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THE PEASANT AND THE STATE: Studies in Agrarian Change in Ethiopia 1950s - 2000s

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Dessgalegn Rahmato is Ethiopia's leading scholar on land tenure and development and he has written a seminal book on why Ethiopian agriculture had not developed in the past and why the nation still struggles to overcome food insecurity.
Rahamato argues the agrarian class structure of Ethiopia remained unchanged for over a century, until the collapse of the imperial regime, because of the lack of the emergence of an intermediate class, which contributed to social stagnation as a critical factor in agricultural revolution. Second, the land tenure system and its social relations further discouraged the emergence of innovative elements in Ethiopian society. Third, there was an attempt at commercial agriculture under the ancien regime of Emperor Haile Selassie. However, Rahmato argues that rural capitalism in Ethiopia during this period led to large-scale evictions of peasants and contends its development would have been much more complex, requiring more increasing massive peasant displacements hence discontent and disorder. He notes that such rural capitalist---in the years of the ancien regime-- was "transient" buffeted by the oscillation of world grain market, declining productivity and higher prices of imported machinery and spare parts.
Rahmato, notes that land reform instituted by the subsequent military regime, or Derg, (1977-91) was meant to undercuts the social base of the ancienct class system. However in practice it was weakened by long drawn out opposition in Wollo, influenced by the gentry. That the situation was made worse by the collapse of state power brought about by regional rebel movements who wanted to establish their presence and that in any case the military regime's agrarian socialism was unpopular among Ethiopia's peasants.
The author then discusses the condition of contemporary Ethiopian peasant. He notes the formalization of land rights in the form of registration and titles is not enough and cannot guarantee robust security because the peasant does not have a negotiating power. Rahmato argues that the relationship between the state and the peasant will have to change to enable the latter to secure and defend property rights. He notes such rights can come via social movements and advocacy groups that may be influential in changing state policies. The book is well researched and written and is a major contribution to agrarian change, rural studies, development and an addition to knowledge in the relationship between the state and society.