Decentralised Rural Land Administration in Ethiopia

Abstract

This study is aimed to assess the performance of the local-level rural land administration institutions established in Amhara regional state of Ethiopia. The approach employed to evaluate the performance of the grassroots-level land administration institutions is based on indicators of good governance principles. To this end, questionnaire survey, interview and focus group discussion data collection tools were used to capture important and relevant data. The findings of this study showed that the land administration system (LAS) in the Amhara region seems to be well structured and the effort to strengthen good governance in land administration at local/village is a commendable intervention. The study has indicated that most land administration and arbitration committee members seem to have motivation to deliver service; however, capacity limitations have hindered them to extend their services based on the principles of good governance. Therefore, the need to promote good governance at local land administration institutions and providing capacity building trainings to the implementers at the grassroots level is recommended to make sure that the service delivery is improved and sustained.

Evaluating Institutional Dichotomy between Urban and Rural Land Administration in Amhara Region, Ethiopia

“…Land administration institutions have played a significant role in the history of Ethiopia [4]. Article 51 (5) of the Federal Constitution vests the right to divide the power between the Federal Government and the Regional States for administering land, as well as for enacting legislation governing the use and conservation of land [28].…”

“…Land-governing institutions are classified as either urban or rural, with different proclamations, regulations and directives [3]. The land administration institutional setup of Ethiopian rural land management begins from the Ministry of Agriculture and proceeds to the lowest political-administrative hierarchy known as kebele [4]. In Ethiopia, Rural Land Administration and Use Directorate (RLAUD) is responsible for administering rural land in the federal level [4].…”

“…One key factor for the effectiveness of a land administration system (LAS) is the institutional setting of land [2,3]. Institutions of land administration play a crucial role in putting the legal and policy framework into action [2,4]. Institutional frameworks are not static since they change through time to better facilitate the implementation of LAS and good governance [2,5].…”

“…Strengthening Ethiopian land administration system requires a deep understanding of the country's historical, legal and institutional context, as well as contemporary practices [20]. There must be a strong institutional arrangement in both urban and rural land to carry out the land administration functions, as well as to build up sustainable land administration capacity in Ethiopia in general and in Amhara region in particular [2,4,21]. The institutional setup is one of the most crucial aspects that influences the success of land administration systems [2].…”

“…Scholars argue that most of the land related problems Ethiopia faced are due to the separation of land administration institutions [2,24]. It causes a mismatch of institutional responsibilities, increases the cost of land administration services delivery, lowers the quality of services, complicates co-ordination between separate institutions, makes it difficult to develop common standards for land administration systems and jeopardizes tenure security by causing land records to be neglected [4,20,24,25]. Furthermore, institutional separation for urban and rural land leads to inconsistent implementation of land policies on urban and rural land rights and it increases land wastage and illegal occupations, particularly on the outskirts of cities [2,3,26].…”