A short history of the enclosures in Ethiopia

By tracing the history of enclosures in Ethiopia we learn how common property was first turned into state property that now enables the transfer of land to private investors. Such historical political ecological analysis can help civil society organisations learn from past social struggles against the enclosures and for the commons.* The 2007/08 financial crisis, …

Ethiopia: from autarchy to developmentalism

By Ivan Cuesta-Fernandez* As fast-track growth overhauls the Ethiopian society, the regime is obliged to re-consider its recipe of mixed authoritarianism and development – as Franco’s Spain was. On May 24 Ethiopia will celebrate its fifth parliamentary elections. A defeat of the incumbent Ethiopia’s People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), in power since 1991, appears as …

Interview with researcher Jonah Wedekind on agrarian transformation in Ethiopia

by Giorgos Velegrakis This interview was originally given to Giorgos Velegrakis for the Greek environmental magazine Oikotrives. Giorgos Velegrakis (G.V): For a few years now Ethiopia has been one of the countries which has been strongly associated with the phenomena of land grabbing. Why? Jonah Wedekind (J.W.): Land grabbing has become a popular term since …