But in the northern highlands, where communal ownership rist dominated and large holdings and tenancy were exceptions, many people resisted land reform. In pre 1974 imperial ethiopia, the most common types of land related institutions were rist, gult, maderia yemengist land and semon church land. An orderly system of land registration and supporting systems of land adjudication and landuse planning are key ingredients to this socioeconomic formula for progress. Ethiopias agrarian reform, but rather will consider briefly the process of land. Land degradation is an important problem in ethiopia, with more than 85 % of the land degraded to various degrees. Land use dynamics, access, farm size, and fragmentation. The right to land, in rural ethiopia as well as in urban areas, merely gives farmers and residents of the urban a possessory or holding privilege which include the rights to use and enjoy, rent, donate and inherit the land and the properties affixed on it. Ethiopia is bounded by eritrea to the north, djibouti to the northeast, somalia to the east, kenya to the south, and south sudan and sudan to the west. Land reform is a highly controversial issue in ethiopia. For example, although brazil, ecuador, and bolivia have landtenure problems that are seemingly similar, they have displayed substantial economic growth, as did the chilalo, shashamane, and asmara areas of ethiopia prior to the revolution.
Greatrun ethiopias 99399 2004 2014 the growth acceleration and how to pace it public disclosure authorized public disclosure authorized public disclosure authorized. Decentralizing land administration ethiopia, ghana, tanzania, and uganda. While the current ethiopian government has implemented a land policy that is based on state ownership of land where. The ottaways note that instead of introducing reform gradually, thus not only giving the administrators the chance to learn from their mistakes but minimizing possible disruptions in the food supply, it was implemented practically overnight which led to. Democratic republic of ethiopias fdre predominantly agricultural economy live in.
Following initial enthusiasm in the postwar period, land reform fell out of favour with donors from the early 1970s. Case studies of recent reforms world bank documents. During the feudal regime, it was a major source of wealth, power and social status. Ethiopia proclaimed that land is a common property of the nations, nationalities and peoples of ethiopia and shall not be subject to sale or to other means of transfer. Land in ethiopia is the common property of the people and, if suitable land is available, the state may allocate small plots of land to farmers. Effects of developing country policies on agricultural services, extension, rural infrastructure. Land rights, holding rights, expropriation, largescale agricultural investment summary from time immemorial, land had been controlled by the elite kings and their trusted followers in ethiopia. How land reform and rural development can help reduce. In the central and northern highlands, land holdings have dwindled. The future of work for smallholder farmers in ethiopia government. Axum ancient city of ethiopia from the 1 st bc boeplau bureau of environmental protection land administration and use csa central statistical agency fdre federal democratic republic of ethiopia gebir royal feast gibir tribute, land tax, usually paid in kind gonder ethiopian capital during 17 th18 th centuries. Implementing land administration solutions in ethiopia. Jan 07, 2011 from the land in africa conference quan, j. It further examines alternative policy, legislative, institutional and implementation mechanisms, and makes recommendations deduced from a thorough analysis of.
As a matter of fact, the land redistribution that took place in seventies has resulted in an average land holding of 2 hectares productivity and increased agricultural output. Land is a common property of the nations, nationalities and peoples of ethiopia and shall not be subject to sale or to other means of transfer. In ethiopia, land is the common property of the state and the people, and, hence, is not subject to sale, exchange or mortgage. Critical analysis of ethiopian urban land lease policy. Since 1976, after a dramatic land reform in the wake of the overthrow of the emperor, the state owns all land, and rights to cultivation are handed to rural households. Overall, however, the government has made only few substantive changes to the land rights held by. In this proclamation, unless the context requires otherwise.
Bodurtha, justin caron, jote chemeda, dinara shakhmetova, and long vo introduction and problem definition the challenges of land tenure in ethiopia are part of a complex policy problem that stem from failed. Soon, the new regime, the derg, promulgated a revolutionary land reform program. Since the 1975 land reform, which made all rural land public property, the possession of land plots has been conditional upon residence in a village. These rules therefore combine some form of efficiency. Ethiopias topography, one of the most rugged in africa, is built on four geologic formations. Tenure security will provide the right incentives to invest or make improvements in land and natural resources. Obviously the impact o f the land reform has not been uniform throughout, and in each region significant variations in substance as well as in detail have emerged. Sustainable approaches to degraded land restoration in rural. Ethiopian economic policy research institute, addis ababa, ethiopia. Population growth and cultivated land in rural ethiopia. In its ongoing effort to facilitate the entry of a generation of black agrientrepreneurs into the sector. The key to trigger agricultural modernization, development.
As a development finance institution, its mandate is to address agricultural and rural development in south africa. The most common form of land degradation in ethiopia is soil erosion by water. Since the 1975 land reform, which made all rural land. Implications of land policies for the ruralurban linkages. Ethiopia sustainable land management project english abstract. The land reform proclamation abolished all private ownership making all land common property of the ethiopian people. Rural farmers and pastoralists are guaranteed a plot of land free of charge while urban residents can secure the same through ground lease arrangements. The derg reform was perhaps the most radical implementation of land reform imaginable. In principle, rights to the stream of benefits were offered, but as land redistributions continued. Land security is foundational to a functional, peaceful, and prosperous society. International largescale land acquisitions in ethiopia.
Rocks of precambrian origin more than 540 million years in age form the oldest basal complex of ethiopia, as they. Land reform in ethiopia 19741977 marina ottaway in march 1975, the ethiopian ruling military council, or derg, proclaimed a sweeping land reform, which aimed at bringing about a complete transformation in the countrys complex land tenure system and in its social and political structures. Peasants, land reform and property right in ethiopia. However, ethiopia suffers from food insecurity and is dependent on. Ethiopian land reform as announced by halle selassies government and to suggest some of.
Current land policy issues in ethiopia request pdf. Tenant farmers in southern ethiopia, where the average tenancy was as high as 55 percent and rural elites exploited farmers, welcomed the land reform. This is a major omission given that about 35% of south africas population live in. Lessons of experience and emerging issues lorenzo cotula, camilla toulmin and ced hesse february 2004 copies of this publication can be obtained from. Past land reform and registration pilots have, however, largely failed. Through the proclamation of march 1975, the derg regime undertook a thorough and radical land reform that nationalized land and made it state property. Ethiopia proclaimed that land is a common property of the nations. Current land policy issues in etkiopia food and agriculture. Pdf land reform, distribution of land and institutions in rural. Critical analysis of ethiopian urban land lease policy reform since early 1990s, 6825 zelalem yirga adamu usa fig congress 2014 engaging the challenges enhancing the relevance kuala lumpur, malaysia 1621 june 2014 424 critical government enacted the first and new urban leasehold proclamation that may be cited as the.
Land in ethiopia, as in other developing countries, has been very essential for, and central to, life. The outcome of many land reform programmes was mixed. The problem of land reform in ethiopia has hampered that countrys economic development throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries. Land, land policy and smallholder agriculture in ethiopia future. Land policy in ethiopia ethiopian economic association. As the state owns all land in ethiopia, rural residents have been guaranteed access to land through a law that. Land redistribution is not ruled out in both the federal land proclamation and some regional. For example, although brazil, ecuador, and bolivia have land tenure problems that are seemingly similar, they have displayed substantial economic growth, as did the chilalo, shashamane, and asmara areas of ethiopia prior to the revolution. Nonetheless, sporadic efforts to redistribute land continued. Ethiopia is one of the countries that undertook a land reform programme as part of a larger radical sociopolitical and economic revolution. This study explores land tenure issues theories, country experiences, and the ethiopian case during the period pre1975 to present and raises fundamental issues for further investigation.
A considerable volume of information has been produced since the mid1980s regarding soil erosion in ethiopia barbier 1989. The majority of the youth in ethiopia live in rural areas where farming has been traditionally the main livelihood of the people. In tigray state, northern ethiopia, where the detailed research on which this paper is based has been centered, and in the. Introduction despite the apparent abundance of land, agricultural land with a dependable growing period represents a fraction of the total land area in ethiopia. Agricultural land redistribution and land administration in subsaharan africa. Land lease policy in addis ababa ethiopian, chamber. Sustainable approaches to degraded land restoration in rural ethiopia approaches. Ethiopia, land tenure, property rights regime, bundles of rights. Effects of land tenure and property rights on agricultural.
As a matter of fact, the land redistribution that took place in seventies has resulted in an average land holding of 2 hectares. Sustainable approaches to degraded land restoration in. Little has been said about the role of rural development or land reform. One reason for a lack of progress is the decentralisation of land administration functions. As the research is embedded in the latest ongoing discourse on drivers and impacts of largescale land investments in the global south, the. Failure of land reform and agricultural crisis also attempts to identify specific attributes of successful democratization processes comprehensive land reforms on the basis of which it evaluates and explains the failure of the ethiopian land reform.
Imperial government to introduced land reform and rural change and in 1974 the emperor was deposed and the derg took power. This proclamation may be cited as the federal democratic republic of ethiopia rural land administration and land use proclamation no. In march 1975, the ethiopian ruling military council, or derg, proclaimed a sweeping land reform, which aimed at bringing about a complete transformation in the countrys complex land tenure system and in its social and political structures. Agriculture and ministry of rural development are in the process of merging into one ministry. An orderly system of land registration and supporting systems of land adjudication and land use planning are key ingredients to this socioeconomic formula for progress. Rights to land in ethiopia are neither complete nor fully individualistic. Ethiopia land administration and nurture land project. Review of landholding systems and policies in ethiopia. The objective of the sustainable land management project slm in ethiopia is to reduce land degradation in agricultural landscapes and to improve the agricultural productivity of smallholder farmers. The provisions of this proclamation that are referring to masculine gender shall also apply to feminine gender. Ethiopia in 1975, zimbabwe in 1980 and a renewed commitment to land reform in the philippines in 1988. Focus on land largescale land acquisitions in ethiopia.
Pdf land policy in ethiopia has been controversial since the fall of the military socialist derg. The merger of the hitherto separate urban and rural land administrations. Economics of land degradation and improvement in ethiopia. Although the country achieved double digit economic growth in the last decade, absence of a comprehensive national land use policy and national land use plan affected allocation of land to its best use. Ethiopia is one of the countries that undertook a land reform programme as part of a. Soil erosion is indeed considered the most significant environmental challenge to the food security of the population and future development prospects of the country wagayehu 2003.
Joining forces to discover and celebrate local innovation in land. Implications of land policies for ruralurban linkages and rural transformation in ethiopia getnet alemu zewdu and mehrab malek development strategy and governance division, international food policy research institute ethiopia strategy support program 2, ethiopia e ethiopia strategy support program essp essp ii working paper no. Under the current land tenure system, farmers cultivate governmentowned land, nationalised under the former marxist derg government in. Agriculture, land reform and rural development south.
Review of landholding systems and policies in ethiopia under. Significant political willingness for land administration reform exists in ethiopia. Ownership, equity, and liberty in land use rights daniel weldegebriel ambaye, ethiopia key words. Critical analysis of ethiopian urban land lease policy reform. Effects of land tenure and property rights on agricultural productivity in ethiopia, namibia and bangladesh shimelles tenaw, k. Pdf there are two explicitly or implicitly and widely accepted beliefs about.
But in the northern highlands, where communal ownership rist dominated and large holdings and tenancy were. Ethiopia sustainable land management project english. The banking sector in ethiopia has been dominated by the stateowned commercial bank of ethiopia cbe. Land rights and expropriation in ethiopia daniel weldegebriel ambaye doctoral thesis in land law. Land rights, expropriation, valuation, compensation. Economic reforms and structural changes in ethiopia since. Before joining the bank, he was an assistant secretary at. The land and agricultural development bank of south africa operates in the primary agriculture and agribusiness sectors. The state can expropriate private property for public use, such as for a better development project, with payment of adequate compensation. The problem tenure security is vital for a successful agricultural development especially in ethiopia where 85% of the population lives in the rural area. Continuity and change, shifting rulers, and the quest for state control article pdf available january 2008 with 5,921 reads how we measure reads. The ethiopian rural setting contains a wide variety o f ecological zones or agroecological regions, o f agricultural systems and practices as well as sociocultural experiences.
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