The transition to socialism of Ethiopia since 1974 brought a drastic change to the rural area. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of the socialist policies of the Derg regime (1974-91) on the coffee-growing area where the state strongly intervened. The main focus is drawn to the relationships between peasants and lands.
By tracing the historical process the coffee growing village has experienced, it becomes apparent that the socialist policy such as land nationalization and agricultural socialization, not only integrated rural land, which the peasants had owned and used in their own way, to the rigid national institution, but also tried to integrate the peasants as the labors of the three national organizations, such as the peasant association, the state farm and the producers' cooperative. Furthermore, the analysis of land property dynamics reveals the fact that the influx of migrants, which had started during the first half of the 20th century, was accelerated under the socialist policies. This enormous influx of population caused the land scarcity and resulted in the duration of unstable tenancy that could have been settled by the land redistribution. Despite the state's massive intervention under the Derg regime, the social change in the rural areas did not go just as intended by the political center. In order to understand the historical process in rural societies, it is important to pay attention to the various movements beyond the state institutions in each region.