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GENDER, JUSTICE AND LIVELIHOODS IN THE CREATION AND DEMISE OF FORESTS IN NORTH WESTERN ETHIOPIA’S ZEGHIE PENINSULA by TIHUT YIRGU ASFAW B.A., Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, 1994 M.Sc., Agricultural University of Norway, 1999 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in The Faculty of Graduate Studies (Resource Management and Environmental Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) February 2009 © Tihut Yirgu Asfaw, 2009 ABSTRACT This doctoral dissertation explores how the people of Zeghie, living in a designated sacred area, have confronted and attempted to survive internal and external pressures on their forest-based, coffee-dependent livelihoods. For generations the peninsula has embraced strict rules that have helped sustain the forested and coffee-based agro- ecosystem. Today, the Zeghean economy is at a crossroads and rapid forest harvesting is the norm. This research adopted a number of theoretical approaches including environmental history and political ecology to understand determinants of deforestation and environmental degradation and their impact on the long-term sustainability of the natural resources and people’s livelihoods. While Zeghie’s landscape is unquestionably long-inhabited and also unquestionably regarded as sacred in the eyes of most of its inhabitants, a closer look revealed a landscape that is both historically complex and socially troubled wherein coffee is a newer livelihood than most conservation and aid agencies have assumed it to be, and that other agricultural practices have been used in the past and might be used again. It also suggests that the potential for viable livelihoods may well be over-shadowed by discourses of the sacred and of biodiversity. Research and analysis conducted as part of this work also sought to understand deeply rooted gender and power relations, which are currently fuelling poverty and marginalization. Widespread male emigration and increased numbers of female-headed households have resulted in a fierce struggle for land and have highlighted extreme problems pertaining to the absence of fair and equitable justice for women. The use of critical and feminist legal theory and feminist political ecology has been instrumental to understanding the ways in which local legal and rule-based systems reinforce inequality through imposed community harmony for all at the expense of justice for women. The study concludes that deforestation and environmental change in Zeghie are exacerbated by complex social, political-economic, and historical processes—processes entrenched in the micro politics of property ownership and gendered legal and decision-making institutions. A broader set of policies, institutional and technical interventions will be required for the sake of both local livelihoods and the management of natural resources. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................... ii TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................................. iii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................................... ix DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................................... x CO-AUTHORSHIP STATEMENT .............................................................................................................. xi 1. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER ............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Zeghie Peninsula: Power and Politics in a Sacred Space .............................................................. 1 1.2 Research Objectives ...................................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Thesis Outline ..............................................................................................................................20 1.4 References ....................................................................................................................................24 2. THE CONTESTED HISTORY OF SHADE COFFEE IN ETHIOPIA’S ZEGHIE PENINSULA .....32 2.1 Introduction: Zeghie’s Changing Landscape ...............................................................................32 2.2 The Physical Setting ....................................................................................................................34 2.3 Livelihoods in a Sacred Landscape ..............................................................................................37 2.4 Competing Narratives on Zeghie’s Forest ...................................................................................41 2.5 The Zeghean Identity as People of the Forest ..............................................................................48 2.6 Slavery, Conquest, and the ‘Remnant’ Forest ..............................................................................51 2.7 Zegheans’ Livelihoods at Crossroads ..........................................................................................59 2.8 Rethinking Zeghie’s Environmental History: Concluding Thoughts ...........................................68 2.9 References ....................................................................................................................................72 3. FEMALE POVERTY IN ZEGHIE PENINSULA: AN INTRICATE WEB OF LAND RIGHT STRUGGLES, LIVELIHOOD INSECURITY AND NORMATIVE AND LEGAL BARRIERS ...............77 3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................77 3.2 A Mixed-Method Approach .........................................................................................................79 3.3 Gender, Agriculture, and Entitlement in Ethiopia’s Zeghie Peninsula ........................................80 3.4 Customary Forms and Land Reforms Across the Decades ..........................................................85 3.5 Gendered Land Insecurity: A Compound Labyrinth ....................................................................92 3.6 Weapons of the Weak: Women’s Coping Strategies .................................................................101 3.6.1 Marriage as a Coping Strategy for Labor Shortage ..............................................................103 3.6.2 Emerging Forms of Inheritance as a Survival Strategy .........................................................106 3.7 Closing Thoughts on the Gendered Nature of Land Insecurity ..................................................109 3.8 References ..................................................................................................................................113 4. BEYOND LOCAL JUSTICE: GENDER RELATIONS IN LOCAL LEVEL DISPUTE SETTLEMENT IN ETHIOPIA’S ZEGHIE PENINSULA ......................................................... 120 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................120 4.2 Methodological Approach ..........................................................................................................122 4.3 The Zeghean Context in Brief ....................................................................................................123 4.4 Setting the Scene: An Overview of the Gender Equality Agenda ..............................................125 4.5 Gender, Justice, and Power in Nascent Legal Structures ...........................................................130 4.6 Disputes and Their Settlement—A Gendered Encounter With the Law ....................................133 4.7 Negotiating In a Gendered Legal Space .....................................................................................142 4.8 Forced Conformity and Harmony in a Gendered Space ............................................................148 4.9 Concluding Remarks ..................................................................................................................153 4.10 References ..................................................................................................................................157 iii 5. CONCLUDING THE THESIS ............................................................................................ 162 5.1 Anticipated and Actual Outcomes of the Research ....................................................................167 5.2 Strengths and Weaknesses of the Thesis Research ....................................................................169 5.3 New Ideas Related to the Field of Study ....................................................................................172 5.4 Significance of the Research to Environmental Studies ............................................................176