Ethiopia after Haile Selassie: The Government Land Factor

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Periodical article

Title:	Ethiopia after Haile Selassie: The Government Land Factor
Author:	Cohen, John M.
Year:	1973
Periodical:	African Affairs: The Journal of the Royal African Society
Volume:	72
Issue:	289
Period:	October
Pages:	365-382
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Ethiopia
Subjects:	colonial policy land land reform Politics and Government Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/721148
Abstract:	The question of the succession of Haile Selassie I has two basic levels: namely, which of the many competitors to the throne will follow the Emperor, and what will be the results of their rule on the social system. This article focuses on one factor affecting the potential to alter the basic conditions of Ethiopian social existence: that of government land holdings and the impact of the ongoing government land grant system on possible future leaders. Government land is a critical factor affecting the inclinations of future holders of imperial power to introduce the sweeping land tenure and agrarian reforms. Because of the extensive amount of land held by the government and the current policy of the crown to grant this land to military and bureaucratic personnel, a complex set of vested interests in traditional land tenure and agrarian systems has developed, with a strong tendency on the part of future leaders to avoid formulation of land tenure policies or reforms that would undermine these vested interests. Notes.