Introduction

This issue of Northeast African Studies presents eight papers concerning the various dimensions of development in Ethiopia. The papers were selected from among those presented at the first Ethiopian American Foundation (EAF) International Conference on Contemporary Development Issues that convened at Western Michigan University on 16–18 August 2001. They were selected from about 50 papers presented at this conference by the issue editor and the late professor Harold Marcus, Distinguished Professor of African History at Michigan State University and editor of NEAS before his death in January 2003. The purpose of this introduction is to present some highlights from the papers and to briefly draw some policy implications for development challenges that Ethiopia faces.

The first paper, by Badege Bishaw, is a discussion of deforestation and land degradation in the highlands of Ethiopia. Badege's paper explores agroforestry and conservation practices and proposes a strategy for physical recovery. He maintains that tree planting through agroforestry and social forestry should constitute an integral part of rural development strategy aimed at providing communities with food, fuel wood, income, and environmental benefits.

Badege's paper contains five sections: section 1 is an introduction, where he discusses the benefits of forests in providing wood, food, income, and watershed protection to Ethiopian communities, as well as the serious problem of deforestation and land degradation in the country. He reminds us that Ethiopia's forest areas have been reduced from 40 percent a century ago to 3 percent today, according to several estimates, resulting in massive environmental degradation that threatens sustainable agriculture and development for both the present and future generations. In section 2, he provides a brief background of Ethiopia's agro-ecology, including the significance of agriculture in the national economy. In section 3, he discusses Ethiopia's forest resources, including the types of forests, forest plantations, community forestry, and soil conservation practices. In section 4, he discusses various strategies for physical recovery such as agroforestry and social forestry practices, forest plantations, and natural forest protection and conservation practices. Finally, Badege discusses various policy issues such as participation of citizens, economic incentives, land and tree tenure, and education and research.

In discussing the crucial role of incentives and land tenure for sustainable forest management, the author proposes the urgent need to change land and tree tenure policy toward granting full property (land and tree rights) in order to promote investment in agroforestry and forest plantations that require long gestation periods. Here, he maintains that forest products such as wood should not be considered free goods; rather, they are scarce commodities requiring land, labor, and capital to produce and sustain. The role of the government and public policy in this process should be to provide economic incentives by securing land and tree security and rights legally protected for a long time, and supported by credit and education to farmers who invest in forestry.

Paulos Dubale's paper is concerned with the soil and water resources of Ethiopia and the severe degradation experienced by these resources. According to Paulos, the rapid rate of population growth—an increase of 300 percent over the last 50 years—has played played a key role in the natural resource degradation process. His paper identifies three types of land degradation affecting productivity: biological, chemical, and physical, and he cites soil erosion as the most serious problem. He further points out that Ethiopia is losing millions of dollars in natural capital and wealth in the form of soil, water, and agro-biodiversity losses. Paulos calls for the need to find sustained and long-term solutions through appropriate development policy to stem the problem of severe natural resource degradation in the country.

Demel Teketay's paper discusses the problem of environmental degradation in the form of land and water degradation and loss of biodiversity in Ethiopia. His paper considers deforestation or devegetation an important contributing factor to land degradation and soil erosion. He points out, for example, that the amount of grain production lost from land degradation in 1990 alone could have fed more than four million people. Demel's paper notes that population growth is among the primary factors increasing demand for...