Ethiopian land nationalization of 1975

The Derg nationalized rural land and abolished tenancy in 1975. Reform aimed to change rents and insecure cultivation rights, with peasant associations involved in allocation and implementation.

Nationalization did not immediately turn every farmer into a state-farm employee. Household farming, peasant associations, cooperatives and state farms were distinct. Different tenure systems meant that southern tenants and northern holders of customary rights experienced reform differently.

Improved access to land existed in tension with state production controls, procurement and relocation policies. Agricultural outcomes require consideration of war, drought, inputs and distribution; famine cannot be reduced to one law or natural shock.