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The Role of Land Certification in Reducing Gender Gaps in Productivity in Rural Ethiopia

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  • Bezabih, Mintewab
  • Holden, Stein

Abstract

The importance of providing secure land rights to smallholder farmers in developing countries is now widely recognized. In line with this, our paper analyzes the impact of land certification on boosting productivity of female-headed households in Ethiopia, which are believed to be systematically more tenure insecure than their male counterparts. Based on parametric and semi-parametric analyses, the impact of certification on plot-level productivity is positive and significant. However, certification has different impacts on male and female productivity: male-headed households gain significantly and women gain only modestly. Hence, the results indicate that, while certification is clearly beneficial to farm-level productivity, it does not necessarily lead to more gains for female-headed households.

Suggested Citation

  • Bezabih, Mintewab & Holden, Stein, 2010. "The Role of Land Certification in Reducing Gender Gaps in Productivity in Rural Ethiopia," RFF Working Paper Series dp-10-23-efd, Resources for the Future.
    • Handle: RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-10-23-efd
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    Cited by:

    1. Hanane Sharif Ahmed, 2017. "Gender and rural land reform in Ethiopia: reform process, tenure security, and investment," Economics PhD Theses 0417, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    2. Arturo Aguilar & Eliana Carranza & Markus Goldstein & Talip Kilic & Gbemisola Oseni, 2015. "Decomposition of gender differentials in agricultural productivity in Ethiopia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 46(3), pages 311-334, May.
    3. Beyene, Abebe D. & Bezabih, Mintewab & Gebreegziabher, Zenebe, 2012. "Contract Duration under Incomplete Land Ownership Rights: Empirical Evidence from Rural Ethiopia," RFF Working Paper Series dp-12-09-efd, Resources for the Future.
    4. Lovo, Stefania, 2016. "Tenure Insecurity and Investment in Soil Conservation. Evidence from Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 219-229.
    5. Holden, Stein & Bezu, Sosina, 2013. "Joint Land Certification and Intra-household Decision-making:Towards Empowerment of Wives?," CLTS Working Papers 14/13, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 10 Oct 2019.
    6. Akpalu, Wisdom & Bezabih, Mintewab, 2014. "Tenure insecurity, climate variability, and renting-out decisions among female small-holder farmers in Ethiopia," WIDER Working Paper Series 140, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Wisdom Akpalu & Mintewab Bezabih, 2015. "Tenure Insecurity, Climate Variability and Renting out Decisions among Female Small-Holder Farmers in Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-16, June.
    8. Eskander, Shaikh M.S.U. & Barbier, Edward B., 2017. "Tenure Security, Human Capital and Soil Conservation in an Overlapping Generation Rural Economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 176-185.
    9. Holden, Stein & Bezu, Sosina, 2014. "Joint Land Certification, Gendered Preferences, and Land-related Decisions: Are Wives Getting More Involved?," CLTS Working Papers 6/14, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 10 Oct 2019.
    10. Bezu, Sosina & Holden, Stein, 2013. "Unbundling Land Administrative Reform: Demand for Second Stage Land Certification in Ethiopia," CLTS Working Papers 3/13, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 10 Oct 2019.
    11. Wisdom Akpalu & Mintewab Bezabih, 2014. "Tenure Insecurity, Climate Variability, and Renting-Out Decisions Among Female Smallholder Farmers in Ethiopia," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-140, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Debela, Bethelhem Legesse, 2016. "Factors affecting differences in livestock asset ownership between male and female-headed households in northern Ethiopia," 2016 Fifth International Conference, September 23-26, 2016, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 246906, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    13. Bambio, Yiriyibin & Bouayad Agha, Salima, 2018. "Land tenure security and investment: Does strength of land right really matter in rural Burkina Faso?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 130-147.
    14. Campus, Daniela, 2017. "Gender differentials in agricultural productivity: an empirical evidence from Uganda," 2017 Sixth AIEAA Conference, June 15-16, Piacenza, Italy 261259, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA).
    15. Hagos, Hosaena Gebru & Holden, Stein T., 2013. "Reverse-share-tenancy and Marshallian Inefficiency: Landowners’ bargaining power and sharecroppers’ productivity," IFPRI discussion papers 1270, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    16. Ambe J. Njoh & Erick Ananga, 2016. "The Development Hypothesis of Women Empowerment in the Millennium Development Goals Tested in the Context Women’s Access to Land in Africa," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 89-104, August.
    17. Di Falco, Salvatore & Veronesi, Marcella, 2014. "Climatic anomalies and conflicts: the role of tenure security on land disputes," 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia 183083, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    18. Shibeshi, Gebeyehu Belay & Fuchs, Helmut & Mansberger, Reinfried, 2015. "Lessons from Systematic Evaluation of Land Administration Systems. The Case of Amhara National Regional State of Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 282-295.
    19. Getie, Adane Mehari & Birhanu, Tadesse Amsalu & Dadi, Teshome Taffa, 2023. "Rural cadastral implementation and its effect on women’s landholding use rights in Amhara region, Ethiopia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    productivity; female-headed households; land certification;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D2 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations
    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets
    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment

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