The Influence of the Market: Labour, Production Practices and Land Rentals in Gondino Village Ada'a Eastern Shewa
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Date
1996-06
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AAU
Abstract
Godino, located 12 Ian in the north east of Bishoftu town in Ada 'a Woreda of
eastern Shewa, has been a witness to changes and contm' u'ty f I h . I
I 0 ox-p oug agncu ture .
Changes have been induced both from external Sources (state interventions as well as
urban and market influence) and internal factors (population pressure the horticultural
enterprise of Ts'ahafi TIIzaz and competition of farmers) .
Like other parts of Ada 'a, Godino agriculture has adapted to the intensification
of labour, crop-livestock integration and specialization in cash crops (mainly t'ef,
wheat, Sugar cane, and onions) in the 20th century. The horticultural enterprise of
Ts' ahafi TIIzaz introduced wage labour, founded crowded settlements, promoted social
services, consolidated political control, and resulted in a specialisation in cash crops
(notably sugar cane). Households had different levels and requirement of labour for
agricultural tasks. Despite encroachment of hired labour from irrigated on rainfed
agriculture even before the revolution, cooperative labour was utilized in bigger sizes
and frequency.
After the revolution, wage labourers dominated tenants in the competition for
exclusively utilizing irrigated fields through their association which was favoured by
collectivization of the darg regime. During this period , differentiation took on new
fo rms based on oxen ownership, availability of labour and cash resulting in the coining
the word taramaj for successful farmers. The earlier processes of crowded settlement,
specialization in cash crops and crop-livestock integration have been further intensified.
During the mixed economy policy of the darg, commercialization of farm land
commenced with the introduction of new land rentals. The significance of large-sized
cooperative labour was drastically reduced after the 1975 land reform. Following the
predominance of cash-oriented production, hired labour gained prominence over
cooperatl. ve a I b our, w hich , although it has been sustained to the present time , has been
much reduced in scale.