panel 10

ISSUES ON AGRARIAN CHANGE IN CONTEMPORARY ETHIOPIA

CONVENOR:

• LUCA MANTOVAN, UNIVERSITY OF DIRE DAWA, ETHIOPIA(lucamantovan76@gmail.com)

This panel aims at stimulating a broad reflection on agrarian change in contemporaryEthiopia among Ethiopian and international researchers of different disciplines. During the rapidgrowth and transformation of the Ethiopian economy of the last years, the agricultural sector hasbeen developing with new and old, apparent or real contradictions. Economic neo-liberalism ispromoted and controlled by the developmental state; alternative land policies are proposed on thebasis of new questionable evidence and old dismissed arguments; innovative approaches toagricultural extension are designed even thought farmers’ income remains associated to politicalaffiliation; cash crops are expanding while food price inflation is exacerbating to the benefit oftraders; foreign direct investments overpassing customary right sand grabbing vast tracts of land;industrialization proceeds but its inter-linkages with agriculture are weak and urban unemploymentgrows. This panel explores the diverse aspects of agrarian change in contemporary Ethiopia by callingfor papers proposing general reflections or more specific analyses on topics such as:Continuity and discontinuity in recent agrarian history; Neo-liberalism and developmental state;Socio-economic impact of rural development policies; Structure and interlocking of agricultural markets;Land tenure, land policies and land question; Industrialization and industry-agriculture relations; Rural class formation, rural outmigration and urban unemployment; Local governance and state-peasant interaction; Official development policies and peasant practice and adaptation; Livelihood systems and peasant institutions; Inequality, food-insecurity and poverty.

Contributions on these correlated topics, from any discipline, with any analytical approach and by young Ethiopian researchers are encouraged.

PAPERS