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Land degradation is an evident and severe environmental problem in Ethiopia. Since 2003 community-based watershed management has been implemented in the study area to reduce land degradation. This study aimed to investigate to what extent the community-based watershed management is effective in rehabilitating the land. Woody vegetative cover, land use/cover (LULC) change and soil erosion rate were selected variables to examine the effectiveness of the management measures. The LULC and woody vegetative cover spatial datasets were created from Landsat satellite images of 2003 and 2019 using ERDAS IMAGINE 2016® and ArcGIS10.8®. The soil loss rate was modelled using geoinformation techniques combined with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation. To assess the perception of farmers involved in the watershed rehabilitation activities, qualitative data were collected through Focus Group Discussions and Key Informant interviews. The results showed that the average annual soil loss rate in the study area was 49.5 tonnes (t)/hectare (ha−1)/year(y−1) in 2003 and 23.8 t ha−1y−1 in 2019, which is a 52% decrease over 16 years. Woody vegetative cover and grassland increased by 11% and 103%, respectively. These figures and respondents' responses, Focus Group Discussants and Key Informants showed that the community-based watershed management measures implemented in the study area were effective for improving vegetation cover and reducing soil loss (reducing land degradation). The sustainability of these achievements is contingent on the availability of a robust local organizational set-up complemented by the provision of natural resources development technologies, capacity building and security of land tenure. In sum, the findings in the study lead to conclude that the active involvement of farmers in land management and security of land tenure are effective approaches to reverse land degradation in the highlands of Ethiopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context and background Access to land and productive resources for women is low in many countries especially in the developing world where there are less secure property rights in general. Though there is no clear indication as to which groups should be considered vulnerable in Ethiopia, the groups mentioned under section two are practically considered vulnerable. These groups in Ethiopia include women, orphan children, HIV/AIDS victims, pastoralists, poor peasants, persons with disabilities and the urban and rural poor. Moreover, no proclamation in the country has listed who vulnerable groups are. Only a single proclamation i.e proclamation number 916/2016 tries to highlight the presence of some fabric of society who are considered as vulnerable without further expalanation under its article 34/13/c. The main causes which affect the lives of the women and other vulnerable groups emanate from policy, legal, customary, social and political loopholes in the country. Goal and Objectives: The overall objective of this study was to examine the land administration shortcomings that affect access to land for women in Ethiopia. Methodology: The researchers used a transcendental phenomenological approach to investigate the lived experiences of the women and other vulnerable groups in Ethiopia. By investigating literatures and approaching the participants in a manner where they should express the experiences they have been in and the systematic analysis of policy, legal and social realities with respect access to land. Results: Ethiopia include women, orphan children, HIV/AIDS victims, pastoralists, poor peasants, persons with disabilities and the urban and rural poor are Highly Affected ground. Moreover, no proclamation in the country has listed who vulnerable groups are. Elderly, HIV victims, disabled and unemployed are the groups of vulnerability. In adequate legal and institutional regime, customary practices, lack of political will and land administration shortcomings are among the causes of vulnerability in Ethiopia. Therefore, addressing such main causes of vulnerability requires nothing beyond alleviating problems related to the legal shortcomings, the inadequacy of legal and land experts, corruption and political reluctance, patriarchal customary practices and bad system of land administration. The government should, therefore, give a serious emphasis in these respects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land in Ethiopia is held by the state and the people; while landholders guaranteed a lifetime ‘holding’ right (any right except sell and mortgage per se). Women have equal rights to men in the formal legal system, despite, in pastoral areas, women’s land rights are highly influenced by religious and customary systems: rights are meaningless unless they are socially recognized and effectively enforced. Studies on women’s land rights comparing between formal and customary land laws are rare. The aim of this paper is to understand what land rights women have under formal and customary legal systems in pastoral areas of Ethiopia, how these are implemented and what their impact is, and to make recommendations for their convergence. It focuses on two pastoral regions of Ethiopia: Afar and Oromia. The research revealed that there is a high disparity between the formal law and what the practice in one hand, and the customary and religious systems, and the formal state system. Afar society is patriarchal: women are still inferior to men in terms of use of and access to land. Customary and religious systems are applicable more than state laws. Women don’t resolve disputes except in certain exceptional circumstances, they involve indirect. They cannot inherit property either from their husband or families through the customary system. Land titling is conducted in the region by considering the rights of women which brings improvements. Women have started to obtain private holdings from the government in villagization areas: accounted for 24% of the total, despite several challenges. In Oromia pastoral areas, women have relatively equal rights: they have their own clear responsibilities according to custom. Transactions of matrimonial properties is not possible without the consent of the wife. In many places, women have their own private land, and they participate directly and indirectly in the management of communal lands. But there is discrimination for women as far as inheritance is concerned. Inheritance of land and dispute settlements are common problems of the two study areas. It is not an easy task to converge the formal and informal systems on women land rights. Replacing the customary system with the formal is not the solution. Legal pluralism may be an option and advantageous. The research recommends for promulgation of pastoral land administration laws acknowledging and incorporating customary and religious laws (one umbrella pastoral ‘code’ that bring together statutory, customary, and religious laws); awareness creation and legal empowerment of societies; certification of private holdings including photographs of both the husband and wife/wives; integration of the customary and religious systems into criminal law; a mobile free legal service; a thorough study to understand the pros and cons of polygamy for women and the society in general; and a process of cultural mapping and monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Ethiopia, farmland belongs to 'the people' (the state) and cannot be sold or bought, but compensatory measures have been introduced for land expropriated for infrastructure and industry. The article analyses processes of valuation and compensation of land in Kombolcha district in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. Here numerous projects have affected highly productive farmland over the last decade. Monetary compensation to land holders whose farmland is expropriated is relatively new in Ethiopia, and we explore how peasants and authorities gradually have attained increased competence in dealing with land valuation and compensation, faced with often obscure and contradictory legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the global food crises of 2007, smallholder farmers, pastoralists, indigenous peoples and other rural groups in many developing countries have seen their access to land, water and forest resources being threatened and reduced due to the acquisition of those resources by other actors - acquisitions that may have been promoted by state policies. Taking up the case of Ethiopia, this article aims to explore the implications of large-scale agricultural investments for local food security and the right to food. The article argues that in the context of the recent and ongoing large-scale agricultural investments driven primarily by the state, the interpretation and realisation of the right to food becomes a politically contested issue and that such investments run counter to implementing the state's obligation to protect local people's access to and procurement of adequate food. It argues that the large-scale agricultural investments both condition and pervert the realisation of food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The land is not only a vital livelihood asset but also indispensable for the enjoyment of several human rights including the right to life, the right to food, the right to housing, the right to property, the right to development, and the right to self-determination. However, smallholder farmers and pastoralists do not have an adequate legislative protection as laws and practices facilitate arbitrary expropriations and land grabbing, which induce an economic marginalisation of most ethnic groups in Ethiopia. The Imperial regime (1930–1974) had imposed an oppressive land tenure system on the Oromo and other peoples of Ethiopia until the Derg regime (1974–1991) had introduced a public land tenure system. Land laws currently in force also do not sufficiently protect rights of rural land users. The Ethiopian Constitution of 1995 restricts the legislative power of the regional States on the utilisation of land and other natural resources and it excludes a right of economic self-determination of ethnic groups. Forced evictions occur based on flawed expropriation laws, which do not entitle farmers and pastoralists to a right to just compensation. In addition, the government of Ethiopia promotes urbanisation and private investments at the expense of the poor and vulnerable smallholders. This paper examines the Ethiopia’s law and practice pertinent to land rights with a particular emphasis on the Oromia Regional State. It explores seven ways in which the law and the practice legalise and institutionalise dispossession and economic marginalisation of the poor without a sufficient due process of law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We review the trend and types of large-scale land transaction in Ethiopia since 1992 and assess the impacts of one such investment using four scenarios: (i) a baseline scenario; (ii) the forest loss resulting from the land transfer; (iii) the operation of the investment at full scale; and (iv) an alternative scenario of a smaller investment paired with a more inclusive rural development policy. Results showed that forest resources are important for the rural poor, but that losses can be offset by gains from employment generation and business opportunities. The alternative scenario indicated opportunities for better social and environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines whether the land rent contracts and the Ethiopian legal framework on rural land use rights can assure win-win mutual benefits expected from large-scale land transfers to foreign investors. The article further examines the challenges in the realization of the Seven Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investments prepared by FAO, IFAD, UNCTAD and the World Bank Group as a framework of standards for the current global dialogue on large-scale farmland acquisitions. I argue that land-use insecurity in the Ethiopian context results from the extensive powers of executive offices that are empowered to dispossess holders and reallocate land to investors. These powers can be even more discretionary where land transfers are made without prior mapping and demarcation of protected forests and wildlife, and where registration and the issuance of land-holding certificates to smallholder farmers and pastoralists have not yet been made. The article suggests the need to rectify the gaps in the land transfer contracts and most importantly, the need to render the government a custodian (and not owner) of land in conformity with the FDRE Constitution and to ensure that the termination of land use rights is decided by courts so that executive offices would not perform the dual functions of revoking and reallocating rural land use rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discussions of Ethiopia and its present situation generally focus on the political debate in Addis Ababa, as experienced by visitors and residents. But an analysis from the point of view of the actors must perforce include those groups and positions that have been excluded from this public discourse. In Ethiopia, this exclusion concerns primarily the peasants, who constitute about 80% of the population. Other groups would include the poorest sections of the urban population and the ethnic peoples of the South, as well as Muslims, women and outcast craftsmen. This analysis opens the way for new insights and a wider perspective on the political dynamics of Ethiopia, and puts the views of the silent actors in the centre. It concludes with a call for reform of local administration and enforcement of existing constitutional provisions for democratic governance. This would require new alliances both domestically and abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite progress towards recognizing communal land rights, there may be unintended outcomes, and for pastoral areas there is a need to be aware of how this may affect evolving pastoralist livelihoods. This paper examines trends in pastoralist livelihoods, perceptions and aspirations of pastoralists in a setting where a new communal property rights framework is in the early stages of implementation. The study was carried out in Dirre, a grazing unit of the Borana Zone in Ethiopia. It employed a mixed methods approach that included key informant interviews, focus group discussions, a workshop, a household survey and feedback sessions. The findings show that current livestock herd sizes make it difficult for pastoralists to rely only on livestock keeping, and have necessitated diversification. Crop production is increasingly becoming an alternative livelihood source, and most respondents reported wanting to expand their farms. Pastoralists also expect land certification to help secure land rights and enable better management of rangelands. However, there is also a widely held view that by providing security, certification will also make it easier for them to continue diversifying their livelihoods. This suggests that communal land certification is not likely to end the push to individualization of land and the transition to agropastoralism; it may even accelerate it. The strengthening of communal land rights can thus be used to guide this transition so that it represents a reorganization rather than a collapse of pastoralism. The focus of formalizing land rights for pastoralists should not be saving pastoralism or reversing the agropastoralist trend, but rather securing land rights to enhance the pastoralists' capacity to make sound livelihood decisions. • The focus of land certification should be to enhance the pastoralists' capacity to make sound livelihood decisions. • Formalization of communal land rights is expected enable better management of common pool rangelands. • Declining herd sizes make it difficult to rely solely on livestock, hence the push to diversify into other livelihood options. • Pastoralists are willing to invest meaningfully in cropping if they are tenure secure. • Land certification is not likely to end the push to individualization and the shift to agropastoralism; it may accelerate it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We investigate land ownership, management, and farm labor in Ethiopia and Malawi. • We find high gender gaps concordance between ownership and managerial rights. • 'Jointness' in plot ownership and management slightly disfavors females. • Labor allocation and plot control follow gender-concordant pattern. • Own-gender effects vary across different domains of plot controls. Recent research has increased interest in the intersection of land tenure and gender roles in African agriculture. While formalization of land ownership has been found to have important gender impacts, time use and management remain critical to both the productivity of agricultural operations as well as the welfare of household members. Thus, it is important to understand how gender intersects with the relationship between the ownership and operation of plots. We use plot level data from nationally representative household surveys in Ethiopia and Malawi to characterize the structure (sole male; sole female; or joint) and domain (plot ownership; plot management; or output management) of control over land in each household. We then answer the following research questions: 1) are there any gender gaps in the degrees of the concordance among different domains of controls? and 2) how does the structure of ownership and managerial rights affect labor allocations on plots? We find that for both males and females, sole managerial rights are most likely to occur in plots owned exclusively by either gender. However, on jointly owned plots, instances of sole planting rights are almost exclusively male. We also find that while females supply more of their own labor to plots they control, the pattern of own-gender bias in labor allocation varies with each structure-domain combination. The heterogeneity suggests gender inequality analyses related to land rights are sensitive to the choice of domain of control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]