Environment, Famine, and Politics in Ethiopia

Identifying the political and socio-economic forces that feed the cycle of environmental degradation and famine in Ethiopia - forces that are major impediments to sustainable agricultural dvelopments - this study provides a comparison of peasants' views and government policies on key environmental issues such as resettlement, collective farming, population growth, livestock density, and the various approaches to conservation and rehabilitation activities in famine-affected areas. Alemneh Dejene's conclusions are based on a combination of survey data, an in-depth case study, and participant observation at the village level. These lead him to prescribe policies and legislation that will provide needed incentives to peasant farmers while eliminating development programmes that are unpopular with those farmers and harmful to the environment. Alemneh Dejene, an agriculturist with the World Bank, is author of Peasants, Agrarian Socialism, and Rural Development in Ethiopia .