Welteji Agric & Food Secur (2018) 7:55

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-018-0208-y Agriculture & Food Security

REVIEW Open Access

A critical review of rural development

policy of Ethiopia: access, utilization
and coverage
Diriba Welteji*

Abstract
Agriculture is the mainstay of Ethiopian economy involving major source of employment and gross national product.
By African, standard rural development programme has long history in Ethiopia. It has also enjoyed a considerable
attention by the government. However, the expected level was not achieved. The main objective of this review is to
indicate the policy gaps in terms of access, utilization and coverage of rural development policy programme pack-
ages by different segments of people in rural areas. The programme packages of rural development policy of the
country were reviewed over the past three regimes. It was indicated that there were significant gaps in access, utiliza-
tion and coverage due to wrong policy priority, institutional and technological variables.
Keywords: Rural development, Programme packages, Development

Background contribute 13% of the total agricultural value added. The

When many African countries have shown limited com- sector is dominated by small-scale farmers who practice
mitment to supporting smallholder agriculture and rain-fed mixed farming by employing traditional tech-
when many neglected agricultural extension services in nology, adopting a low-input and low-output produc-
particular, the government of Ethiopia invested in both. tion system. The land tilled by the Ethiopian small-scale
On average, the share of national budget devoted to farmer accounts for 95% of the total area under agricul-
agriculture in the sub-Saharan Africa fell from 5.5% in tural use, and these farmers are responsible for more
1993 to 3.8% in 2000. However, due to the commitment than 90% of the total agricultural output [3].
of heads of states in Maputo in 2003 to allocate 10% of According to Roling [4], rural development policies
their budget to agriculture and a recovery of attention to and programmes are usually developed to suit the con-
agriculture, Ethiopia is one of the eight countries to meet dition of progressive farmers. Knowledge and awareness
the target allocating 15% of the budget over the decade of about the relative importance of each package compo-
2003/2004–2012/2013 [1]. nent to overall yield give farmers room for flexibility in
Agriculture is the backbone of the Ethiopian economy. stepwise adoption of the technology, according to their
This particular sector determines the growth of all other conditions and resources. Development agents, extension
sectors and consequently the whole national economy. professionals, subject matter specialists, farmers’ rep-
It constitutes over 50% of the gross domestic product resentatives, politicians and researchers tend to contact
(GDP), accounts for over 85% of the labour force and only them. Policy makers and donor agencies have so far
earns over 90% of the foreign exchange [2]. On aver- been emphasized the use of modem farm technologies as
age, crop production makes up 60% of the sector’s out- a sole source of agricultural growth in Ethiopia. However,
puts, whereas livestock accounts for 27% and other areas the cost of modern technologies is so prohibitive that few
farmers in limited areas of the country are so far reached.
*Correspondence: [email protected]
Therefore, it is high time to explore possibilities for iden-
Department of Rural Development and Agricultural Extension, tifying approaches that could complement existing strat-
MaddaWalabu University, Bale Robe, Ethiopia egies of growth [5].

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Welteji A
 gric & Food Secur (2018) 7:55 Page 2 of 6

The country has varied agro-climatic zones. The gov- arable lands; and increases in the unemployment rate due
ernment extension programme lists these as: areas of to increases in the population [12].
adequate rainfall; areas of moisture stress; and pastoral Agriculture progresses technologically as farmers
areas. Farmers traditionally classify them as dega (cool), adopt innovations. The extent to which farmers adopt
woina dega (temperate) and qolla (low land; warm cli- available innovations and the speed by which they do so
mate). This diversity makes it a favourable region for determine the impact of innovations in terms of produc-
growing a variety of crops [6]. tivity growth. It is a common phenomenon that farmers
The rural development in Ethiopia has a relatively like any other kind of entrepreneurs do not adopt innova-
longer history than many sub-Saharan African countries. tions simultaneously as they appear on the market. Dif-
It has also enjoyed increasing government support over fusion typically takes a number of years, seldom reaches
years, though not to be in the level expected. Review of a level of 100% of the potential adopters population and
the evolution of the Ethiopian rural development policy mostly follows some sort of S-shaped curve in time.
under different political systems reveals the significance Apparently, some farmers choose to be innovators (first
of prevailing policies and development strategies on the users), while others prefer to be early adopters, late adop-
contribution to agricultural development [7]. ters or non-adopters [13].
Under the Imperial Era, development policies favoured Despite the fact that many areas of the economy have
industrial development, neglecting the agricultural sec- made progress, the livelihoods of small-scale farmers are
tor and worked mainly with the better-off and commer- still constrained by many impeding factors. The salient
cial farmers in and around major project areas. During constraints include: small and diminishing farm lands
the 1974–1991 periods, however, the political environ- due to large family sizes and rapid population growth;
ment favoured collective and state farms at the expense soil infertility with decreasing yield-per-hectare ratios;
of individual farmers. Distorted macroeconomic poli- on-field and post-harvest crop pests; unpredictable pat-
cies, political unrest and massive villagization and set- terns of rain; input scarcity and outdated technologies
tlement programmes undermined the contribution that leading to low outputs; shortage of capital; reduced mar-
the rural development policies could have made. The ket access; lack of market information; outbreaks of ani-
post-1991 period is also marked with the most promi- mal diseases and shortages of animal feed; and declining
nent and enduring economy-wide strategies as Agri- price structures [6].
cultural-Led Industrialization (ADLI), the Sustainable The methodology followed in this work is time frame
Development and Poverty Reduction Program (SDPRP), critical review of rural development policy of Ethio-
Participatory and Accelerated Sustainable Development pia implemented over a long periods of time by differ-
to Eradicate poverty (PASDEP) and successive growth ent regimes and the achievements compared among the
and transformation plans (GTP I and II). These strategies regimes based on the policy instruments adopted accord-
intend, among others, to attain food self-sufficiency at ingly and the total sum of gaps over a long period since
national level by increasing productivity of smallholders its inception in terms of access, utilization and coverage.
through research-generated information and technolo- The objective of this paper is to assess success stories,
gies, increasing the supply of industrial and export crops lessons learnt and loopholes of the past rural develop-
and ensuring the rehabilitation and conservation of natu- ment policy of Ethiopia in terms of access, utilization and
ral resource base with special consideration of package coverage.
approach [8–11]. The possible questions of this review are:
Ethiopian agriculture has been suffering from various
external and internal problems. It has been stagnant due 1. Were the rural development policy packages of the
to poor performance as a result of factors such as low country accessible to different segments of society?
resource utilization; low-tech farming techniques (e.g. 2. Was there any gap of utilization and coverage of the
wooden plough by oxen and sickles); over-reliance on technologies?
fertilizers and underutilized techniques for soil and water 3. What were the rural development models imple-
conservation; inappropriate agrarian policy; inappropri- mented so far in the country?
ate land tenure policy; ecological degradation of potential 4. Were the implemented rural development models in
the country appropriate?

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Welteji Agric & Food Secur (2018) 7:55 Page 3 of 6

Literature review The conservation model of agricultural development,

Theories of agricultural development policies according to Ruttan [14], “evolved from advances in crop
Following Ruttan [14], and Hayami and Ruttan [15], the and livestock husbandry associated with the English agri-
literature on agricultural development can be character- cultural revolution and the notions of soil exhaustion
ized according to the following models: the frontier; the suggested by the early German chemists and soil scien-
urban industrial impact; the diffusion; the high pay-off; tists. It was reinforced by the application to land of the
the induced innovation; and the conservation. In what concept, developed in the English classical school of eco-
follows, we will review only those models which are more nomics, of diminishing returns to labour and capital”. The
relevant to the conditions of Ethiopian agriculture. essence of this model is explained by the evolution of a
The frontier model or the resource exploitation model sequence of increasingly complex land- and labour-inten-
involves an approach to agricultural growth through the sive cropping systems, the production and use of organic
expansion of the area cultivated or grazed. The south- manures, and labour-intensive capital formation in the
ward movement of population throughout most of Ethio- form of drainage, irrigation and other physical facilities
pian history demonstrates the importance of the frontier to more effectively utilize land and water resources [14].
model in that country. However, there are few remain- The strength of this model emanates primarily from
ing areas in Ethiopia today where development along the the fact that “the inputs used in this conservation sys-
lines of the frontier model would represent an efficient tem of farming (the plant nutrients, animal power, land
source of growth. The importance of the frontier model improvements, physical capital and agricultural labour
in Ethiopia is reduced mainly by limitations in physical force) were largely produced or supplied by the agricul-
availability of land in the temperate highlands. How- tural sector itself ” [14]. The importance of this point in
ever, it is possible that government policies and institu- poor countries such as Ethiopia is obvious. As under-
tions are contributing factors, as the World Bank noted lined by Ruttan [14], “the Conservation Model remains
in its recent country report on Ethiopia [5, 16]. Besides, an important source of productivity growth in most poor
the ever-growing population pressure over land may countries and an inspiration to agrarian fundamental-
not allow the average size of the operational holding to ists and the organic farming movement in the developed
expand in the highlands where more than 80% of crop countries”.
production takes place. The major factors which make this model highly rele-
The high pay-off model, which is also known as “the vant to Ethiopian agriculture are: the fact that Ethiopia is
transformation approach” or “the quick-fix approach”, is unable to make widespread use of existing technological
based upon investment designed to expand the diffusion backlog due to, mainly, the high costs of generation and
and adoption of the high-yielding varieties. In Ethiopia, diffusion of new techniques of production; the possibil-
an attempt was made to partially introduce this model ity that the improvement approach involves cost-effective
(along with the diffusion model) in the Comprehensive techniques of production and capital formation as it is
Package Project areas, where it had a strong impact, in based upon the use of the relatively abundant and that
particular in Chilalo district of Arsi region. However, the it could delay the operations of the law of diminishing
large-scale adoption of this model has been constrained returns as land is saved through labour intensification;
by factors such as: the inability of the public and private and the fact that soil conservation programmes need spe-
sector research institutions to produce new and location- cial attention as the resource base of the agricultural sec-
specific technical knowledge; the inability of the indus- tor is being depleted at an alarming rate due to the fact
trial sector to develop and produce new technical inputs; that the soil erosion and desertification process continue
the weakness of the extension facilities and related insti- almost unabated [17, 18].
tutions to diffuse the new techniques; the inadequacy of
the infrastructure to facilitate the diffusion of the new Practices and history of rural development policies
inputs; the inability of peasant farmers to acquire new in Ethiopia
knowledge and use new inputs effectively; and lack of Development Plan has been documented since the 1950s
complementary inputs such as irrigation facilities which in Ethiopia. During the period 1950–1974, the politi-
are needed to make fertilizers and modern varieties more cal arena was characterized by absolute monarchism. In
effective [5]. the economic sphere, markets were the driving forces

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Welteji A
 gric & Food Secur (2018) 7:55 Page 4 of 6

in resource allocation. Overall, GDP increased on aver- As indicated in Table 1 throughout the phases, the
age by 4% per year. The rate was higher than the 2.6% of interventions are not accessed by all segments of the soci-
growth in population [2]. ety, limited to certain geographical areas in terms of cov-
According to Dejene Aredo [5], agriculture was also erage and constrained by different institutional factors.
discriminated against by sectoral policies. The First
Five-Year Development Plan placed emphasis on raising Conclusion
foreign exchange earnings by improving coffee cultiva- During the imperial regime, emphasis was placed on
tion, accounting for over 70% of foreign exchange earn- raising foreign exchange earnings by cash crops and
ings. Similarly, the Second Five-Year Development plan the establishment of large-scale commercial farms and
added to its priorities the establishment of large-scale neglected cereal production from subsistence farmers
commercial farms and neglected cereal production from which accounted more than 80% of the cultivated area.
subsistence farmers which accounted more than 80% During the 1974–1991 periods, however, the political
of the cultivated area in the 1950s and 1960s. However, environment favoured collective and state farms at the
shortages of food in the late 1960s shifted the attention of expense of individual farmers. Distorted macroeconomic
policy makers to agriculture and priority was given in the policies, political unrest and massive villagization and
Third Five-Year Plan without modifications to the overall settlement programmes undermined the contribution
growth strategy. that the rural development policies could have made.
During the 1974–1991 periods, however, the political Moreover, concerns shifted by large towards increas-
environment favoured collective and state farms at the ing productivity of smallholders to attain food self-suf-
expense of individual farmers. Distorted macroeconomic ficiency at national level through research-generated
policies, political unrest and massive villagization and information and technologies, increasing the supply of
settlement programmes undermined the contribution industrial and export crops and ensuring the rehabilita-
that the rural development policies could have made. tion and conservation of natural resource base. How-
The post-1991 period is also marked with expansion of ever, population growth, environmental degradation,
the development programmes [11]. The most prominent climate-related decline of yield, low level of farm input
and enduring economy-wide strategy to guide develop- innovation, capital constraints are among the pressing
ment effort has been Agricultural-Led Industrializa- constraints.
tion (ADLI), the Sustainable Development and Poverty Compared to other sub-Saharan Africa, Ethiopia has
Reduction Program (SDPRP), Participatory and Acceler- an admirable record of supporting agriculture; the con-
ated Sustainable Development to Eradicate poverty (PAS- tinued state-led policies to boost agricultural production,
DEP) and successive growth and transformation plans but understanding of the complex issues involved, evi-
(GTP I and II). These strategies intend, among others, to dence-based analysis and policy recommendations, and
attain food self-sufficiency at national level by increasing continuous debate on the pros and cons of alternatives
productivity of smallholders through research-generated options are required. Continued public engagement in
information and technologies, increasing the supply of input markets and extension services, and participation
industrial and export crops and ensuring the rehabilita- of private investment in providing goods and services for
tion and conservation of natural resource base with spe- smallholders in a potentially efficient manner should be
cial consideration of package approach [8–10] (Table 1). encouraged. Overall assessment of the access, utilization

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 Table 1 Policy regimes and development programmes in agricultural input systems and markets over the indicated periods. Source: Adapted from Spielman
et al. [19]
Period Intervention phases Objectives of intervention Implementers and loopholes

1957–1967 First and second 5-year development plans Develop large-scale commercial farms and coffee exports Subsistence farming was neglected
1968–1973 Third 5-year development plan (comprehensive integrated Transport infrastructure development; dissemination of Implementation on three comprehensive extension pro-
package projects) high-input technologies, credit, and extension; formation grams that focused on high-potential areas only
of cooperative societies
1971–1979 Minimum Package Program I (MPP-I) Expand geographical coverage of the comprehensive Fertilizer procurement managed by agricultural and indus-
extension programs; provide fertilizer, credit, and exten- trial development bank, distribution managed by ministry
Welteji Agric & Food Secur (2018) 7:55

sion to “minimum package areas” of agriculture

1978 Agricultural Marketing Corporation (AMC) Improve management of agricultural input importation, MoA maintains role of distributing fertilizer to farmers,
storage, and transport by handing over control of these disbursing credit, and estimating fertilizer demand through
tasks to the AMC approx 18,000 peasant associations
1980–1985 Minimum Package Program II (MPP-II) Expand input supply and extension service coverage Actual provision of inputs and extension was limited due to:
threefold lacking financial support for MPP-II; increasing inefficiency
in MoA and AMC; fertilizer overstocking due to inaccurate
demand estimates; and poor institutional coordination of
input deliveries
1984 Agricultural Input Supply Corporation (AISCO) Improve the importation and distribution of fertilizer and As a successor to AMC, AISCO was limited by lengthy
marketing of other agricultural inputs bureaucratic process needed to secure foreign exchange,
high freight costs, and lack of proper port facilities, high
inland transport costs, inaccurate demand estimates, and
organizational inefficiency
1986–1995 Peasant Agricultural Development Program (PADEP) Provide inputs, credit, and extension services to smallhold- As a successor to MPP-II, PADEP aimed to cover eight
ers organized into approximately 2900 farmer service development zones across the country, but only received
cooperatives (SC) using a training-and-visit (T&V) exten- financing sufficient for three zones, all located in high-
sion approach potential areas
1991–1995 Partial liberalization of the fertilizer market Open the importation, wholesaling, and retailing of fertiliz- Undertaken by the Transitional Government of Ethiopia
ers to private companies (TGE). Fertilizer prices remained pan-territorial and subsi-
dized
1993–1999 Participatory Demonstration and Training Extension System Promote improved seed-fertilizer-credit packages (primar- PADETES demonstrated on a pilot basis that yields could be
(PADETES) ily for maize and wheat) through a “training-and-visit” doubled with the application of modern inputs in Ethiopia
approach piloted by Sasakawa Global 2000
1995-present National Agricultural Extension Intervention Program Scale up the PADETES approach to the national level as a Efforts to scale up the PADETES approach were less success-
(NAEIP) means of boosting cereal yields and output ful than the piloting demonstrated by Sasakawa Global
2000
1997–1998 Fertilizer price liberalization Eliminate subsidies and deregulate the price of fertilizer at Liberal prices have not resulted in competitive market due to
the wholesale and retail levels the government’s continued control over marketing and
credit

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2000–2007 Shifting industry structure Private companies withdrawn from the fertilizer market The Agricultural Input Supply Enterprise (AISE) and coopera-
in 2000, succeeded by “holding” companies; coopera- tive unions emerged as the only actors engaged in fertilizer
tive unions entered the market in 2005, followed by the importation and are also the largest players in the whole-
withdrawal of “holding” companies” in 2007 sale and retail markets, in conjunction with the regional
input supply and extension systems
Page 5 of 6
Welteji Agric & Food Secur (2018) 7:55 Page 6 of 6

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Extension System; NAEIP: National Agricultural Extension Intervention Pro- 129–51.
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I identified and developed important outlines, validated and designed the productivity in high potential areas of Ethiopia: the case of Shashemene
arguments, conceived both theoretical and empirical data and editions of the area. Ethiopia: Alemaya University; 1998.
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Competing interests 11. MOFED. Survey of the Ethiopian economy: review of post reform
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