Rural Policies and Development Plans of the Imperial Regime in Ethiopia (1950s-1970s)

Ethiopia has remained one of the poorest countries, with the worst cases of famine and poverty, largely attributable to policy failures. This paper evaluates Ethiopia's rural policies under the imperial regime (1950s-early1970s), highlighting key barriers to their success. The paper is based on a review of policy documents and the literature on Ethiopia's agricultural system during the imperial period. The review revealed that policies have been formulated and implemented without or with little consideration of relevant stakeholders and indigenous knowledge systems. Despite some benefits like agricultural mechanization and income growth in project areas, policy weaknesses persisted, notably in landholding systems. These flaws, including insecure land tenure, continue to hinder rural development efforts. The review also revealed that policies often lacked stakeholder input and ignored traditional knowledge systems. Moreover, the establishment of large-scale commercial farms and the production of cash crops were prioritized during the imperial regime in order to increase foreign exchange revenues, while subsistence farmers' production of cereals was neglected. Therefore, the policy shortcomings of the imperial regime account for a significant portion of the rural economy's poor performance. The primary takeaway from this review is that Ethiopia's landholding structure significantly hampered the achievement of rural development programs, plans, and strategies put in place during the imperial era which can be taken as a lesson to implement appropriate land tenure reforms, development policies and plans in such a way to empower smallholder farmers, alongside expanded mechanization, and inclusive agricultural projects across diverse ecological zones, with careful consideration of the people or local communities of the country.