People of the Plow: An Agricultural History of Ethiopia, 1800-1990

318 Pages·1995·22.52 MB·English

by  James C. McCann

People of the Plow

People of the Plow
An Agricultural History of Ethiopia, 1800-1990
James C. McCann
The University of Wisconsin Press
The University of Wisconsin Press
114 North Murray Street
Madison, Wisconsin 53715
3 Henrietta Street
London WC2E 8LU, England
Copyright © 1995
The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
All rights reserved
5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McCann, James, 1950-
People of the plow: an agricultural history of Ethiopia,
1800-1990 I James C. Mc'Cann.
316p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. (00) and index.
ISBN 0-299-14610-3 (cl).-ISBN 0-299-14614-6 (pbk.)
1. Agriculture-Ethiopia-History. I. Title.
S473.E8M33 1995
306.3'49'096309143-dc20 93-37124
CONTENTS
Illustrations vii
Maps ix
Tables xi
Transliteration xiii
Preface xv
Prologue: Fanus, Agriculture, and History 3
Part I.
The Plow and the Land
1. The Salubrious Highlands: A Historical Setting 23
2. The Ox-Plow Complex: an Ecological Revolution 39
3. Fanus in the Agrarian Polity: Historical Trends in Population,
Fanu Resources, and Specialized Agriculture, 1800-1916 84
Part II.
The Plow and Ethiopian Historical Landscapes
4. From Royal Fields to Marginal Lands:
Agriculture in Ankober, Shawa, 1840-1990 109
5. The Plow in the Forest:
Agriculture, Population, and Maize Monoculture in Gera 147
6. Addis Ababa's Kitchen: Food, Forage, and Intensification
in a Closed Ox-Plow Economy, Ada 1800-1990 191
7. Conclusion: People of the Plow, People of the City 239
v
vi Contents
Epilogue 26(cid:22)
Appendix A: Crop Names 267
Appendix B: Glossary ofA gricultural Terms 269
Bibliography 271
Index 292
ILLUSTRATIONS
1.1. A highland landscape (Lasta, Wallo), 1868 27
1.2. A highland landscape (Lasta, Wallo), 1972 27
1.3. The main rains, Blue Nile Falls, September, 1973 30
1.4. The dry season, Blue Nile Falls, May, 1974 30
2.1. Humpless oxen and long beam plow at
Amba Focada (Eritrea), c. 500-1000 B.C. 41
2.2. A northern setting for agriculture: Axum c. 1810 43
2.3. A southern setting for agriculture:
a white sorghum field, c. 1850 43
2.4. Ensete cultivation and preparation, c. 1860 54
2.5. Oromo granary, 1880 64
2.6. Maize granary (Gera), 1990 65
2.7. Gendered division of labor in ox-plow agriculture 76
3.1. Ox-plow cultivation, c. 1860 86
3.2. Ox-plow cultivation, 1974 86
4.1. Ankober, c. 1840 110
4.2. The royal table: interior of an elite house
at Ankober, c. 1840 111
vii
viii Illustrations
4.3. Nineteenth-century deforestation, view between
Entoto and Ankober, 1888 120
4.4. Faggot sellers, northern Shawa, 1880s 121
4.5. Rural Shawan house, 1888 122
4.6. Non-farm income: male Argobba weaver, c. 1840 123
4.7. Elite Shawan women, c. 1840
(Amhara in foreground, Argobba in background) 124
4.8. Gaye (soil burning), northern Shawa, 1982 132
4.9. Ankober terraces, c. 1888 135
5.1. The forest setting, c. 1880 155
5.2. Clearing the forest for maize, 1991 155
5.3. Chala masera (royal residence), Gera, c. 1860 165
5.4. Chala royal residence site, 1991 165
5.5. Afallo mission, c. 1880 169
5.6. Afallo mission site, 1991 169
5.7. Yalew Taffese, migrant coffee farmer (Gera) 172
6.1A. Oromo farmers, c. 1888 194
6.1B. Oromo farmers, c. 1888 195
6.2. Italian tractor cultivation at Foka (Ada), c. 1939 212
6.3. Ada landscape: teff straw forage, 1990 226
MAPS
1.1. Africa: highland zones 24
1.2. Ethiopia: highland zones 25
4.1. Ankober 112
5.1. Gera 148
6.1. Ada 192
ix