378 Enabling Policies and Institutions for Sustainable Agricultural and Food Systems
by the World Bank in the period following independence, has come in for a lot of
criticism as being both too technically oriented and too costly. Drawing on a vari-
ety of experiments in alternative types of extension approach, particularly emanat-
ing from Masvingo Province (Hagmann et al, 1998), Agritex is now exploring
more participatory approaches which redefine the role of the extension worker and
the linkages between farmers, researchers and the extension system.
Land and tenure reform in the context of decentralization
Land tenure security is often seen as a critical factor in ensuring effective long-term
investment in natural resources. A variety of land tenure reform initiatives have
been started across the three country case studies. Various forms of land reform
and resettlement have also been significant in affecting the distribution of land
resources across the study areas. Land and tenure reform is occurring in the context
of broader administrative changes associated with programmes of decentraliza-
tion.
Farmers in Ethiopia have witnessed major upheavals due to land tenure changes
and villagization, which have generated continued uncertainty over their land-
holdings. The land reform policy implemented by the Derg regime during the
1970s resulted in a major reallocation of land to farmers who were previously reli-
ant only on tenancy arrangements with landlords under the feudal system. While
this disrupted the strategies of richer landlords, it did provide new land for those
previously unable to farm for themselves. However, despite the reforms significant
inequalities in landholding persist, with former landlords often repurchasing or
contracting land from poorer households. Today a huge range of landholding
arrangements exist, including outright ownership, share cropping, contracting and
different forms of tenancy. While many of these are notionally illegal, the range of
informal institutional arrangements surrounding land are an important aspect of
the local situation.
Resettlement policies to less densely populated areas in the lowlands have been
important in Ethiopia since the late 1960s. For example, the lowland case study
site was established as a settlement scheme in 1971 as part of the WADU inte-
grated rural development project. The allocation of 5ha plots to former tenant
farmers provided new opportunities for agricultural livelihoods, although the con-
sequences of moving to a lowland area with different agroecological conditions
and high levels of both human and livestock disease incidence caused many prob-
lems. During the 1980s, the policy of villagization caused further changes in land-
holding patterns. Villagization was aimed at rational planning for increased
production, combining private and collective farming arrangements. The broader
political effect was to increase the state’s political and economic control over peas-
ant farmers. Farmers in lowland areas of Wolayta were forced to move into villages
and to leave behind the plots of higher-fertility darkoa land which they were in the
process of enriching. Fortunately, they were to return to their home sites following
the fall of the Derg in 1991 and reinvest in their garden areas. Resettlement and