Peasant Agriculture and Land Degradation in Ethiopia: Reflections on Constraints and Incentives for Soil Conservation and Food Security

Abstract

Summary Bekele Shiferaw and Stein T. Holden, ‘Peasant Agriculture and Land Degradation in Ethiopia: Reflections on Constraints and Incentives for Soil Conservation and Food Security’, Forum for Development Studies, 1997:2, pp. 277–306. This article provides a broad overview of the problems of land degradation, agricultural stagnation, and food security in Ethiopia. It uses existing theories of agricultural development and change, environmental/resource economics, and the economics of rural organisation to identify possible causes for deterioration of the environmental resource base and chronic food insecurity in the country. The problem of rural poverty and its linkages with environmental degradation and the regulating role of population pressure, technologies, rural markets, land rights, political instability, and government policies is emphasised. Some empirical findings based on a larger study conducted in the highlands of Ethiopia are provided to support the theoretical issues. Results indicate that reliance on the positive role of population-induced intensification alone is unjustified, especially when poverty, high population densities, and structural problems hinder adjustments to increased land pressure. The need to eliminate policies that are detrimental to both agricultural development and conservation of resources is therefore argued. Land conservation is also shown to depend, among other things, on provision of appropriate incentives, especially when available conservation options do not enhance peasants' short-term incomes.