Economic Reconstruction and the Peasants in Ethiopia. Two Papers Presented at the Symposium on the Ethiopian Economy, with a Postscript

Abstract

The two papers present proposals for the economic reconstruction of Ethiopia, based on the interests of the peasants and other poor groups. In the first paper, Fantu Cheru outlines a reform programme combining the market based efficiency model of the World Bank, the long term adjustment with transformation strategy of the ECA, and the human development approach of the UNDP. The second paper by Siegfried Pausewang refers to experience in rural Ethiopia during the last 15 years, and argues that Ethiopia has two major resources to build on: her land and the work, knowledge and initiative of her peasants. Economic recovery has to star with rural democracy; empowering peasants and their rural communities. The postscript reports impressions about the present situation in Ethiopia and also in Eritrea.