Communal Land Utilization in the Highlands of Northern Ethiopia: Evidence of Transaction Costs

Oniki, Shunji; Negusse, Gebremichael

doi:10.18480/jjre.17.40

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Soil and water conservation contributes to the improved livelihood of a community [65]. While communal lands provide fodder and firewood for cooking and heating, there is no active timber wood forestry or agroforestry production in the Tigray region [11]. Since numerous communal lands are enclosed for protection, and animal grazing and firewood collection are prohibited, opportunities for economic utilization have become limited, with large areas reserved only for manual fodder collection.…”

Section: Communal Land Distribution In Ethiopiamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To mitigate issues related to landlessness, a communal land distribution program, officially called the "Directives on Area Closure (Hillside and Gully) Development and Utilization", was begun in 2011. The program also aims to provide incentives for land conservation and income sources for landless farmers by allowing them to use communal lands for specific purposes [11,12,67]. The program covers all districts in the Tigray region and extends to some areas in other regions in Ethiopia.…”

Section: Communal Land Distribution In Ethiopiamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Role of Social Norms in Natural Resource Management: The Case of the Communal Land Distribution Program in Northern Ethiopia

Oniki

Berhe

Negash

2020

Land

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The increasing population pressure in the rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa has caused land degradation as well as an increase in the number of landless farmers. To promote a conservation-oriented utilization of communal lands and increase the livelihood of poor farmers, the Ethiopian government introduced a program to distribute less-utilized communal lands to landless farmers. This study identified the social norms related to natural resource conservation that affect the participation in this program. Using data from 477 farmer households in northern Ethiopia, we estimated probit models with endogenous regressors for the determinants of social norms and their impacts on program participation. The results show that social norms related to conservation positively affect program participation. Regarding policy implication of the findings, an intervention to improve the social norms of local farmers leads to sustainable resource conservation without reducing intrinsic motivation of the local people. A conservation-oriented utilization of the communal lands would be more effective if the land distribution program was accompanied by other programs to improve the social norms in the villages.

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Section: Communal Land Distribution In Ethiopiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Communal Land Distribution In Ethiopiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of Social Norms in Natural Resource Management: The Case of the Communal Land Distribution Program in Northern Ethiopia

Oniki

Berhe

Negash

2020

Land

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“…In Ethiopia, non-farming activities, such as trading, handicrafts, sale of local food and beverages, and mining, are absent in areas removed from main roads [52]. Thus, surplus labor exists in rural areas of the Tigray Region in Ethiopia [1].…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Ethiopia, a great deal of communal land is not fully utilized economically [1]. A limited number of farm animals are allowed to enter communal lands to prevent land degradation [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficiency Impact of the Communal Land Distribution Program in Northern Ethiopia

2020

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A rapid increase in population in sub-Saharan Africa has caused a decrease in farm size, an increase in the number of landless farmers, and soil erosion in communal forests due to increasing utilization. Ethiopia has addressed this problem by introducing an epoch-making privatization policy for the allocation of communal land to landless farmers. This policy promotes the economic utilization of the communal land while protecting natural resources. Hitherto, few studies have evaluated the impact of the policy. We evaluate the effect of the communal land distribution policy for tree-planting using technical efficiency of farm production by estimating a stochastic production function model in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. We compare the technical efficiencies of farm production between both participating and nonparticipating farms in the program using a quasi-experimental method. The results reveal the improvement of technical efficiency through communal land distribution. Therefore, program activities could increase farm incomes while maintaining land conservation. Thus, the allocation of communal land promotes sustainable land utilization in the mountainous areas of sub-Saharan Africa.

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“…However, little is known so far on the livelihood options of the rural landless households and their economic dependence level on the allocated communal land in the study area. For instance, few authors such as Oniki and Negusse (2015) attempted to look at the transaction cost of switching communal land use from free grazing to tree plantation area as it requires a series of negotiations to reach consensus in the highlands of northern Ethiopia. The study revealed that the cost of reaching consensus among communal land users discourages the expansion of tree planting.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dependence Level of Rural Landless Households on Allocated Communal Land: Evidences from Kilte Awlaelo and Atsbi Wenberta Districts, Tigrai Region Northern Ethiopia

Negash

Oniki

Berhe

2019

Journal of Land and Rural Studies

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The problem of landlessness has become one of the major challenges facing rural farmers in Tigrai region since the early 1990s. To address the problem, the regional government of Tigrai started to redistribute degraded communal land to landless farmers by ensuring their participation in soil and water conservation activities and willingness to engage in the programme. Thus, the specific objectives of this study are to examine the livelihood options and analyse their economic dependence level of the rural landless households on the apportioned degraded communal land. Data were collected from randomly selected landless households and analysed using descriptive and econometric techniques. Accordingly, the study identified plantation of timber trees, grass collection, engaging in animal fattening, fruit or vegetable production, beekeeping and poultry production were the major livelihood activities practised in the allocated degraded communal land. The study also indicated that the major factors influencing the dependence level of rural landless households on allocated communal land include gender of household head, marital status of household head, distance to farmers’ training centre, livestock holding, land ownership, experience in the programme, communal land ownership type, financial support and per capita expenditure of the households. Therefore, the study concluded that even if the regional government tried to solve the problem of landlessness through hillside distribution programme, it could not sufficiently support the livelihood of the landless rural households in the study districts.

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Communal Land Utilization in the Highlands of Northern Ethiopia: Evidence of Transaction Costs

Cited by 6 publications

References 10 publications

Role of Social Norms in Natural Resource Management: The Case of the Communal Land Distribution Program in Northern Ethiopia

Role of Social Norms in Natural Resource Management: The Case of the Communal Land Distribution Program in Northern Ethiopia

Efficiency Impact of the Communal Land Distribution Program in Northern Ethiopia

Dependence Level of Rural Landless Households on Allocated Communal Land: Evidences from Kilte Awlaelo and Atsbi Wenberta Districts, Tigrai Region Northern Ethiopia

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