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CU ZOOM OUT TO GV Newspapers on press (2 shots)
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SV Bundles of newspapers in distribution room
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CU ZOOM OUT TO SV People looking at newspaper headline
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GV Demonstrators through streets with placards and banners (4 shots)
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Initials BB/0255 NC/AH/BB/0305



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: A specific amount of free land of each farmer and the establishment of large collective farms are two of the main points of a revolutionary and far-reaching land-reform proclamation issued in Ethiopia on Tuesday (4 March).

The decree is seen as the most radical legislation imposed by the military Government and the most far-reaching move yet made to turn Ethiopia into a socialist state.

The proclamation declared all rural land the collective property of the Ethiopian people, banned the use of hired farm labour and limited to 10 hectares (about 25 acres) the amount of land to be allotted to any one family under the Government's land redistribution scheme.

It also allows for the establishment of peasants' associations to farm at least 800 hectares (about 2,000 acres) each.

A few hours after the announcement thousands of people poured into the streets in Addis Ababa to show their support for the land-reform moves.