Impacts of land redistribution on land management and productivity in the Ethiopian highlands

Abstract

The increasing problem of landlessness in Ethiopia has put pressure on regional governments to redistribute land. In 1997 and 1998, a major land redistribution was undertaken in the Amhara Region, reducing landlessness where implemented. While the impacts of such redistributions have been hotly debated, little empirical evidence exists concerning the actual impacts of redistribution. We find that land redistribution in the Amhara Region has had a positive impact on land productivity, by increasing access to land for farmers who are more interested or able to use purchased inputs such as fertilizer and herbicides. Our results, however, do not show much effect of the recent land redistribution or expectations of future redistribution on land improvement and management. Thus, to the extent that investments in land improvement are necessary for conservation purposes, it appears that policy change to stop land redistributions is unlikely to have a substantial impact on reducing land degradation. Credit and extension programmes and improving land rental markets, however, present better strategies for improving land management in this region of Ethiopia. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Structural Soil and Water Conservation Practices in Farta District, North Western Ethiopia: An Investigation on Factors Influencing Continued Use

“…This result is supported by the property right literature that states secured land tenure gives incentives to farmers for applying and continue using land improving investments on their plots (Heltberg, 2001;and Abera, 2003). Contrary to this findings, the study conducted by Benin and Pender (2002) reported that the previous frequent redistribution of land, especially in Amhara Region, hinder the security of land because farmers anticipate similar redistribution of land to occur in the future. As a result the perceived risk of loss of land in the future was negatively associated with farmers' decision to retain introduced conservation structures.…”

Land Degradation in the Ethiopian Highlands

“…Impoverishment led them to prefer immediate returns, even if it induced environmental degradation (Taddesse 1995). On the other hand, recent land redistributions in order to allocate landless households had a positive impact on land productivity (Benin and Pender 2001). To increase agricultural production, most trees and shrubs between the farmlands and on steep slopes were cleared during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, thereby increasing runoff and soil erosion (Ståhl 1974;Girma and Jacob 1988;Ståhl 1990).…”

Global change and the intensification of agriculture in the tropics

“…In an additional 21 cases, population size, growth, or distribution was mentioned but not considered an important factor in the intensification process described. A great many of the authors acknowledge Boserupian theoretical foundations in their studies (Benin and Pender, 2001;Benjaminsen, 2001;Goldman, 1993;Guyer and Lambin, 1993;Kunstadter, 1987;Shidong et al, 2001a, b in Tri-Academy), and some explicitly set out to resolve the dispute about the effect of population growth on agricultural production Shorr, 2001;. Echoing the results of the companion study on the causes of tropical deforestation , our study found population size, growth, and density virtually never work in isolation; rather, other social and economic factors mediate between population attributes and agricultural systems.…”