Introduction The image of Ethiopia in the west is one of ecological degradition, starvation and war. Population growth, in the absence of technology change, causes heavy pressure on the arable land by cultivation and grazing. Vegetation is relentlessly removed and erosion is rampant. Crop yields decline and peasant reserves dwindle. When drought strikes, the scene is set for disaster. Rehabilitation and emergency aid is made difficult due to the civil strife which haunts the northern highlands. It is easily forgotten that there are high potential agricultural regions with good soils and receiving enough rainfall to guarantee that rainfed peasant agriculture produces good cereal crops. These regions include the highlands of Arsi, Shoa and Goijjam. In addition to feeding a peasant population of some eight million people these regions produce two-thirds of the officially marketed grain in the country. Peasant agriculture in these central regions forms the backbone of Ethiopia's attempts to thwart the present trend towards dependence on food aid for survival......

Source: Review of African Political Economy, No. 44, Ethiopia: 15 Years on (1989), pp. 27-46
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.