This text documents Ethiopian agricultural practices since the early 19th century by examining travel narratives, agricultural surveys and farming systems research. It also traces the ways practices evolved in the 20th century in response to population growth, urban markets and new technologies.

James C. McCann is associate professor of history and director of the African Studies Center at Boston University. He is the author of From Poverty to Famine in Northeast Ethiopia: A Rural History, 1900-1935 and has worked with many international aid and agricultural organizations on issues of agriculture and land use in northeastern Africa.