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Paper short abstract:

Based on ethnographic studies of land and agricultural policies in Ethiopia's western lowlands, this paper shows how Amhara irredentism is rooted in local contentions over access to land and agrarian resources.

Paper long abstract:

Against essentialist and nationalist readings of territory, I propose an agrarian understanding of Amhara irredentism. Amhara nationalist movements have engaged in intense campaigning over the zones of Metekkel, Wolqayt, Raya, and "Mulu Shewa" they claim as "historically Amhara". Based on fieldwork carried out between 2013 and 2021 in Mettekel and Wolqayt, I argue that agricultural policies and land administration carried out since the mid 2000s provide a grid for interpreting Amhara push on Ethiopian internal borders.

In the context of ethnic federalism, agricultural policies pressed local élites to transfer land to investors in the lowland peripheries. They reacted diversely, by both encouraging and complaining about land transactions and work migration entailed by the rush for land. As ethnicity provided the basis for party structuration and political representation, local land tensions espoused the same ethnic lines - although past agricultural practices were often more inclusive and allowed more fluidity, solidarity, and transactions between groups. Agricultural workers from other regions tried to access land, concluding transactions with groups ethnic federalism had recognized as "indigenous". Against this background, several policy programs including land registration projects implemented between 2014 and 2018, triggered local violence. As the political crisis was deepening and polarization increasing at the federal level, political parties and state institutions provided channels for local land conflicts to scale up. Meanwhile, agricultural investors played a prominent role in fostering irredentism, by providing narratives of success, and then resources for armed groups.