IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/iaae09/51276.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

From Pasture Land to Farm Plots, Triggers and Motivations for Land Use Changes in Afar, Ethiopia

Author

Listed:
  • Kotu, Bekele Hundie

Abstract

Communal land use system has existed in pastoral Afar (as in many other pastoral areas) since time of immemorial accommodating the interests of different user groups. This form of land use system, which has adapted to the harsh environment in which herders raise their livestock, enables efficient utilization of scattered pastoral resources since it accommodates constant mobility of livestock. In contrast to the mobile way of life, which characterizes pastoralism, farming as a sedentary activity is only marginally present in the lowlands of the Afar region. However, the traditional land-use system in Afar is changing nowadays if favor farming because of various reasons. This paper explains such changes mainly based the data collected through a household survey of 180 pastoral households inhabiting three districts of Afar region in Ethiopia. While drought is the major natural challenge that induced changes of the traditional land-use system in Afar, statistical analysis shows that there exists significant variation across sites and among pastoral households in regards to changes in the traditional land-use system. The variation is explained by factors such as suitability of the area for farming, wealth of households, external support for farming, and access to wage employment.

Suggested Citation

  • Kotu, Bekele Hundie, 2009. "From Pasture Land to Farm Plots, Triggers and Motivations for Land Use Changes in Afar, Ethiopia," 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China 51276, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:iaae09:51276
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.51276
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/51276/files/IAAE_2009_%20Paper_Ref_202.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.51276?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jonathan Davies & Richard Bennett, 2007. "Livelihood adaptation to risk: Constraints and opportunities for pastoral development in Ethiopia's Afar region," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(3), pages 490-511.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Headey, Derek & Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum & You, Liangzhi, 2012. "Enhancing resilience in the Horn of Africa : An exploration into alternative investment options," IFPRI discussion papers 1176, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    2. Martin C. Parlasca & Oliver Mußhoff & Matin Qaim, 2020. "Can mobile phones improve nutrition among pastoral communities? Panel data evidence from Northern Kenya," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 51(3), pages 475-488, May.
    3. Sundar, B. & Virmani, Vineet, 2013. "Attitudes towards Risk of Forest Dependent Communities - Evidence from Andhra Pradesh," IIMA Working Papers WP2013-12-01, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    4. John Kamau Gathiaka & Moses Kinyanjui Muriithi, 2017. "An Empirical Analysis of Livelihood Strategies and Food Insecurity in Turkana County, Kenya," Working Papers 338, African Economic Research Consortium, Research Department.
    5. Alary, V. & Messad, S. & Aboul-Naga, A. & Osman, M.A. & Daoud, I. & Bonnet, P. & Juanes, X. & Tourrand, J.F., 2014. "Livelihood strategies and the role of livestock in the processes of adaptation to drought in the Coastal Zone of Western Desert (Egypt)," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 44-54.
    6. Ruhangawebare, Godfrey Kalemera, 2010. "Factors Affecting The Level Of Commercialization Among Cattle Keepers In The Pastoral Areas Of Uganda," Research Theses 117797, Collaborative Masters Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    7. Joseph K. Assan & Pushpam Kumar, 2009. "Introduction: Livelihood options for the poor in the changing environment," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(3), pages 393-402.
    8. Kihiu, Evelyne Nyathira & Amuakwa-Mensah, Franklin, 2017. "Improving Access to Livestock Markets for Sustainable Rangeland Management," African Journal of Economic Review, African Journal of Economic Review, vol. 5(2), July.
    9. Parlasca, Martin C. & Mußhoff, Oliver & Qaim, Matin, 2018. "How mobile phones can improve nutrition among pastoral communities: Panel data evidence from Northern Kenya," GlobalFood Discussion Papers 274651, Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen, GlobalFood, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.
    10. Wenmei Liao & Jiawei Wang & Ying Lin & Yao Wang, 2021. "Chronic Illness and Income Diversification in Rural China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-15, March.
    11. Nejimu Biza Zepro & Araya Abrha Medhanyie & Afework Mulugeta Bezabih & Natalie Tarr & Sonja Merten, 2021. "Lived Experiences and Perceptions of Childbirth among Pastoralist Women in North-Eastern Ethiopia: A Multimethod Qualitative Analysis to the WHO Health Systems Responsiveness Framework," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-16, November.
    12. Alary, Véronique & Hassan, Ferial & Daoud, Ibrahim & Aboul Naga, Adel & Osman, Mona A. & Bastianelli, Denis & Lescoat, Philippe & Moselhy, Naeem & Tourrand, Jean-François, 2014. "Bedouin Adaptation to the Last 15-Years of Drought (1995–2010) in the North Coastal Zone of Egypt: Continuity or Rupture?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 125-137.
    13. Lee Cronk & Athena Aktipis, 2021. "Design principles for risk-pooling systems," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(7), pages 825-833, July.
    14. Alary, Véronique & Lasseur, Jacques & Frija, Aymen & Gautier, Denis, 2022. "Assessing the sustainability of livestock socio-ecosystems in the drylands through a set of indicators," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    15. Jonathan Davies, 2008. "Turning the tide: Enabling sustainable development for Africa's mobile pastoralists," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 32(3), pages 175-184, August.
    16. Sundar Balakrishna & Vineet Virmani, 2019. "Numeracy and Financial Literacy of Forest-dependent Communities," Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers, , vol. 44(2), pages 59-74, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:iaae09:51276. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iaaeeea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.