Removing Limitations of Current Ethiopian Rural Land Policy and Land
Administration
Paper Presented at the Workshop on Land Policies and Legal Empowerment of the Poor, The World Bank, 2-3 November 2006, Washington DC
Solomon Bekure, Abebe Mulatu, Gizachew Abebe, Michael Roth
Approach1. Situational
Assessment (Jan-Feb 2004)
Ethiopia Land Policy and Administration Assessment (May 2004)
3. Design Team (January to May 2005
Design Strengthening Ethiopia Land Tenure and Administration Program (LTAP)
2. Contract Awarded for Design Proposal (November 2004)
Ethiopia: Strengthening Land Tenure Policy and Administration Program (LTPAP)
Limitations
The Derg (Military Regime)
• Abolished all customary land rights making all land the property of the state.
• Transfers were severely curtailed only to inheritance.
• Renting use rights of land and sharecropping were prohibited
• Rural Land Administration placed in the hands of Peasant Associations with Power to redistribute lands
Inheritance and frequent land redistribution frequently led to small land size holding and
heightened tenure insecurity
Rural Land Policy under the EPRDF Regime (1991-2006)
Same policy of state ownership enshrined in the the 1994 State Constitution. 1997 Rural Land Proclamation:
Land can be leased and bequeathedLand rights cannot be sold or used as collateralPrivate property improvements can be sold or exchangedPower to administer land vested in the regional states
Rural land laws imposed significant conditionalities on rental arrangements. Inheritance and land redistribution continued to undermine Tenure Security
Any adult over the age of 18 is entitled to land free of charge for farming
Land Titling and Administration(Constraints)
• Parcels are not always given a unique ID number
• Current exercise is only recording rights for the present without anticipating future updating needs
• Errors committed due to inadequate adjudication by demarcation teams
• Subdivisions or exchanges are not being referenced to the original entry
• Land records are not being updated (Tigray)
• Records are not being safely stored for protection against fire, pest and climate
• Duplicate land records are not always being kept
• Highly scientific measurements are being used that while good for accuracy are slow and expensive
Wide Regional Variations!!!
LTAP’s Objective
Assist the Government of Ethiopia (GOE) with the design and implementation of a sound land certification system that provides robust and enforceable land tenure security in land and related natural resources in the four regional states of Amhara, Oromia, SNNP and Tigray
Learning Model
STRENGTHENED LEGAL FRAMEWORK
LESSONS IMPLEMENTATION LEARNED
IMPACT Ag Production Conflict NRM Investment FoodSecurity
Strengthened Land Law and Land Administration
Ethiopia Map
Shaded area represents program supported regions where the LTAP will prioritize and focus its interventions
Technical Areas of Support 1. Harmonization of Rural Land Laws
2. Standardization of Rural Land Registration Procedures and Castral Surveying Methodologies
3. Removing Limitations on Rural Land Policy
4. Public Information and Awareness
5. Rights Protection
6. Commissioned Studies to Inform Policy
Comparison of Cost of rural cadastral surveying technologies
No. Method Cost in Birr/ha
Application
1. Rope only 13.00 Most rural areas
2. Rope & HH GPS centroid reading
15.70 Most rural areas
3. Hand-Held (HH) GPS corners reading
80.40 Most rural areas
4. Compass/Tape* 291.80 Inappropriate for all areas
5.
Total Station
117.41
High potential areas: - peri-urban, irrigation - resettlement, compensation; - commercial farming - investment purposes, etc.
6. IKONOS high resolution satellite data**
229.90 Applicable for all areas if cost contained
7. DGPS (not in EMA study)*
High potential areas as in Total Station
Current Status?• Progress with Legal Harmonization
• Also Progress with Standardization of Rural Land Administration
• However, broad stakeholder participation in decision making remains weak
• Land Policy at a National Level is off-limits
• Little progress yet made with issues of gender and land dispute resolution
