IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/revape/v35y2008i116p203-220.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ethiopia: Reforming Land Tenure

Author

Listed:
  • Wibke Crewett
  • Benedikt Korf

Abstract

Land policy in Ethiopia has been controversial since the fall of the military socialist derg regime in 1991. While the current Ethiopian government has implemented a land policy that is based on state ownership of land (where only usufruct rights are given to land holders), many agricultural economists and international donor agencies have propagated some form of privatized land ownership. This article traces the antagonistic arguments of the two schools of thought in the land reform debate and how their antagonistic principles ‐ fairness vs. efficiency ‐ are played out. It then goes on to explore how these different arguments have trickled down in the formulation of the federal and regional land policies with a particular view on the new Oromia regional land policy as it is considered the most progressive (with regards to tenure security). We provide some empirical material on ongoing practices of implementing the Rural Land Use and Administration Proclamation of Oromia Region. Our analysis suggests that while the laws are conceptual hybrids that accommodate both fairness and efficiency considerations, regional bureaucrats have selectively implemented those elements of the proclamation that are considered to strengthen the regime’s political support in the countryside.

Suggested Citation

  • Wibke Crewett & Benedikt Korf, 2008. "Ethiopia: Reforming Land Tenure," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(116), pages 203-220, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:revape:v:35:y:2008:i:116:p:203-220
    DOI: 10.1080/03056240802193911
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/03056240802193911
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/03056240802193911?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Deininger, Klaus & Songqing Jin & Adenew, Berhanu & Gebre-Selassie, Samuel & Demeke, Mulat, 2003. "Market and non-market transfers of land in Ethiopia - implications for efficiency, equity, and non-farm development," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2992, The World Bank.
    2. Berhanu, G/medhin & Pender, John & Ehui, Siemon, 2003. "Land Tenure and Land Management in the Highlands of Northern Ethiopia," Ethiopian Journal of Economics, Ethiopian Economics Association, vol. 8(2), pages 1-97, July.
    3. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Pradhan, Rajendra, 2002. "Legal pluralism and dynamic property rights," CAPRi working papers 22, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    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. World Bank, 2007. "Determinants of the Adoption of Sustainable Land Management Practices and Their Impacts in the Ethiopian Highlands," World Bank Publications - Reports 7938, The World Bank Group.
    2. Abdulazeez, Muhammad-Lawal & Omotesho, Kemi Funmi & Adekola, Olabisi Fatimat & Adekunle, Dayo, 2014. "Assessment of Land Management Practices in Food Crops Production among Small Scale Farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria," International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development (IJAMAD), Iranian Association of Agricultural Economics, vol. 4(2), April.
    3. Josephson, Anna Leigh & Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob & Florax, Raymond J.G.M., 2014. "How does population density influence agricultural intensification and productivity? Evidence from Ethiopia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 142-152.
    4. Gottlieb, Charles & Grobovšek, Jan, 2019. "Communal land and agricultural productivity," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 135-152.
    5. Byström, Marie, 2004. "Formal and informal systems in support of farmer management of agro-biodiversity: some policy challenges to consolidate lessons learned," CAPRi working papers 31, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    6. Samuel Godadaw Ayinaddis, 2023. "Socio-economic factors affecting women’s entrepreneurial performance in MSEs in Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-21, December.
    7. Anderson, Simon & Centonze, Roberta, 2007. "Property Rights and the Management of Animal Genetic Resources," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 1529-1541, September.
    8. Shunji Oniki & Melaku Berhe & Teklay Negash, 2020. "Role of Social Norms in Natural Resource Management: The Case of the Communal Land Distribution Program in Northern Ethiopia," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-17, January.
    9. Kosec, Katrina & Ghebru, Hosaena & Holtemeyer, Brian & Mueller, Valerie & Schmidt, Emily, 2016. "The effect of land inheritance on youth employment and migration decisions: Evidence from rural Ethiopia," IFPRI discussion papers 1594, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    10. Johnson, Nancy & Suarez , Ruth & Lundy, Mark, 2002. "The importance of social capital in Colombian rural agro-enterprises," CAPRi working papers 26, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    11. Meinzen-Dick, R. & Nkonya, L., 2005. "Understanding legal pluralism in water rights: Lessons from Africa and Asia," IWMI Books, Reports H038746, International Water Management Institute.
    12. Amede, Tilahun & Gebre-Mariam, A. & Felloni, F., 2008. "Small scale irrigation interventions for system productivity and natural resource management in Ethiopian highlands: benefits and best-bets," IWMI Conference Proceedings 246404, International Water Management Institute.
    13. Hundie, Bekele, 2006. "Explaining Changes of Property Rights among Afar Pastoralists, Ethiopia," Institutional Change in Agriculture and Natural Resources Discussion Papers 18833, Humboldt University Berlin, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    14. Hans P. Binswanger-Mkhize & Camille Bourguignon & Rogier van den Brink, 2009. "Agricultural Land Redistribution : Toward Greater Consensus," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2653, December.
    15. Kandel, Matt & Anghileri, Daniela & Alare, Rahinatu S. & Lovett, Peter N. & Agaba, Genevieve & Addoah, Thomas & Schreckenberg, Kate, 2022. "Farmers’ perspectives and context are key for the success and sustainability of farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR) in northeastern Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    16. Canavari, Maurizio & Centonze, Roberta & Spadoni, Roberta, 2006. "Traceability as Part of Competitive Strategy in the Fruit Supply Chain," 2006 Annual Meeting, August 12-18, 2006, Queensland, Australia 25639, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    17. Krishna, Anirudh, 2003. "Understanding, measuring and utilizing social capital: clarifying concepts and presenting a field application from India," CAPRi working papers 28, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    18. Chamberlin, Jordan & Schmidt, Emily, 2012. "Ethiopian Agriculture: A dynamic geographic perspective," IFPRI book chapters, in: Dorosh, Paul A. & Rashid, Shahidur (ed.), Food and agriculture in Ethiopia: Progress and policy challenges, chapter 2, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    19. Roy, Jessica & Crow, Ben, 2004. "Gender Relations and Access to Water: What We Want to Know About Social Relations and Women's Time Allocation," Center for Global, International and Regional Studies, Working Paper Series qt0m5033gv, Center for Global, International and Regional Studies, UC Santa Cruz.
    20. Heyd, Helene & Neef, Andreas, 2004. "Participation of local people in water management: evidence from the Mae Sa Watershed, northern Thailand," EPTD discussion papers 128, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:taf:revape:v:35:y:2008:i:116:p:203-220. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CREA20 .

    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.