Unplanned Developments 

Agrarian Development in Ethiopia from Fascist Colonialism to International Aid (1930s-1950s)

The history of agrarian development and modernization in Ethiopia is vast, complex, and still largely uncharted. In this research, I bring together into a common historical narrative the agrarian development projects enacted during the fascist occupation of Ethiopia (1936-1941), the agricultural programs carried out by British authorities and UNRRA following the restoration of Ethiopia’s independence during WWII, and the international development projects of the FAO and US Point Four program in the early post-war years. 

Stemmed from my PhD, I am now working on turning this research into a book, provisionally entitled Unplanned Developments: A History of Agrarian Development in Ethiopia from Fascist Colonialism to International Aid. This book is essentially configured as an exploration into the disjunctures between the planning and practice of development. Tracing the concrete dynamics of the "development encounter" between foreign experts and local farmers, between scientific expertise, indigenous farming knowledges and practices, and Ethiopia's highland environments, the book tells a story of high-modernist hopes followed by despair, grandiose plans turning into emergency solutions, unexpected problems creating new ideas and frustrating others. It is about the power of ideologies of modernization as much as about their evolution, contamination, and ‘impotence’ on the ground. It delves into complex power dynamics, characterized by violence, dispossession, displacement, as well as by their elusion and resistance. From this perspective, the book shows how fascist agrarian colonization and modernization endeavors left a tangible legacy and had a wide-ranging impact on the onset of international development in post-war Ethiopia. Albeit serving different political interests and operating under different circumstances, there is a fundamental continuity in how fascist, British, UNRRA, FAO, and Point Four experts understood and managed their relationship with Ethiopia's farming and agroclimates. Shifting the focus from development planning and narratives to "unplanned developments" on the ground, tracing the multiple connections between fascist colonialism and international aid, the book provides a new perspective into the history of modern Ethiopia and agrarian development in the 20th century.