensating for the loss of properties during expropriation, the current government could provide more secure land rights compared to its predecessors.