Settler colonialism in Africa: Asafa Jalata, ‘The Political Economy of Land in Oromia and Ethiopia’, The Journal of Oromo Studies, 30 1, 2026, pp. 1-31 | settler colonial studies blog

Settler colonialism in Africa: Asafa Jalata, ‘The Political Economy of Land in Oromia and Ethiopia’, The Journal of Oromo Studies, 30 1, 2026, pp. 1-31

10Jan26

Abstract: The paper identifies and explains the landowning systems in Abyssinian (Amhara-Tigray) areas and the colonized regions, mainly Oromia. Amhara-Tigray farmers communally own land based on extended lineages. However, the Ethiopian colonial state and colonial settlers dispossessed most of the Oromo lands and reduced most Oromo and other nationalities to landless serfs (gabbars). The piece also demonstrates how the alliance of European imperialism and Ethiopian colonialism facilitated the dispossession and privatization of lands in the colonized territories, such as Oromia, and caused devastating consequences. By introducing the slogan of “Land to the Tiller,” the Ethiopian student movement and the revolutionary ruptures of 1974 facilitated the emergence of the military government, the overthrow of the Haile Selassie regime, and the “nationalization” of lands in the Ethiopian empire in 1975. Subsequent regime changes of 1991 and 2018 have enabled the new regimes to have tight control over lands and their use and facilitated the process of capital/wealth accumulation through various mechanisms at the cost of the farmers who have been exploited, impoverished, oppressed, and abused. Consequently, the land issue has remained a bone of contention, contradiction, and conflict in the Ethiopian empire, particularly Oromia. In addition, this paper explains how the neo-nafxanya government of Abiy Ahmed has targeted the Oromo farmers and herders for political repression and land dispossession. Historical and comparative methods were used in this study.

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