Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH Abt. 4250 / Division 4250

STUDY FOR THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES:

LAND TENURE IN DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION

STUDIE ZUM ORIENTIERUNGSRAHMEN:

BODENRECHT UND BODENORDNUNG

Autor / Author: Girma Tolossa

Zegeye Asfaw

Titel / Title: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia:

A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda

Region: Ethiopia

Jahr / Year: 1995

Study of the Sector Project: Studie des Sektorprojekts:

“The Importance of „Die Bedeutung von Bodenrecht Land Tenure in und Bodenordnung in Development Cooperation” Entwicklungsländern“ Contents

1. Summary...... 4

1.1 Introduction ...... 4 1.2 The State of the Law ...... 5 1.3 Oromia specific Land Tenure Issues...... 6 1.4 Recommendations ...... 9 1.5 Some Issues for Policy Dialogue ...... 10 1.6 Role of Donors ...... 10 2. Objective...... 11

3. Assessment of National Laws Regarding Tenure Structure...... 11

3.1 Overview of tenure development...... 11 3.1.1 Land Policy...... 13 3.1.2 Tenancy relationships and land re-redistribution...... 13 3.1.3 Urban Land Markets ...... 14 3.2 The Role of Institutions at Policy Level...... 15 3.2.1 Visions of Major Institutions and Donors on Land Tenure Policy ...... 15 3.2.2 Steps to be Planned to Operationalize Existing Laws ...... 16 4. Land Tenure Regulations and Experiences in Oromia...... 18

4.1 Debates for policy changes during Derge period...... 18 4.2 Oromia specific perspectives for tenure changes ...... 20 4.3 Institutions and their mandate...... 22 4.4 Perceptions on land tenure at zonal and woreda level ...... 23 5. Land Tenure and related Issues in ten Peasant Associations of Wara Jarso Woreda...... 24

5.1 Background of the Study Area ...... 24 5.1.1 Geographical Location ...... 24 5.1.2 Physical Environment...... 25 5.1.3 Demographically Characteristic of the study area...... 27 5.1.4 The Literacy ...... 27 5.1.5 Age & Sex Composition ...... 27 5.1.6 Literacy Levels ...... 28 5.1.7 Households ...... 28 5.1.8 Agriculture...... 29 5.1.9 Crop Production ...... 30 5.1.10 Livestock Production ...... 30 5.2 Land Tenure Structure and its Historical Development...... 31 5.2.1 The Emperor's period...... 32 5.2.2 Derg and post Derg period...... 32 5.2.3 Informal tenancy arrangement...... 35 5.2.4 Land redistribution...... 36 5.2.5 Beneficiaries of the land reform programme ...... 36 5.3 The perception of "landless" persons ...... 36 5.3.1 Peasant farmers of Dugda Dera peasant association...... 37 5.3.2 Perceptions of some selected individual farmers ...... 38 5.4 Investments and farmers' perceptions...... 40 5.4.1 Terracing...... 41 5.4.2 Flood diversion structures...... 41 5.4.3 Tree planting and protection of wood lands ...... 41 5.5 Conflict scenarios and procedures for resolving them ...... 43 5.6 Perceptions of Project officials and extension workers ...... 44 5.7 Role and mandate of local administration and institutions...... 46 5.8 Institutional strengthening and the role of donors in land tenure development...... 46 6. Recommendations at Federal and State Levels (including lower levels organs) ...... 48

6.1 Ownership of rural land...... 48 6.2 User right...... 48 6.3 Security of tenure...... 49 6.4 Competencies of the Federal Government and State Councils ...... 51 7. Recommendations at the Project Level...... 52

7.1 Constraints to investments...... 52 7.2 Common property management...... 52 8. Some Issues for Policy Dialogue...... 52

9. The Role of Donors...... 53 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda

1. Summary

1.1 Introduction This is a summary report of a study on land tenure structure and development in Ethiopia with special reference to ten peasant associations of Wara Jarso Woreda (north Oromia). The thrust of the study was on the assessment of national and regional laws as they impact on land tenure structure for sustainable resource management. In addition, the study was structured to solicit perceptions of officials of the Oromo Council at different levels of administrative hierarchies and of peasant farmers in the ten peasant associations. The country has been grappling with issues of land reform for almost a period of fifty years starting from the period of Emperor Haile Selassie. This national effort culminated in a land reform law of 1975 which was issued by the military government that has assumed power after the collapse of the monarchy. This law having abolished all feudal land tenure structures instituted a user right which it conferred on peasant farmers who in the vast majority of the cases were share croppers to former land owners. The same law decreed rural land as the collective property of the Ethiopian people. Peasant associations which were established as primary organs of governance were entrusted with full responsibility to implement the new land reform law and in particular to see to it that target beneficiaries of the law can access land for their livelihood. The law while achieving redistributive justice in guaranteeing access to land by peasant farmers was regarded as defective because the user right it had conferred on peasant farmers was not secured enough for sustainable resource management. Other institutions such as the producers' cooperatives and state farms enjoying preferential treatment to take over individual land holdings for their real and apparent expansion had their share against security of tenure. The military government positively reacted to the insecurity of tenure by conferring transferable and inheritable life-long lease on peasant farmers. But the government did not go far enough to change government ownership of rural land. This step has effectively removed threats to security of tenure which have been identified and substantiated by many studies. Many people including donors who wanted to see re- instatement of private ownership of land did not welcome the gesture as a substantive reform measure. The Transitional Government which was established in 1991 did not want to tinker with land and land tenure issues. It deferred the matter to be decided at a later date through a national referendum which never took place. The Transitional period was contented with the status quo. The Transition period was unique in facilitating emergence of forces with their own perceptions on how the land question should be decided. Of particular interest was the emergence of regional forces with their own narratives deeply embedded in the history and institutions of their people. These regional forces have effectively pursued a two dimensional approaches of redressing historical pathologies while at the same time were combating tendencies that can be exploited by forces keen enough to stage a come back through institutionalization of private property over land. The Constituent Assembly convened to approve the Constitution decided on ownership of rural and urban lands. The Constituent Assembly having dully considered the minority view seeking to reinstate private ownership, and the majority

Page: 4 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda view seeking to vest ownership of rural and rural lands on the State and the peoples of Ethiopia gave its final verdict by unanimously adopting the majority view.

1.2 The State of the Law Article 40 of the Constitution reads:

(3) The right of ownership of rural land and urban land, as well as of all natural resources, is exclusively vested in the State and the peoples of Ethiopia. Land is a common property of nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia and shall not be subject to sale or to other means of transfer.

There is no commentary on this Article, and few people who have had opportunity of following the debates on this provision at the Constitution Commission and the Constituent Assembly are not very clear as to the exact meaning of this property Article. Some researchers on land tenure see no substantive difference between this provision and government ownership of land as decreed by the Derge government. Another interpretation of the Article is that both the peoples of Ethiopia and the State have concurrent control over urban and rural land. According to this interpretation there is no separate category of land over which the State have exclusive jurisdiction and other category of land belonging to nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia. The Revised Constitution of 1955 makes clear distinction between land that can be owned privately and by the government; but the new Constitution does not make such distinction. A third interpretation of the Article is that ownership of rural and urban lands is vested in the nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia, and the State's control over land is exercised as a Trustee of the people. This interpretation is consistent with Article 40(6) which limits the State not to give out land to private investors which will prejudice the "right of nations, nationalities, and peoples of Ethiopia to own land". This third interpretation seems tenable in light of a further limitation imposed by Article 40(3) which prohibits sale of land be it by the State or communities because land is the common property of nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia. A user right is recognized for farmers. Article 40(4) reads:

(4) Any Ethiopian who wants to earn a living by farming has a right, which shall not be alienated, to obtain, without payment, the use of land. The implementation of the provision shall be specified by the law.

Article 51 and 52 of the Constitution specify the competencies of the Federal Government and the State Councils as regards land use and land administration. The right to legislate on land use and natural resource protection is vested in the Federal Government. State Councils are limited to administration of land pursuant to laws to be issued by the Federal parliament. Details to operationalize these competencies might be provided by a national land policy which the Ministry of Agriculture is planning to undertake for the first time. Pending the elaboration of the user right by a subsequent legislation, peasant farmers are enjoying a transferable and inheritable life-long lease conferred upon them by the previous government. The problem of landlessness is becoming a

Page: 5 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda national one, and informal tenancy relationship is widespread as the only way of accessing land by landless youth. Urban land is also vested in the State and the peoples of Ethiopia. There is no urban land and access to it is only through a public tendering system which was instituted before the Constitution was proclaimed. Major national institutions and donors are equally concerned with security of tenure as a function of sustainable resource management. Donors plead for free-hold title over land, while major national institutions are contented with the user right which will amplified and clarified by a subsequent legislation. National institutions always opt for a tenure type which will motivate sustainable resource management and which will not be exploited by forces who seek to stage a come back through the institution of private property.

1.3 Oromia specific Land Tenure Issues Oromia has contributed its share to the national debates on land tenure from its own perspectives derived from the aspiration and history of the Oromo people who were victimized during the last century. The Oromo State Council fully supports the property clause of the present Constitution as reflecting the aspiration of the Oromo people and particularly, and constitutional guarantees extended to Oromo peasants and pastoralists against eviction and displacement from their ancestral land. The most important agenda for the Oromo State Council is the problem paused by landlessness. Oromo officials firmly believe that the problem can be ameliorated through a fresh land re-distribution which should be executed on an equitable basis unlike land distribution during the Derge period. They believe that the intended land re-distribution has to be preceded by an all-Oromia programme to take inventory of the land and natural resources. Land re-distribution will not be implemented universally, a case by case approach will be adopted depending on the severity of the problem. The Vice President of Oromia presents the following views as reflecting the Oromo consensus (Oromo State Council): 1. Land rights and safeguards against dispossession provided by the new Constitution truly conform with the aspiration of the Oromo people. The delineation of competencies between the Federal Government and the Oromia State Council on land issues is something that has to be accepted in a federal arrangement which is acceptable to the Oromo people as a better form of government in light of the rights of all nationalities including the Oromo nation. 2. Some aspects of the present land holding system are not satisfactory; hence there is a need for subsequent legislation and initiatives to rectify the inadequacies of the present land holding system. Security of tenure is less of a concern because there is a strong belief that the user right is adequate and the Oromia Government which derives its mandate from the Oromo people will not tolerate displacement of the Oromo peasantry. Sale of land which is an attribute of private ownership is regarded as a means of dispossessing the Oromo peasantry which has been emancipated. Institutionalization of private property over land goes against the interest of the Oromo people, and this position will remain non-negotiable. 3. The major problem for the Oromo Council is the large number of landless persons constantly demanding for a fresh land re-distribution. Position of the Oromo Council in this regard is to carry out a fresh land re-distribution of land which will be preceded by a comprehensive inventory of the land resources. Re-distribution

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of land will not be an all-Oromia intervention, but a localized one depending on the resource availability and the severity of the problem paused by landlessness. 4. The current leases prevailing in all parts of Oromia has to be curtailed in terms of the size of land to be leased, the duration of the lease, and category of persons who the land should be leased to. The Oromia Council has already issued a proclamation (Proclamation 3/1995) which limits a peasant farmer to lease only half of his / her holding for a period of three years. Private investors are barred from leasing land from individual farmers, and future lease will only take place between farmers. 5. Intra-Oromia settlement to release the pressure over land is not among priority consideration. The Oromo Council will, however, encourage group or individual initiatives to settle in areas where land is abundant. 6. Donors will have no role in influencing the land policy; but their assistance in other areas such as cadastral survey, compilation of the resource basis is more than welcomed.

Oromia State government has three tiers of authority: the Oromia Council, the Zonal Office, and the Woreda Office. Below the Woreda structure are peasant associations which are local level administrative units primarily responsible for the maintenance of law and order at the grassroots level. Policies and legislations are issued by the State Council while lower level administrative structures are only implementation arms of the State Council. The Oromia State Council has a limited responsibility on land matters. Its competency is limited to the administration of land and protection of natural resources within its territories in accordance with a national policy and laws to be issued by the Federal Parliament. The Federal Government has an exclusive jurisdiction to legislate on land use and environmental protection. The underlying reason for delineating competencies between Federal and State governments is based on a consensus reached not to scatter the responsibility of environmental protection among several focal points. This will be a potential conflict area between State Councils and federal agencies responsible for policy formulation pertaining to environmental protection and land use planning unless federal agencies perform what is expected of them. The State Councils are poised to move forward, and the federal agencies are expected to provide the leadership. There is a need for an interim arrangement where State Councils are allowed to undertake land use planning in a limited scale. Case Study of Ten Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda These ten peasant associations constitute a project area for a Canadian NGO, CPAR, executing integrated rural development. The project area lies in the Blue Nile Gorge where environmental degradation is very severe and where the climate is very hostile. Farmers of the project area are sedentary agriculturists trying to survive under the most hostile environment. They practice mixed agriculture earning a subsistence living from highly fragmented and degraded farm plots. About 60% of the households cultivate land allotted to them during the early years of land reform programme. The rest of the households access land through informal tenancy arrangement wide spread in the project area. Average land holding is about

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1.1 hectare, and landless households constitute 37% of the total households. In the majority of the cases initial holdings remained unaffected because the area had almost no experience with producers' cooperatives often cited as a menace to security of tenure because of the preferential treatment of this institutions to attach any land found necessary for their expansion. Permanent land allocation to new land claimants from existing holdings was effectively tempered by households which were keen to maintain the size of households at optimum level against being targeted to surrender a portion of their land to new claimants. Farmers presently enjoy transferable and inheritable life-long lease over their holdings; however they have apprehension of the future for they are uncertain whether the new government will endorse their right or whether they will be subjected to a fresh land re-distribution. Terracing and building of physical structures to divert flow of cascading flood are age old indigenous practices which farmers keenly follow. New methods of erosion and flood controls introduced by CPAR enhance the capacity of these farmers against loss of soil through erosion and flood. Local development agents assigned by the Project to each of the peasant associations assist farmers to adopt recommended practices. Each peasant association has a village development committee elected by the farmers themselves closely work with the local level development agents. These village development committees serve as a forum where farmers discuss on recommended intervention in a participatory setting. Considerable effort is exerted by these committees and the project personnel undertake flood control measures requiring group action. The project area is deforested over the last several decades. The situation has been exacerbated by landless residents and demobilized soldiers who resort to massive felling of trees for fuel wood and charcoal making. The Project has literally established tree nurseries in all the ten peasant associations from where farmers can access tree seedlings without any cost. In the past years farmers were officially prevented from planting trees over their holdings, but only on parcels of land identified for community wood lot. This situation has been reversed and farmers plant trees around their homestead and sometimes on farm boundaries and in the farms. Farmers complain that tree species they obtain are not termite-resistant. They site many reasons why they are not enthused to plant trees as they wish to do; they perceive trees compete with crops, trees are nesting grounds for grain eating birds, traditional grazing rights makes the practice of agro-forestry an impossible venture etc. Despite some of these problems farmers do every thing possible to plant trees, and the incentive system introduced by the project which remunerates farmers for each of the surviving seedling is highly welcome by farmers. Some peasant associations have started to evolve their own common property management schemes to arrest further deforestation of the remaining natural forests. These schemes prescribe rules for accessing trees by members and non- members of a peasant association. Violators of such rules will be fined, and to implement this management scheme seven farmers are assigned on a daily basis as forest guards. All peasant associations show keen interest to defend their resources from being encroached upon by unauthorized users. There are intra-peasant association conflicts on the use of resources particularly in relation to wet season grazing right over land in the "Bereha" zone lying between 1000 and 1300 above sea level.

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The problem of landlessness is acute. Except in one of the ten peasant association, farmers with holdings of their own and landless persons do not support land redistribution as a solution, a position shared by the personnel of the Project. Diversification and intensification, settlement schemes, and exploitation of gypsum and cement deposit are among solutions suggested to open employment opportunity for the landless youth.

1.4 Recommendations Under the new Constitution ownership of rural and urban lands is vested in the nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia. Be this as it may, there is a need for designating a definite geographical unit for exercising the common ownership over land. This geographical unit could be the existing peasant association or an enlarged geographical unit which will take population dynamism into account. Designation of smaller unit as points of reference for manifestation of land ownership by nations, nationalities and people will not affect the integrity of the Constitution. Attributes of the user right recognized by the Constitution need to be defined. Along with this subsequent legislation should make very clear whether lease of land is among allowable land transaction. The number of heirs to the user right has to be determined from the point of combating fragmentation of one holding among several heirs. Experience from the ten peasant associations has adequately demonstrated that security of tenure is not by itself a determining factor for sustainable resource management. Other factors have to be identified and substantiated before attributing failure of farmers to adopt new techniques to security of tenure. Constraints which farmers identify against sustainable resource management are all non-tenure factors. The user right per se does not discourage farmers from undertaking improvements on land. The following are some of non-tenure factors which farmers have identified as limiting their investments on land. 1. Recommended investments are not technically viable. In all the ten peasant associations farmers complain that the tree species which are recommended are not termite-resistant; 2. The dry long spell characteristic of the ten peasant associations make tree planting efforts a futile venture; 3. Customary practice of letting cattle astray to browse any where for a period of five months makes fodder tree planting in farms and over farm boundaries a non- rewarding exercise; and 4. Run-off and erosion controls through indigenous techniques have proved ineffective because of very rugged and steep landscape and ferociously cascading floods from these steep slopes. Land use falls within the mandate of the Federal Government. State Councils under a strict interpretation of Articles 51 and 52 have no right to undertake land use planning. Totally excluding the State governments is not tenable; they should have a legal mandate to at least undertake very localized land use planning exercises, and some projects having capacity for land use planning must be allowed to do in line with broad parameters to be provided by the national land policy.

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At the Project level, CPAR should take a pioneering task of identifying and substantiating non-tenure constraints against sustainable resource management. If not dramatic physical achievements, there is a consensus among all project personnel that the Project has succeeded in bringing about behavioral changes positive enough for sustainable resource management. The Project should work to avoid some of the non-security constraints against improvements on land. The Project should assist pioneering peasant associations to refine their management plan for the exploitation of forest resources, and play a catalytic role so other peasant associations adopt similar common property management schemes. In addition the Project should play an advocacy role so that local level officials (in this case Zonal and Woreda officials) to endorse rules initiated and developed for common property management.

1.5 Some Issues for Policy Dialogue Policy dialogue is an ongoing process, and in fact the dialogue has been pursued at different levels. The conclusive position taken by the Constitution should not be taken as marking the end for the policy dialogue. Such dialogue may have to be taken as a joint learning process where different stakeholder stop shielding behind narratives which sometime do not reflect the reality. This goes true for contenders who present the land question as non-negotiable and others who base all their arguments on neo-classical theories which go to the extent of suggesting that trees will only grow on private land. Within the existing legal framework, there are areas of concern which can be amplified by a policy dialogue. Topics for such policy dialogue are: 1) advantages and disadvantages of a fresh land redistribution to solve the problem of landlessness; 2) further steps required to make the user right recognized by the Constitution more secured to motivate farmers for sustainable resource management; 3) the use of cadastral survey and all attendant activities against heavy costs that cadastral survey entails; and 4) the desirability of having a uniform system of tenure in light of local variations;

1.6 Role of Donors Donors were and are at the center of the policy dialogue for tenure reforms. They still have a role to play despite their success of influencing policy makers. Their contribution in the policy dialogue is uniquely seen in the comparative experiences they bring to the national debates. The almost definitive position taken by the Constitution on property rights will limit their participation to technical matters identified above. The country has opted for a federal form of government where orientation we have had under a unitary centralized system has not fully been changed. The new system of governance call for devolution of authority, and the exercise of this new authority requires to have in place trained manpower and facilities. Many responsibilities devolve on the Woreda administration which lacks capacity on many counts. The Woreda administration has the responsibility of administering land and to protect the

Page: 10 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda natural resources within the Woreda domain. To make this devolved authority practicable, donors will have an important function by way of capacity building of the lower level administration. The Ministry of Agriculture charged with the responsibility of evolving a national policy intends to undertake the task very soon. The Oromia State Council is also planning to undertake a comprehensive inventory of the land resources. Both these institutions will have to seek technical assistance to execute their respective mandates.

2. Objective

GTZ has commissioned a study on land tenure in Ethiopia with special reference to 10 peasant associations in Wara Jarso Woreda, North Shoa Zone of Oromia State. The objectives of the study are to: 1) make a comprehensive assessment and analysis of existing land tenure laws, regulations, institutions involved, current status of development and perceptions at various levels; 2) project future developments, as far as possible, including forcible major conflict areas; and 3) assess the impact of land tenure regulations at national and regional levels on land management at local level. This study is based on desk analysis of existing laws, interviews conducted with officials at different levels, and field survey in ten peasant associations of Wara Jarso Woreda. The bulk of the report deals with findings at the field level, while analysis of the laws and perceptions of official at national and state levels provide a broad framework against which local level tenure status and perceptions have been evaluated. The study has three parts: part one deals with the status of the law and perceptions at national and state levels; part two deals with the tenure structure pertaining in the ten peasant associations and perceptions of farmers; part three deals with recommendations and areas for future dialogue and possible research.

3. Assessment of National Laws Regarding Tenure Structure

3.1 Overview of tenure development The land reform law issued as Proclamation No. 31/1975 was a major piece of legislation which abolished private ownership over land, a tenure regime previously established by the Revised Constitution of 1955. This law decreed all rural land as the collective property of the Ethiopian people, and conferred a user right on individual farmers. The land reform law was later amended by Derg vesting ownership of land in the State while retaining the user right over individual holdings. The use right was found lacking in respect to security of tenure as implementation experiences later confirmed. Peasants were given an inheritable "life-long lease" over individual holdings. The Transitional Government did not want to tinker with tenure issues, and deferred the matter to be decided by a national referendum which never took place. Instead the issue was decided by the Constituent Assembly convoked to ratify the new

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Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. All previous legislation pertaining to land rights and tenure have been superseded by the new Constitution. Article 40 of the Constitution reads:

(3) The right of ownership of rural land and urban land, as well as of all natural resources, is exclusively vested in the State and the peoples of Ethiopia. Land is a common property of the nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia and shall not be subject to sale or to other means of transfer.

Rural and urban land in the first sentence of this sub-article is not a different sub category from land in the second sentence of the sub-article. Land which is defined as a common property of nations, nationalities etc. together with rural and urban land mentioned in the first sentence of the sub-article are all under the ownership of the State and the peoples of Ethiopia. Both the State and the peoples of Ethiopia have concurrent control over rural and urban land. The second sentence of this sub-article which defines land as the common property of nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia leaves out "the State" as a partner to this common property. One possible interpretation is that ownership vesting in the State is on behalf of the peoples of Ethiopia. This interpretation seems consistent with limitation that sub-article (6) imposes on the government not to give out land to private investors which will prejudice the "right of nations, nationalities, and peoples to own land". The sub-article states that "land...shall not be subject to sale or to other means of transfer" because land is the common property of nations, nationalities and the peoples of Ethiopia. The following principles might be extracted from this sub-article:

(1) ownership of rural land and urban land is vested in the peoples of Ethiopia; the State and the peoples of Ethiopia have concurrent control over land; (2) such land shall not be subject to sale or to other means of transfer.

Sale of land as a transaction that would compromise common ownership of land by nations, nationalities, and peoples of Ethiopia has been explicitly prohibited. The property article of the Constitution is silent on allowable land transactions. Article 40(4) states condition under which rural land may be held by peasant farmers and any Ethiopian who wants to earn a living by farming.

(4) Any Ethiopian who wants to earn a living by farming has a right, which shall not be alienated, to obtain, without payment, the use of land. The implementation of this provision shall be specified by law.

What is very clear about the property clause of the Constitution is that peasant farmers will have only a user right. Whether this user right is different from the current de facto inheritable and transferable life-long lease conferred on peasant farmers by the 11th plenum of Derge's Workers Party has yet to be decided by a subsequent legislation to be issued by the Federal Government.

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3.1.1 Land Policy The country never had a comprehensive land use policy from which different legislation governing different aspects of land use and resource management could emanate. Instead the practice had been to issue separate legislation covering minor aspects of land use. Examples are the land reform proclamation of 1975, and the law issued in 1976 to strengthen and consolidate peasant associations. The lack of comprehensive land use policy led to the fragmentation of land administration between different sectoral ministries having negative consequences on sustainable resource management. Sectoral ministries were given concurrent authority over land; what one sectoral ministry tries to protect is destroyed by another sectoral ministry. The old Ministry of Agriculture which had a legal responsibility to protect national forests was totally helpless to prevent the ministries of State Farms and Mines and Energy from extensively destroying national forests for expansion of state farms and for mineral exploitation. This legacy of not designating an authoritative focal point for land use policy formulation and implementation continued unabated during the Transitional period. Ministries of Agriculture, and Natural Resources Protection had full fledged responsibilities to deal with land use issues, without the slight coordination between the two "giants". The authority of the Federal State and that of the State Councils of the federated units on land matters is spelled out under the Constitution. Under Article 51(5), the Federal State reserves the right to "enact laws for the utilization and protection of land and other natural resources....". Under Article 52(2)(d) the State Councils of the federated units have powers and functions to "administer land and the use of other natural resources in accordance with Federal laws". There is a slight difference between the Amharic and English version of Article 51(5). The Amharic version uses "land use", which is taken as authoritative. The power to legislate on land use is that of the Federal government, while the State Council retains a limited right to administer land in accordance with the directive to be issued. The Ministry of Agriculture which has inherited many of the tasks and functions of the old Ministry of Natural Resources Development and Environmental Protection is in the process of re-organization. Land use and related matters fall within the responsibility of the Ministry of Agriculture. The issue remains whether land use and land tenure will be given a departmental status or left in obscurity as in the past years.

3.1.2 Tenancy relationships and land re-redistribution The land reform law of 1975 prohibits lease of land along with other land transactions (sale, mortgage, antichrists) except under special circumstances where female-headed households and elderly people are allowed to lease their land. Despite prohibition of lease by the law, informal lease of land continued unabated in parts of the country. Derge's policy that lifted the prohibition against lease of land only legitimized what has been going on for a long time. Land lease is dramatically different from the old tenancy relationships where tenancy commences between a share cropper and a land lord. In the majority of the cases

Page: 13 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda lease of land takes place between households with no cattle entitlement and those households who have extra draught animals and household labor. The lease holder is in a much better economic standing than the household which leases out land. Many of the leases are of short-term duration and concluded in a very informal way. Several cases have been reported where peasant farmers give out their holdings under a contract of antichrists against interest on loan to be extended to the transferee of land. A recent study sponsored by CPAR in Wara Jarso Woreda extensively reports on the widespread of this practice among farmers in the Woreda; but cases involving antichrists or "Teyizo" are not prevalent among farmers of the ten peasant associations intervened by CPAR in Wara Jarso Woreda. The new Constitution is not specific whether lease of land by farmers will be allowed; but from the recent proclamation issued by Oromia State Council to regulate lease of land by peasant farmers, one may say that this transaction is not likely to fall within land transactions that the Constitution prohibits. Leasing arrangement / tenancy is the only way for accessing land by those farmers who do not have their own land allotment. Since the 11th congress of the Workers Party of Ethiopia which introduced transferable and inheritable life-long lease to peasant farmers, land has not been redistributed among peasant farmers on an official basis. Liberation fronts in some liberated areas have since implemented a fresh land redistribution programme. The programme has been extensively implemented in Tigray, and in some pockets of Amahara region, and non in Oromia. The impacts of this new fresh land redistribution has not been evaluated; but the practice has led to a reduction of previous holdings. The practice has not led to a consolidation of holdings, but rather led to different holdings in different agro-ecological zones, a risk aversion factor as farmers perceive. (Unpublished study on gender sponsored by FAO). Average land holding in highland Ethiopia where extensive cultivation is pursued is about 1 hectare per household. Under the present farming practices, land redistribution will only lead to reduction of household farms below economic size not adequate enough to sustain a livelihood. Here the disadvantage weighs over the advantages which land redistribution might bring. There are areas where the man- land ratio is favorable to suggest fresh land redistribution to accommodate landless persons. Land redistribution cannot be done universally; a case by case approach depending on the resources of a particular area may have to be adopted. The programme can neither be a national one. Regional governments must take the leading role perhaps with a technical support from the Ministry of Agriculture.

3.1.3 Urban Land Markets There is no land market without private ownership of land. Proclamation No.47/1975 nationalized all urban land and extra houses. The present Constitution put urban land under the ownership of State and the peoples of Ethiopia. Under the old law land allotment to individuals wishing to construct houses was done through administrative mechanisms. Proclamation No.47/1975 is amended by Proclamation No.80/1993 providing for the lease of urban lands. Urban lands acquired under the old law do not fall under the scope of the new legislation except when transfer of ownership of houses other than

Page: 14 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda inheritance takes place. Amendment of the old law was predicated on the following policy considerations: utilization of urban land as a source for generating revenue to finance the building of infrastructure and the provision of services; to generate fund to supply dwelling houses to satisfy the need of low income groups; to create the condition whereby the right to use urban land have a market value and thereby implement the free market principle; and to create "land tenure" terms long enough to enable land users to plan their activities etc. According to the new lease law, market value of urban land will be determined through competitive public tendering. A lease title document will be given to the highest bidder. The lease period depends on the nature of enterprises to be established, and it ranges from a minimum period of 50 years to a maximum period of 99 years. The lease title acquired through competitive public tendering can be transferred or pledged or contributed in the form of a share to the extent of the rent paid. Under exceptional circumstances, "the government may grant free or without public tendering urban land which is to be utilized for investment that the government encourages or for social services establishments or for other purposes which directly benefit the public". Article 13. Government ownership of urban land has attracted many controversies among the business community which feels the law is against the spirit of free-economy. The new Constitution put rural and urban land under State and peoples ownership.

3.2 The Role of Institutions at Policy Level The authority to legislate on land use and protection of natural resources is vested in the Federal Government. It is the Council of Peoples' Representatives (the second chamber of the Federal Parliament) which will issue such legislation. The authority to administer land and natural resources is the responsibility of the Councils of the federated units. There is no single federal ministry responsible for natural resources development and protection. The responsibility is spread over many ministries and agencies: ministries of Agriculture, Waters, Authority for Environmental Protection etc.). These institutions at the federal level operate independently to formulate policy proposals in their respective areas. It is at the Council of Ministers level that coordination efforts are made. Ministries have direct link with the Council of Ministers, while other agencies not represented at the Cabinet level go through a Deputy Prime Minister in Charge of economic affairs. Policies decided at the national level will be implemented by the Councils of the federated units which have specialized departments, sometimes mirror images of federal ministries and agencies.

3.2.1 Visions of Major Institutions and Donors on Land Tenure Policy International donors and major national institutions (the cabinet, sectoral ministries) share a consensus on security of tenure as a function for sustainable resource management. But they are diametrically opposed on the type of tenure regime to be established. National institutions while being equally concerned for sustainable resource management through designing appropriate tenure policy, are equally

Page: 15 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda concerned or uncertain on whether certain tenure policy would not open a loophole for massive displacement of farmers from their holdings, aspect of Ethiopian history which are still fresh in the minds of the regional forces establishing the new government. The covenant that binds these regional forces is based on the inalienable rights of nations and nationalities they represent not to be dispossessed from their ancestral land. Major international donors invariably maintain that neither sustainable resource management nor faster economic growth can be attained short of ownership of land. User right which the land reform law sanctions eliminates land markets which will continue to foster poverty "to the extent that it impedes economic growth". As has always been the case in the past, major donor agencies and international experts have been rendering their advice on the design of appropriate tenure policy towards efficient resource management. The Constitution once again endorsed a user right over land because historical narratives outweighs the economic rationale. So donors, international and national resource persons may have to consider policy options to make user right as secured as possible for efficient resource management. Two such options have been suggested long before the new Constitution is adopted in the event that a user right is going to be recognized once again. The Ethiopian Forestry Action Programme elaborates these two options: · continue the present usufruct policy and ensure that it is effectively implemented through the necessary regulatory and administrative arrangements for issuing certificates of user right. (A proposal that may entail adjudication of claims, measurement, and demarcation etc.) · modify the present policy by introducing a leasehold system for farmers, involving, for example, 50-year leases, with the lease being transferable. (EFAP, VOLUME III, ISSUES AND ACTIONS).

The Constitution is definitive about the user right details of which will be provided by subsequent legislation. Within the broad framework of a user right innovative suggestions could emerge for sustainable resource management.

3.2.2 Steps to be Planned to Operationalize Existing Laws It is perhaps necessary to reiterate what the new Constitution provides on land tenure, land use and protection of natural resources for the purpose of identifying steps that need to be taken to operationalize these broad concepts. 1. Ownership of rural and urban land vests in the State and the peoples of Ethiopia. 2. A user right is recognized for peasant farmers and pastoralists. 3. The Federal government has the exclusive mandate to legislate on use and protection of natural resources. 4. The State Councils of the federated units have the legal right to administer land and other natural resources within their respective territories in accordance with laws to be issued by the Federal Government.

As one of its attributes, the Ministry of Agriculture has the mandate to formulate policies / strategies regarding land use, protection and development of natural

Page: 16 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda resources. The Ministry is currently working on its organizational structure to be submitted to the Council of Ministers. According to its draft proposal the Ministry will have four line departments among which the Department of Forestry and Wild Life, Soil Conservation, and Land Use Regulation is one. The Department has three sections: Forestry and Wild Life; Soil Conservation; and Land Use Regulation.

To operationalize its mandate, the Ministry plans to 1. undertake first and foremost a comprehensive inventory of natural resources based on existing data and additional data to be generated through further resource studies to be commissioned; 2. draw up policies / strategies for the proper utilization of land and other natural resources, a task that would require elaboration of management plans for the use of forest resources, land use regulations including mechanisms for making the user right more secured; and 3. undertake cadastral surveys and registration of land as found appropriate The Ministry recognizes the mandate of State governments to administer land and other natural resources in conformity with a national policy, laws and regulations to be issued. It also recognizes the time and resources needed to operationalize the plan. Strict interpretation of Article 51 and 52 of the Constitution leaves no room for the devolution of authority on State governments to concurrently draw land use policy with a federal institution. Previous legislation issued in relation to agricultural investment activities shed some light on how the mandates might be exercised by Federal and State Governments. Foreign investors are required to submit "a techno-economic feasibility study on the agricultural investment activity including conditions regarding environmental protection" to the Ministry of Agriculture (Council of Ministers Regulation No.120/1993). Domestic investors are also required to plant trees as a replacement for trees and shrubs they remove, follow appropriate soil conservation practices, and to observe guidelines for protection of natural resources to be issued by appropriate authority. (Oromia, P.3/1995). The appropriate authority in the case of domestic investors are State investment bureau. (The Council of Ministers Regulation No.120/1993). What the Ministry of Agriculture is planning to do by way of taking inventory of the land resources of the country upon which to base a national land policy is an effort in the right direction. What should be done during the interim period until the national land policy is to be finalized has to be considered. State governments are not going to wait until the national policy is developed and approved by the Federal Government. The Ministry of Agriculture should either establish a specialized unit which would cater to the demands of State governments for a limited land use and cadastral survey services, or delegate State governments to have a special units having limited responsibility to deal with land use planning and surveying. The Constitution gives a user right to peasant farmers. The implementation of this right shall be "specified" by law to be issued by the Federal Government. Until such time the "implementation" law is issued, peasant farmers will continue to enjoy transferable and inheritable life-long lease over their holdings. The user right recognized by the Constitution raises many questions than it answers. One of the mandate of the Ministry of Agriculture is to advice the Federal Government on the

Page: 17 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda scope of the legislation it will eventually issue to implement the user right taking into account all competing interests of new land claimants, the right of inheritance if any, the right of women on family land, the level of subdivision and fragmentation to be allowed, size of land to be allocated depending on resource endowments which are so varied from locality to locality. This new task of the Ministry will then require it to set up a separate unit under the Department of Forestry, Soil Conservation, and Land Use Regulation to deal exclusively with tenure and related issues.

4. Land Tenure Regulations and Experiences in Oromia

Oromia is the largest federated unit of the Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. It is the home for over 25 million Oromo, the largest single ethnic group in East Africa. Over 90% of the Oromo people are sedentary agriculturalists and pastoralists. Oromia was integrated to the Empire as a result of Menelik's conquest of the South during the last century. The incorporation of Oromia brought along with it fundamental changes in land tenure structures. Tenure regime that pertained before the conquest was abrogated; and in its place free-hold title was instituted, an innovation that took several decades to take its final shape as epitomized in the Revised Constitution of Ethiopia of 1955. In the vast majority of the cases, the Oromo people were share croppers with concomitant personal obligations which these share croppers and their families were obliged to give to their respective land lords. Efforts to change their plight through mild reform changes did not succeed, and the Oromo people unlike their fellow farmers of the northern provinces where "rist" tenure prevailed had to conform with the most onerous landlord-tenant relationship up to the time of the land reform programme of 1975. Implementation of the law that conferred usufructuary right over land benefited the Oromo people. The uniqueness was only in the degree the Oromo people had rallied behind the new reform programme along with other former share croppers in other parts of the country. It were the peasant associations that have assumed major responsibilities to measure and divide land among target beneficiaries of the land reform. The Oromo peasants while enthusiastically supporting the new reform initiative did not stop pressurizing the government to redistribute commercial farms among farmers who were evicted from land operated as commercial farms. Farmers have succeeded to get some of the state farms to be redistributed among themselves. The actual / latent claims which farmers had over land managed and operated as state farms has not subsided up to the present time.

4.1 Debates for policy changes during Derge period The Military government made its intents very clear that small holder agriculture cannot solely be relied upon as a strategy for providing adequate food for the population and raw materials for manufacturing enterprises which it had nationalized. Derg decided to experiment with collectivization of agriculture and expansion of state farms as a viable strategy. The government was also inspired by the experience of the socialist countries ready to provide technical and financial support to the new initiative.

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The decision to take over commercial farms organized as state farms had very limited scope: to secure employment for agricultural laborers working on these farms, and to guarantee constant flow of grain coming from these sources. What has started as a programme with limited scope became a major strategy for the transformation of the sector during subsequent years. Concern for small holder agriculture got marginalized, and many farming communities had to leave their lands conveniently designated as being "suitable for state farm expansion". A national directive for the establishment of producers' cooperatives was issued three years later after the land reform proclamation. Despite principles enunciated in the directives for the promotion of producers' cooperatives, the implementation went ahead without paying any attention to some of these principles. The Ministry of Agriculture was given the responsibility for organizing cooperatives; but what has been observed on the ground was deep involvement of different actors, party local officials and cadres, in the organization of producers' cooperatives because of ideological satisfaction they derive by identifying with a "socialist" institution. One of the policy supports extended to the producers' cooperative conflicted with security of tenure of farmers. The directive establishing producers' cooperatives specifically stated that a producer cooperative can take over land held by another individual farmer in the event it required such land for its expansion. The fact that producers' cooperatives have been resorting to the policy support to acquire additional land for their expansion was adequately amplified by demands of farmers to be reinstated to their former holdings taken over by the producers' cooperatives. Empirical evidence to establish how far widespread the practice was is not strong. But many people believe that the right of producers' cooperatives to take over any land for their expansion was a serious threat to the security of tenure for individual farmers. The land reform law stipulates a maximum of 10 hectares estimated to be adequate for a household of 4-5 families practicing rain fed agriculture. Experiences have later shown that what farm households obtained was much lower than what the law stipulates as the maximum holding. Despite the fact that farm households were able to obtain below the legal maximum and dramatic increase in the size of households, peasant associations were not precluded from allocating land to new land claimants by reducing the size of existing farms. The prevailing practice for accommodating new land claimants was through yearly assessment of existing holdings to identify excess land. The practice of taking stock of farm households on yearly basis to identify excess land for new land claimants are reported as one of the serious causes for the insecurity of tenure. Because of an erroneous belief of regarding land as an infinite resource to accommodate any land claimant, the government did not intervene for many years to rescind the authority of peasant associations of accommodating new claimants. Marginal land and communal grazing were not spared from being distributed to new land claimants. Socialist orientated development strategy of the Military government showed little sympathy for security of tenure of individual farm plots for they would eventually be incorporated into producers' cooperatives. Government employees, international donors and NGOs alike have forged a consensus on the desirability for a tenure reform. There was no consensus as to the policy prescriptions, and such prescriptions were predicated on ideological orientation and historical narratives. Derge as an institution, however responsive it

Page: 19 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda might be to the advises, had its own interpretation of history particularly the support it obtained from the peasantry as a result of the land reform programme. There is no denying of the fact that a good number of military personnel and civilian officials in the government as a matter of belief did not want to embrace a policy prescription that would dramatically undo what the peasantry has gained. It was only towards the end of its rule that Derg realized the limits of its socialist orientated development strategy. Major policy changes of considerable significance to peasant agriculture were finally announced. (1) Collectivization as a policy was totally abandoned; whether to pursue it or not as a viable alternative to small holder agriculture was left to the individual decisions of farmers. The policy only stated that future cooperatives will only be established on the free will of members, an important component of the directive which party activists totally ignored in their adventure. (2) The authority of peasant associations to allocate land to new land claimants was rescinded, an aspect of the policy that was automatically implemented by the peasant themselves without waiting for further elaboration of the policy. (3) Inheritable life-long lease was recognized for peasant farmers; leasing land which was permissible under the land reform law under exceptional circumstances was allowed for all category of farmers. (4) The status of tree tenure which was very ambiguous was elaborated giving ownership right over trees farmers plant on their individual holdings. Arguments still persisted that there were still some more "unfinished tasks"; but the policy initiative has given peasant farmers a feeling of relief from permanent fear that they might surrender a part of their holdings to new land claimants. The threat against security of tenure by expanding producers' cooperatives was arrested and farmers who had to surrender their land to producers' cooperatives were reinstated to their old holdings. The policy initiative has gone one step further in providing peasant farmers with an inheritable "life-long lease" which cannot be revoked to accommodate landless persons and which would guarantee security of tenure. There is no much argument as far as this element of the policy goes. But the policy has not gone far enough to lift prohibitions on certain land transfers such as sale, mortgage and antichrists. Many critics maintained that prohibitions on sale of land was a stumbling block against transfer of land resource from less efficient to efficient operator.

4.2 Oromia specific perspectives for tenure changes Debates for tenure changes during the Derge period was of a national character. Proclamation 31/1975 referred to as land reform legislation was issued as a national legislation which recognized use right for peasants irrespective of local variations. The same institutions, namely the peasant associations, with the responsibility to allocate land to target beneficiaries were established all over the country. Pastoralists were also required to establish their associations taking into consideration territories over which they graze their livestock. Causes that triggered the debates for tenurial changes were almost the same in Oromia as well as in other parts of the country. Threats to security of tenure paused by the right of collectives to take over land held by individual farmers, and the

Page: 20 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda authority of peasant associations affecting existing holdings to accommodate new land claimants were not specific to any region. Regional perspectives regarding land rights emerged during the Transitional period, and perceptions by different forces are more or less similar. One of the successes of the Transitional period lies in facilitating the emergence of regional forces with their own narratives deeply embedded in the history and institutions of their people. For some of these forces, the centrality of the land question is not an economic question. It is a question of identity and decision over such issues falls within their exclusive jurisdiction. These regional forces follow a two-dimensional approach: the first is to redress historical pathologies arising from Menelks conquest of their regions which was accompanied with confiscation of land, and the second is to severely combat tendencies that can be exploited by forces keen enough to stage a come back. Regional forces representing Oromia have their own historical perspectives based on the history and institutions of the Oromo people they represent. The opinion of the Vice President of Oromia has been solicited as representing official thinking on land question. There is a consensus on the following points: 1. Land rights and safeguards against dispossession provided by the Constitution truly conform with the aspiration of the Oromo people. The delineation of competencies between the Federal Government and the Oromia State Council on land issues is something that has to be accepted in a federal arrangement which is acceptable to the Oromo people. 2. Some aspects of the present land holding system are not satisfactory; hence there is a need for subsequent legislation and initiatives to rectify the inadequacies of the present holding system. Security of tenure is less of a concern because there is a strong belief that the user right recognized by the constitution is adequate. Sale of land which is an attribute of private ownership is regarded as a means of dispossessing the Oromo peasantry which has been emancipated. Institutionalization of private property over land goes against the interest of the Oromo people, and this position will remain non-negotiable. 3. The major problem for the Oromo Council is the large number of landless persons constantly demanding for a fresh land re-distribution. Position of the Oromo Council in this regard is to carry out a fresh re-distribution of land which will be preceded by comprehensive inventory of the land resources. Re-distribution of land will not be an all-Oromia intervention, but a localized one depending on the resource availability and the severity of the problem paused by landlessness. 4. The current lease arrangement prevailing in all parts of Oromia has to be curtailed in terms of the size of land to be leased, the duration of the lease, and category of persons who the land should be leased to. The Oromia council has already issued a proclamation (Proclamation 3/1995) which limits a peasant to lease only half of his / her holding for a period of three years. Private investors are barred from leasing land from individual farmers, and future lease will only take place between farmers themselves. 5. Intra-Oromia settlement to release the pressure over land is not among priority considerations. The Oromo Council will, however, encourage group or individual initiatives to settle in areas where land is abundant.

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6. Donors will have no role in influencing the land policy; but their assistance in other areas such as cadastral survey, compilation of the resource bases is more than welcomed.

4.3 Institutions and their mandate The practice of the last fifteen years attest to the fact that land tenure issues fall within the exclusive authority of the national government. The national government exercise concurrent jurisdiction with lower level institutions only to the extent of implementation of laws / directives decided at the national level. Under the present federal structure of Ethiopia, decisions regarding land issues are taken at two levels: federal and state levels. Important and substantive issues of land rights is reserved as the exclusive authority of the federal government, and State governments are given the right to administer land within their respective territories. State governments have no uniform administrative structures. Oromia as a State has three tiers of administrative structures. The Oromia Council which is the supreme State Council and the Woreda Council are constitutionally recognized organs of governance. There is an intermediary body between the State Council and the Woreda Council which has been set up to facilitate coordination of different Woreda Councils. These intermediary bodies, the Zonal Councils, have no constitutional mandate, and they operate with a delegated authority from the Oromia Council. Members of the Zonal Councils are elected representatives of the Oromia Council. At present Oromia is divided into twelve zones. The lowest administrative unit is a peasant association / kebele administration. The peasant associations, a carry over from the Derge period have a limited role in land administration; however they have the responsibility to maintain law and order at the grass-root level. Peasant associations that were instrumental for land reform implementation were stripped off their role on land matter, what their role on land matter is going to be is yet elaborated. Practice in Tigray and some parts of Amhara State indicate that these institutions have been revitalized and have assumed responsibility of redistributing land among their members. Under Article 52 of the Federal Constitution, the Oromia Council has right to administer land and other natural resources within its territory. Article 40 of Oromia Constitution on rights to property is a verbatim copy of the Federal Constitution, and what the State Council could legislate as aspects of land administration has not been elaborated. Under Article 77(4) of the Oromia Constitution, the Woreda Councils' authority over land is too general to be of any service as a guideline to undertake land administration functions unless their authority over land is elaborated in details possibly by a legislative enactment. A recent legislation issued by the Oromia Council after adoption of its Constitution sheds some light on the extent to which the term "land administration" can be stretched. Article 23 of Proclamation 3 of 1995 limits peasant farmers to lease only half of their land for a period of three years. The public policy behind this article is clear. It tries to protect peasant farmers from being alienated from their source of livelihood for a considerable period of time. The Federal Constitution expressly prohibits sale of land, and envisages "other means of transfer" which will be prohibited. Whether lease of land by peasant farmers falls within the category of

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"other means of transfer" is not clear. What is clear however is that State governments can impose restrictions on the lease of land by peasant farmers as the wording of Article 23 of Proclamation 3/1995 indicates. Details of such restrictions will be elaborated by the Oromo Bureau of Agriculture delegated by Proclamation 3 to deal with lease of land by peasant farmers.

4.4 Perceptions on land tenure at zonal and woreda level North Shoa Zone is one of the twelve zones of Oromia State. In this Zone like in many parts of Oromia, land was under free hold title until the land reform proclamation of 1975. The land reform law was uniformly applied with the active participation of peasant associations which were established over area of 20 "gashas". Extensive discussion with three officials of the Zonal Office revealed the acute shortage of land. They feel that problem of the landless persons has been exacerbated as a result of a policy measure of the previous government conferring life-long use right to peasant farmers. Landless persons could only access land through tenancy contracts which is widely practiced in the Zone. The officials believe that land redistribution is the only possible solution that they envisage to solve the problem of landlessness. According to these officials, the Zonal Office has no authority on land matters, and its authority is limited to processing of applications submitted to it by private investors. The position of officials of Jarso Woreda on the mandates they have on land matter is almost the same as the officials at the Zonal Office. The Woreda Office prescribes the same solution to solve demands for land allocation. They expect guidelines from the Oromia State Council and less aware of the mandate given to the Woreda Council to administer land and natural resources within its boundary. The Woreda officials maintain that an extensive land resource study should precede any programme of fresh land redistribution even though they have strong suspicion that a good number of farmers have use right over considerable size beyond and above what the size of their respective households warrant. There is only one NGO, CIPAR, implementing integrated rural development programme in three different sites of North Shoa Zone. Opinions of officials and employees of this NGO have been solicited in relation to their experiences in the ten peasant associations of Jarso Woreda. Security of tenure: Opinions vary on this point. Some employees feel that the use right which farmers have over land per se does not motivate farmers to undertake investments over land. Hence farmers should be conferred with ownership right over land. Some employees assess the issue of tenure security in light of active involvement and readiness of farmers to adopt extension advises to protect and improve their land resources. They site examples of initiatives independently taken by farmers towards sustainable resource management against which security of tenure should be evaluated. Land redistribution: Average land holding in the ten peasant associations is 1.1 hectare, and average household size is over 5. Recent studies conducted in the ten peasant associations put landless persons at 37% of the total household. There is a critical shortage of land. Peasant associations have stopped allocating land since five years. They view that the problem of landlessness cannot be resolved by a fresh

Page: 23 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda land redistribution. They think that initiatives which their NGO is trying to introduce in the next phase of the Project might help to ameliorate the problem of the landless persons.

5. Land Tenure and related Issues in ten Peasant Associations of Wara Jarso Woreda

5.1 Background of the Study Area

5.1.1 Geographical Location Wara Jarso is one of the six Woredas of North Shoa zone of Oromia. It has forty seven peasant associations out of which 24 peasant associations are in the Blue Nile Gorge. Ten peasant association where the tenure study has been conducted constitutes project area of CPAR, a Canadian NGO. The study area is estimated to be about 23000 ha, 19 per cent of Jarso Woreda. The 10 peasant Associations are located at a distance of between 190 - 210 kms from Addis Ababa. The PAS are: ha ha 1. Shenkora Shashing 2268 2. Qola Mojo 1500 3. Qola Gedara 2541 4. Qola Jame 1969 5. Qola Borsu 1590 6. Wele Manashire1 1533 7. Dembeza Jibela 1237 8. Girma Goba 3844 9. Abu Bistimo 3140 10. Dugda Dera 3505

They are located parallel to each other and stretch right from the plateau down to Blue Nile and Semarivers.

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Map 1: Agro-Ecological Zones of the 10 PAs

Source: Adapted from Berhanu Debele

5.1.2 Physical Environment Physiographic variations determine the land use and settlement patterns. The area is characterized by rugged terrain with stiff mountains and deep valleys. The elevation ranges from 1000-2500 m. above sea level. The population differentiate four distinct agro-ecological zones:

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Seka: Altitude ranges from 2000-2500 m.a.sl. Seka is the cold high plateau with an average annual temperature of 100 - 160c. It is characterized by basaltic geological formation. The mountains are extremely deforested and washed through erosion. There is a scarce settlement in the lower terraces. 40 -50% of the land is cultivable. 1

Amba: Altitude ranges between 1700 and 2200 m.a.sl. It is characterized by lime stone formation and is 80 - 90%1) intensively cultivated. The average annual temperature is 16 -200c. Settlement is highly concentrated in the middle part of the zone.1)

Sob: The upper part of Sob is of limestone formation and the lower part is of gypsum formation. There is very small cultivation which is pursued by the people from the Amba zone. There is no settlement in this zone.

Bereha: Due to the high evaporation piration the temperature is high an average of 29.80°C during the dry season. Bereha zone is used majority as communal grazing area and as woodland. Because of the shortage of cultivable land in the Amba zone, people especially the landless youth, are cultivating part of this cultivation, unrestricted wood cutting and overgrazing the area is highly depleted and this caused sheet erosion. After a year or two year of cultivation the land would have been followed up to 15 years which is now being reduced to about 3 years, due to scarcity of land.2 Because of the temperature and malaria there is no permanent settlement in the Bereha zone.

There are three distinct land use patterns. Homestead plots locally known as “bedima:, individual plots, and parcels of very infertile land locally known as :Aybelush meret: designated as pasture land for the livestock of each household.

1 Berhane Debele: CPAR Wara Jarso Project area Rural Development plan, Jarso Village Level Natural Resource Management, June 1995 (Draft),P.17 2 Berhane Debele: Ibid,p21

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Some but not all peasant associations have communal land for dry season grazing in different part of each peasant association.

5.1.3 Demographically Characteristic of the study area The total population of the 10 Peasant Association is given as 20076 of which 9908 are male and 10168 are female. Due to the fertility of land in Sob and Seka zone and because of malaria and endemic diseases in the Bereha zone the majority of the population are concentrated in the Amba zone.

5.1.4 The Literacy level of the population is estimated at 12.5% level and 73% among these can only write.

5.1.5 Age & Sex Composition Age and sex composition of the population indicates that there are slightly more women (3%) than men. 49 per cent of the total population are under the age of 15 years and 29 per cent under the age of 45. Only 14 per cent are above 45 years old. In the 10 - 14 age group the sex-ratio amount to 120 men to 100 women which may indicate that the death rate in this age group is higher for females than for males because of early marriage and early child birth. In the age group 15 59 there are 13 per cent more females than males which may indicate that the males might migrate in search of work due to scarcity of land. The age group between 15 and 60 are considered to be active productive age - group which amounts to 45 per cent of the population. The rest 55 per cent a little more than half of the population are economically dependent to the active productive group. If one correlate this with the available cultivable land one can easily imagine the hard life the people are struggling. The age structure of the study area reveals also that in the coming years a high population growth would be expected. Population growth in rural Ethiopia is estimated to be at 3 per cent per year. If the population of the study area with 49 per cent under the age of 15 years increase at this rate the population will double in approximately 25 years its 1994 size. Age and Sex Composition of Population3

3 Berhanu Debele: Ibid,P.20

Page: 27 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda

Age Male % Female % Total % No. N No. o. 0-4 1482 15 1701 16.7 3184 15.9 5-9 2109 21.3 1783 17.5 3892 19.4 10-14 1482 15.0 1199 11.8 2681 13.4 15-19 945 9.5 738 7.3 1683 8.4 20-24 458 4.6 1045 10.3 1503 7.5 25-29 865 8.7 584 5.7 1450 7.2 30-34 487 4.9 348 3.4 836 4.2 35-39 288 2.9 810 8.0 1098 5.5 40-44 368 3.7 502 4.9 870 4.3 45-49 458 4.6 236 2.3 693 3.5 50-54 209 2.1 389 3.8 598 3.0 55-59 129 1.3 82 0.8 211 1.1 60-64 169 1.7 236 2.3 405 2.0 64+ 458 4.6 512 5.0 970 4.8 Total 9908 100 10168 100 20076 100

5.1.6 Literacy Levels 12.5% of the population is literate, among these 728% can only write. The total enrolment of boys and girls in the elementary schools in the project area equaled 600 students in 1993 / 94 academic year.4

5.1.7 Households A house hold is the basic unit of social life. It consists of a unit of people who stay and dine under one roof and share common house hold goods. Usually it consists the head, male / female, spouse and sometimes the aging parents of either. If a son marries he usually build or his parents build for him, a separate house and he will establish his own household. When a daughter marries she will move out and join her husband. In the study area there are approximately 43/40 households. The average number of people per household is 4.6. The majority of the household heads are males. However, there also female headed households whose husbands died. Decision is usually made by the head of the house-hold. In serious decision makings the head consults the members. Adult members of the household go for off-farm activities or share-crop farming to supplement the household needs. Although this seems that the greater the family members are the more advantageous it is for supplementary incomes. However, the opportunities in the study are for off farm activities are limited. In fact, due to land scarcity as a result of population growth, the greater the household members are the greater the consumption burden will be on a share of the household income. This could be reviled in the following table where 37 per cent of the total households in the 10 Peasant Associations are landless.

4 Berhanu Debele: Ibid P

Page: 28 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda

Households by PA5 PA Total No.of % Land- N L l o a e . n s o d s f - H l H H e H s s

H H Shenkora Shoa 556 174 31.3 Qola Mojo *160 28 17.5 Qola Gedera *254 79 31.1 Qola Jemo 412 11 27.0 Qola Borsu 397 123 31.0 Wele Menesire 417 124 30.0 Dembez Jibele 609 259 42.5 Girmi Goba 683 347 51.0 Abu Bistino 385 135 35.1 Dugda Dera 457 237 59.9 Total 4330 1617 57.3

In the households of the study area, the gender division of labor, like in any other rural Ethiopian regions, the lion share is allocated to women. In discussions we held on gender issues, the informants reported that the major burden of women in addition to biological reproduction, is their participation in marketable goods and farming activities. Women are responsible for carrying children and food preparation for household members. If she had daughters they assist her in her daily household activities. Her work schedule starts early morning and ends late evening. On top of her drudgery life, early marriage (12 - 13 years) will effect her physical and social build-up.

5.1.8 Agriculture As briefly explained in the preceding pages the physiographic variation, the erratic climatic conditions, erosion, malaria in the lowland area are some factors for low level of agricultural production However, agriculture is the only major resource for living. This subsistence agriculture consists of crop and livestock production. Out of the total 23000 ha only 4930 (22%) is cultivated / Cultivable. The average landholding of a tax paying household is 1.8 ha. However, if one includes the non tax payers and landless youngsters in the household, the average land holding of a household is much less than 1.8 ha.

5 Berhanu Debele: Ibid, p.38; offices of CPAR development agents

Page: 29 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda

At the time of land distribution almost all households have got land allocated either by family size or by a household. As the majority of people of the 10 peasant associations are dwellers of the Amba zone, these people will go up to the Seka and down to the Bereha for cultivation of their shares. Due to this arrangement there are a number of land fragments. The informant, stated that although it is very tiresome and time consuming to go up and down, it is at the same time a sort of guarantee in securing production in case of crop failures due to the climatic conditions. There is also inter kebele (Peasant Associations) movements of share croppers. People from Shankora peasant associations are farming in Qola Mojo; Wele Manasire in Girmi Goba; Dembeza Tebbela in Girmi Goba; Girmi Goba in Abu Bistino and Abu Bistino in Dugda Dera (see map) share cropping is mostly followed by the landless using their ;about source and by those who have plough oxen.

5.1.9 Crop Production The main crops in the area are Sorghum and Teff followed by Legumes (Horse Beans and Lentils). The estimation of land under these 3 crops is 4576 ha which is 93 per cent of the total cultivated area. Generally chemical fertilizer is not used in the study area so also no pest control measures are taken by farmers. Land is traditionally ploughed by oxen plough. Seeds are sown by broad cating. There are some intercropping system (sunflower with sorghum?). Reliable figures on yield is not available. However, under the adverse topographical and climatic situation of the area sustainable yield of crops, pasture and forests cannot cop with present rate of population growth. Landless farmers are cultivating land in the Bereha which is a marginal land without control. Traditional rotation of fallow which is ecologically stable are becoming unstable as the fallow cycle is shortened. In light of these crop yield would be much less national average. The estimated land under crops and production is given bellow: Crops ha Production (qtl.) Sorghum 2156 17,264 Teff 2086 8,344 Legumes 402 402 Nug 184 184 Maize 85 400 Others 13

5.1.10 Livestock Production Livestock is an important component of the farming system in the study area. Following table gives a rough estimates of Livestock numbers in the 10 peasant associations.

Page: 30 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda

Type No. Oxen 3510 Cows 2594 Heifers 1144 Bulls 1008 Calves 1388 Goats 3734 donkeys 949 Poultry 3675

Grazing is the commonest form of feeding and as a result the area is overgrazed. Right after harvest cattle will be let free to graze whatever there is crop residues. By grazing freely on the crop field almost all permanent trees or alike will be eaten. This is one reason the informants stating when asked why they do not plant trees around their fields. There is also a trespass conflict between neighboring farmers. The most popular grazing system is “Dereba”. Cattle owners during the rainy season drive their animals, except milking cows, to Bereha zone for a period of 5 months. They rotate the animals from place and there by the dung will be used as fertilizer (see map). Map 2: The Grazing System „Dereba“

5.2 Land Tenure Structure and its Historical Development For the purpose of assessing land tenure structure and its historical development, three distinct periods have been considered: the period of the monarchical rule

Page: 31 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda particularly during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie, the Derg period, and the post Derg period.

5.2.1 The Emperor's period During this period all lands, cultivable and pasture, were under private ownership in all the ten peasant associations that have been surveyed. Farmers in the ten peasant associations could only access land through a share cropping arrangement concluded them and private land owners ("balabats") who in the majority of the cases were absentee land owners. Share cropping arrangements were very informal and concluded orally between a share cropper and the land owner. Rent payment was in kind and inclusive of all crops which a share cropper had cultivated. "Erbo" or one-fourth of the produce was the modality of payment. In addition to payment of land rent in agricultural produce, share croppers were obliged to pay "asrat", one-tenth of the produce as their contribution to land tax for which the land owner is legally responsible. What this meant was that the share croppers were the de facto land tax payers though the ownership title (tax receipts) was in the name of the land owners. A share cropper's responsibility to his land lord is not only limited to payment of "erbo" and "asrat"; but the responsibility extended to personal services which the land lord extracted from a share cropper and members of his family. The multiplicity of personal services varied depending on whether the land owner was a resident or absentee land owner. Obligation to pay and obligation of delivery were merged together, and a share cropper was obliged to transport the produce to places where the land owner resided. Access to pasture was not free for share croppers. Based on the estimates to be agreed upon, share croppers paid a definite sum of money to their land owners on an annual basis. The memory of the land holding system, and the legal backing land owners had to extract agricultural produces from the peasantry are still fresh in the minds of farmers who were interviewed in all the ten peasant associations. They see the early period of Derg rule as a historical period that brought an end to very onerous relationship between them and the land lords.

5.2.2 Derg and post Derg period Peasants of the ten peasant associations narrate positive and negative aspects of the Derg rule. They perceive the land reform programme as the most positive contribution of the Derg rule. They shower condemnation on Derg for its grain quota system, and recruitment and sending of their children to the war fronts.

5.2.2.1 Land distribution Implementation of the land reform programme had two phases. The first phase conferred a use right over the land which a farmer was tilling under a share cropping arrangement. The second phase was implemented between 1979 and 1981 in all the ten peasant associations as far as the farmers could remember. The second phase involved measuring of land, and delineation of boundaries of each peasant association. Family size except for two peasant associations (Kola Mojo and Kola Gedera) was applied as a criteria to determine land allotments to individual

Page: 32 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda household. Male and female-headed households were allotted different sizes of cultivable land depending on the size of their household. Poor and infertile land locally referred to as "aybelush meret" was allotted as pasture land to individual households. The four distinct agro-ecological zones (Seka, Amba, Sob, and Bereha) found in each of the peasant associations, had impacts on how land was distributed during the initial phases. Farmers inhabiting Seka agro-ecological zone unless under exceptional cases were given land in the same agro-ecological zone. Households with inadequate land in this zone were compensated by land allotment in Sob zone but never in Amba. (Shenkora Shesheng, and Kola Jemo). Farmers in Amba agro- ecological zone were allotted land both in Amba and Sob. The general rule is that Amba farmers will not be allocated land in the Seka zone; but in Dugda Dera there are cases where Amba residents have been given land in Seka zone. Bereha zone which used to be regarded as no-mans land is gradually coming under strict control of Amba farmers. All farmers in all agro-ecological zones resort to Bereha as wet season communal grazing land from late May up to mid September provided that land falling within this zone is not fully put under cultivation e.g. Kola Borsu peasant association. Unlike many other peasant associations on the plateau, the ten peasant associations that have been surveyed had no or little experience of producers' cooperatives which often were regarded as having priority to take over any land which it deemed necessary for its expansion. Land claims in subsequent years emanated from a single source, viz., the youth who were willing to establish themselves and willing to pay land use tax and other obligations incumbent on peasant farmers. Claims for land allocation will be submitted to a peasant association. Once the land has been measured and allocated, a peasant association lacked reserve land to accommodate new claims. Every year after the harvest season is over, a PA will take stock of all the households to determine which of the households possess more land than what the family size warrants. Land holding assigned to a household will revert to a peasant association in case the head of a household moves to another peasant association or start living in nearby urban towns. This was so because the land reform law implicitly requires a farmer not to hold plots of land in different peasant associations. New claimants will be assigned to such land, and discussions with farmers have revealed that holdings reverting to a peasant association through this method was an exception rather than a general rule. Whatever could be achieved by way of accommodating new land claimants was through assigning a parcel of land taken from households whose size has gone down after the initial distribution of land based on family size. Death of a member of a household will have a consequence of loosing a parcel of land theoretically belonging to the deceased. When a girl is married her share of land in the family holdings will likewise be allotted to a new land claimant. Farmers are well aware of procedures of granting land to new claimants, and they always maintain the household size at an optimum level that would not expose them to a loss of a portion of a family land. Uncontrolled birth rate opens a loophole in this procedure of land allocation to new claimants. During discussions held with many

Page: 33 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda farmers on this particular issue, many farmers have expressed that they have mechanisms for circumventing the procedures. In all the ten peasant associations betrothal takes place at a very early stage, and the young girl will be regarded as a member of a household even if the actual marriage will have to take place at a later stage. The ineffectiveness of the procedure of accommodating new claimants is corroborated by the fact that holdings of the majority of the farmers remained unaffected during the first fifteen years before life-long lease was granted to peasant farmers. Considerable number of farmers had lost their holdings on account of death of a member of a household or because a girl has been married. In all the ten peasant associations, households are categorized into land use tax payers and non- tax payers. For instance in four peasant associations of Kola Borsu, Wele Menasire, Girmi Goba, and Dugda Dera, out of the total of 1875 households, the number of tax- paying households number 1246 and non-tax paying households are 629. The non- tax paying households do not have land entitlements from their respective PAS administration, and these households in many studies are assumed to be "landless" despite the fact that many heads of such households have been a share of land from family holdings, however small the size of land might be. Towards the end of its reign after great attempts to socialize the agricultural sector, Derg issued a policy declaration which conferred inheritable life-long lease on peasant farmers. Farmers in all the ten peasant associations of Wara Jarso woreda are well aware of this declaration. Peasant association leaders were relieved from their responsibility of allocating land to new land claimants even though they still retain (judicial tribunals) to adjudicate land disputes arising between members of the peasant associations. What ever chance new land claimants had to access land under the land reform law through adjustments in household holdings has been foreclosed, and this must have contributed in part to the growing number of "landless" households in each of the peasant association that has been surveyed. Farmers await with great anxiety what the new government is intending to do by way of land redistribution.

5.2.2.2 Gender-specific aspects of land distribution The land reform law does not discriminate between sexes. In this respect the practice conforms with the letter of the law. Female-headed households were not discriminated against during the implementation of the law. Female children had their share in the family holdings; their right over family holdings will cease upon their marriage. Unmarried girls who have attained majority will not be assigned any share from a family land because such unmarried girls will always be regarded as members of households. Rules governing property division upon divorce have been seen into. A woman who divorces her husband and who wants to stay in the same peasant association can take her share from the family land. But if she decides to live in another peasant association, her right to a share of family land will relinquish. Whether she is going to be allocated a piece of land in a peasant association where she establishes her residence is less of a consideration. The death of a husband will affect the size of the family's land holding. Sometimes change in the status of the household from being male-headed to being female- headed household will relieve the household from paying land use tax. In the event

Page: 34 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda the wife of the deceased farmer marries, the share of the children will be administered by a brother of the father.

5.2.3 Informal tenancy arrangement Leasing of rural land unless under special circumstances was prohibited by the land reform proclamation. The proclamation was amended by Derg's policy declaration of March 1990. Peasant farmers did not wait for such an amendment, and the practice of leasing land was well under way long before the policy declaration. Individual farmers who lease their land resort to the practice due to several reasons. Some lease their land because they do not have draught animals of their own, while others lease their land to overcome a distress situation or to overcome shortage of food grain during the rainy season. Those leasing out land in the majority of the cases are female-headed households. The land lease arrangement is one of the methods of accessing land by the landless households and those who do not possess adequate land for their livelihood. There are well-off farmers with extra draught animals and labor power who also rent additional land. Payment is always in kind and the amount of rent to be paid is half of the total produce. The agreement is done in a very informal way and runs for one season after which the agreement might be terminated or renewed depending on the wish of the contracting parties. The majority of the households who lease regard the practice as an effective way of ensuring food security until the harvest season when they collect their share of the produce. There is a local practice known as "jala kena", an Oromo word literally translated to mean " payment under", whereby a farmer renting land is required to provide advance payment in kind or cash which will be deducted at harvest time from the share of a partner who has leased his land. This is different from "key money" payable to the land owner by a share cropper to commence a tenancy arrangement. Leasing of land is not limited to farmers living in the same peasant association. The land to be leased is open to any farmer residing in bordering peasant association or to those coming from a neighboring district. This practice has opened a window of opportunity for farmers in peasant associations with limited land resource and densely populated. The practice however is a variation to the rule of the land reform law which intended to limit a farmer's agricultural activity to a single peasant associations. "Bereha" zone lying between 1000 and 1300 m.a.s.l. which used to be regarded as no-mans land and serving as a wet season grazing land is rapidly encroached upon for cultivation purposes. Right of occupancy is established through clearing of bushes in the area and opening it up for personal cultivation or for leasing it out to willing farmers. The lease of "Bereha" land shows a little variation than lease of lands in other zones. The lease agreement involves an elaborate division of labor between a farmer having a right of occupancy and a farmer who wants to rent it. There are also joint responsibilities to be performed. For instance the ploughing of land, weeding of the crop etc. falls under the responsibility of a farmer who rent the land; and crop protection is the responsibility of a farmer having the right of occupancy. Harvesting and threshing of crop is a joint responsibility. Such division of tasks is necessitated to withstand very hostile climatic condition and to minimize the chance of being attacked by mosquitoes.

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5.2.4 Land redistribution There is such a great anxiety among peasant farmers regarding what the new government could come up with by way of fresh land redistribution. The source of the anxiety are local level officials who keep on postponing adjudicating boundary disputes between peasant associations until a new land law is issued. Farmers have their own perceptions on the effectiveness of a new law, if any, in bringing a radical change in the existing land holding structure. Two set of perceptions have been solicited, viz., perceptions of farmers who were the direct beneficiary of the land reform law, and those farmers with inadequate land holdings or "landless". The perception of farmers in one of the ten peasant associations was dramatically different from the rest of nine peasant associations and hence presented separately.

5.2.5 Beneficiaries of the land reform programme The old beneficiaries of the land reform are not enthusiastic about a fresh land redistribution programme. They feel that their initial land allotments remained static while population both at the household and PA levels has drastically increased since the initial distribution of land. If the same old criteria of household size is to apply to determine size of holdings by the anticipated fresh land redistribution programme, farmers have no fear of loosing their present holdings. According to these farmers what a fresh land redistribution could do is only to confirm existing holdings. Farmers also admit that some households were able to hold extra land that did not correspond with the size of their families. Redistributing such land to landless people, farmers feel, does not have much use because those alleged to have obtained extra land are now under totally different situation on account of increase in the size of their households. They have a strong belief that what ever the government might legislate regarding land will take into account family size and the fertility level of their land. This rationalization makes them less apprehensive of any reform programme. They clearly think that having large families will serve as a shield against being affected by any fresh land redistribution which the government might introduce. Farmers believe that the national and regional governments should start exploiting natural resources that are abundant in the area to open employment opportunities for the landless youth. For instance they site cement and gypsum resources which if exploited could open employment opportunities for families with inadequate land holdings and for land hungry young people of the locality. Incense trees which so far are felled indiscriminately for charcoal making and furniture could be put to economic use which would relieve pressure on land. What they seem to say is that "landlessness" in their peasant associations will not be solved by a fresh land redistribution programme. They liken land with the "shama" they wear which cannot be stretched beyond its limit.

5.3 The perception of "landless" persons There is a large contingent of landless youth who are enable to access through the normal procedure of land allocation by peasant associations. Despite their desperate situation for land allocation, they are not targeting lands held by peasant farmers as a resource pool from where they can quench their thirst for land. A good number of them emphatically indicate that land redistribution which targets existing

Page: 36 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda holdings will only engender generation conflict without substantially changing the plight of the landless. They equally feel as that of their fathers that they are the responsibility of the government. Exploitation of cement and gypsum, resources that they say are abundant in their communities, could open employment opportunities. Another solution is a settlement project in any part of the country where they can get adequate land to start a new life. Landless youth in Girmi Goba peasant association have in mind large tract of land within the boundary of their peasant association where a government sponsored settlement scheme could start. They do not envisage of a spontaneous settlement in the area they have identified because of shortage of water and malaria infestation. The landless youth admit that they resort to intensive charcoal making and felling of trees for fuel wood for lack of any other better alternative. Elders are very sympathetic with the problems of landless youth and demobilized soldiers, and they feel telling this category of people to desist from their practice is not morally indefensible position in light of their destitute economic position.

5.3.1 Peasant farmers of Dugda Dera peasant association This peasant association is located on the western extreme part of CPAR's project area, and is accessible on foot. CPAR's rural road network has not yet reached this peasant association. One remarkable difference between this peasant association and the rest of the peasant associations of the project area is a prevailing custom that prohibits sale of fuel wood and charcoal making. This peasant association is also unique from the rest in a very fundamental way. Members of this peasant associations have very limited mobility to other peasant associations either to rent land or for wet season grazing. The remoteness of this peasant association is also manifested in how elders perceive rights over land particularly right of occupancy over "Bereha" land. During the discussion with farmers and elders, persons who had ancestral claims have started to submit their claims to the elders to award a judgment against those who have established right of occupancy through clearing of bushes. The elders have admitted about the existence of such claims by persons who have had ancestral claims over such land before land reform law. Elders are awarding judgment in favor of such persons as having a better right than farmers who have currently established a right of occupancy. Old and young people alike demand for an immediate land redistribution programme to which other peasant associations have open objections. There are some factors that have triggered this demand for an immediate land redistribution: 1) irregularities in the initial land distribution that enabled many peasant leaders to occupy land more than the size of the families warranted; 2) apparent landlessness of the youth caused by farmers coming outside the peasant associations and "illegally" occupying land; and 3) the emergence of previous of land owners who are displacing the youth who have established right of occupancy in the "Bereha" land. The farmers maintain that delay in implementing a new land redistribution would eventually lead to conflicts between members of the same peasant association. In a situation where PA leaders lack jurisdiction over land disputes similar to those raised by the farmers and where the Woreda administration is refusing to interfere on land

Page: 37 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda matters until they are issued with a directive from the Oromia Council, conflicts that can be contained by elders could easily degenerate into serious conflicts between members of the peasant association.

5.3.2 Perceptions of some selected individual farmers Individual farmers were interviewed to provide how they perceive of their situations.

Ato Tamiru Jenaye Ato Tamiru Jenaye is the head of a household with 10 family members. He farms 4 "gemed" of land which he and his family members cultivate. His holdings are found in three agro-ecological zones, namely "Amba", "Sob", and "Bereha". Ato Tamiru was a former tenant, and was among the first beneficiaries of the land reform programme. Over the last many years after the land reform was implemented, his holding remained the same except a portion of land which he has transferred to his married son. Ato Tamiru is the secretary of the village development committee. Farmers of his PA do all what they can to follow soil conservation practices recommended by his village level development agent. On his part he terraces his farms, builds flood diversion structures, and plants tree with the help of his family members. He plants trees and forage crops around his homestead ("badima"). As to why he limits his tree planting activities to the homestead area, he feels that farming in wooded farms is not an easy operation. He complains that tree species by the PA nursery are not termite resistant. According to him tree planting on individual plots is a recent phenomenon because during the Derg period farmers were emphatically told only to participate on community wood lot. Ato Tamiru is a tax-paying farmer, and his worry is how to make his land more productive to support his large family. He expresses no fear of a new land redistribution programme because his large family size will have to be taken into consideration.

Woizero Beyenu Mekonnen Woizero Beyenu Mekonnen is the head of a household. After she has divorced her husband, she moved to the present PA where she resides with her mother and her two children. Upon her divorce her share of land was not given to her, and what she has now is only 1 "gemed" of land which she regularly leases to "ikul arash" (lease holder). She is not customarily required to help the "ikul arash", but to make the best out of her land, she builds stone bund and flood diversion structures. Woizer Beyenu plants eucalyptus trees and hopes around the homestead with the hope of supplementing her annual income which the "ikul arash" pays her as rent for the land she leases. Woizero Beyenu does not have an ox of her own; if she had one she tells that she will make arrangement with another farmer without an oxen to farm her land on an exchange basis. She regularly receives small grain loan ("jala kena") from the "ikul arash" which will be deducted from her share of the produce at harvest time.

Page: 38 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda

Temesgen Ferede Temesgen Ferede is a typical landless farmer aged 26. He was a student until he fled his "kebele" to avoid the national military service during the Derge period. Upon his return from Bale, he found out that his share of land in the family holding was taken and given to a new land claimant. Temesgen is married and is a father of two children. His father could not assign him any land upon his marriage since Temesgen's share in the family holding has already been taken by the PA leadership before he returned to peasant association. The only thing his father could do was to buy him a pair of oxen. Temesgen is now farming a land which he has leased under "yegara" arrangement which requires him to surrender half of the produce to the lessor. He feels he is fortunate to have a supporting father unlike many other landless youth who earn a living through charcoal making and selling fuel wood, a trade which his father does not approve. Temesgen thinks land redistribution cannot solve the problem of the landless youth because he thinks that the present land holdings are very small for farmers currently farming them. A lasting solution to the problem of landlessness may be found through opening new employment opportunities as CPAR is trying to do, i.e., establishing off-farm activities. Temesgen is unhappy about land illegally held by previous leadership of his peasant association, and recommends for a slight adjustment of existing holdings at least to give a homestead plot for the landless persons.

Ato Hule Eneyew Ato Hule Eneyew is the head of a household. He is eighty years old and still farms his plot of land. He lives with his wife and two grand children. His holding measures 4 "gemed" allotted to him in 1972 E.C. the first time when kebele land was measured and distributed to resident farmers. His holding consists of homestead plot, farms and a small portion of land which he uses as pasture land for his oxen. He has never leased or rented in land. He tells that building stone bunds, terracing, and flood control structures are age old practices which Ato Hule still practices. As to why he does not plant trees along the boundaries or in his farms, he explains that too much tree in the farms will compete with his crops and might even affect proper growth. Ato Hule was a PA leader at the time land was distributed in his PA, and as far as he remembers land was fairly distributed among all households depending on the family size. He complains about the present land use tax which the government levies because the system does not take into account the fertility and size of land. He has two major concerns: how the present generation so lacking in land would ever survive, and what his PA can do to convince other peasant association to give his PA access to wet season grazing area. He talks in terms of selling livestock if no solution is found within coming months before the "Dereba" season commences. (his peasant association is incidentally barred to access wet season grazing in the adjoining peasant association).

Woizero Shewaye Eshete Woizero Shewaye Eshete is a widow with six children. At the time of land reform, she and her husband along with their children were given 3 "gemed" of land. After the death of her husband, 1 "gemed" of land was taken from her (share belonging to

Page: 39 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda the deceased husband); but she was relieved from payment of land use rent.(The case of Woizero Shewaye is a typical example of how elders remedy reduction in the family holdings on account of a husband's death). She does not have an oxen of her own; hence she leases her land. Except for ploughing she participates in all agricultural activities: harrowing, weeding, cutting of crops and transporting to the threshing ground etc. The custom of the area or the lease agreement does not require her to participate in agricultural activities once she rents out her land. She feels that she had to participate because she does not want to risk loss of crops in the event the "ikul arash" neglects to manage the land properly. According to Woizero Shewaye, she leases out land because of lack of draught animals; if she had draught animal she would make arrangement with another farmer without oxen to plough her and his land according to the local practice. She has not received any advance payment from the "ikul arash", arrangement widely practiced in her peasant association. She supplements her rent income by selling local beverages. Her main worry is how her "kebele" could manage to get "Dereba" grazing during the coming rainy season. She was asked why she had to worry about grazing area since she does not have any livestock, her answer was candid in that she will not have any person to even rent her land to, the only source of her livelihood. Ababu Gobeze Ababu Gobeze, aged 29, is landless. He leases land in the Bereha agro-ecological zone. According to Ababu lease of land in the "Bereha" zone is different from lease of land in other agro-ecological zones. There are distinct duties and responsibilities to be performed by both parties. In the case of Ababu as a lease holder, he ploughs the land, contributes equal share to seed requirement, and weeds the field. Guarding the crop from birds and wild animals is the duty of the person who leases the land. Harvesting and threshing of the crop is a joint responsibility of the contracting parties.( The responsibilities have to be shared equally because of health hazard for one party to stay in the Bereha zone for a considerable period of time). Ababu has built a house on a small plot of land which his father has given him. He has never engaged himself in the practice of fuel wood selling or charcoal making in his whole life. He strongly feels land should be redistributed immediately to accommodate landless persons like himself who are trying to eke out a living in a very hostile climate of the "Bereha" zone while others control large tact of land. According to Ababu there are considerable number of farmers who control land in the name of distant relatives. Such land should be redistributed among landless persons.

5.4 Investments and farmers' perceptions All the peasant associations lie in a highly degraded echo-system exposed to severe soil erosion, land slides and floods ferociously cascading from steep mountain escarpments into lower altitudes where farm lands are located. In addition the area is highly deforested over the last decades. CPAR's biggest project component is in

Page: 40 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda arresting this phenomenal environmental degradation through active involvement and participation of the communities.

5.4.1 Terracing Terracing is an indigenous practice which farmers have been practicing for generations. Farms are traversed by stone terraces at different intervals, and these terraces have to be reinforced every year before the rainy season and the work is performed by family labor. The introduction of food for work had negative effect in the thinking of farmers for there was a time when they started to feel reluctant to build terraces, their only survival strategy, unless they are compensated by grain. Local level development agents assigned to each and every peasant association in the project area are trying to decouple farmers from the dependency syndrome engendered as a result of food for work. As pointed out by the project personnel their effort is bearing fruit for the farmers are now mentally prepared to undertake soil conservation practices of their own free will.

5.4.2 Flood diversion structures Farmers dig canals around their farms to protect their crops from being washed by flood during the rainy season. This practice like the terracing is not a new innovation recently introduced, but an indigenous knowledge which has been there with the farmers for many generations. Farmers even divert flood carrying silts into their farms during the early days of the rainy season. Flood control structures that require the labor force of many households were rarely put in place, and what individual farmers used to do by way of flood control around their farms was not always effective against cascading flood. Flood control structures designed to protect many farms are now performed collectively following collective decision of community members with the local development agent only playing a facultative role. Community members participating in big flood control structures are compensated in grain for five man-days, while two man-days of the work is performed without any payment. CPAR hopes to reduce drastically the man-days for which farmers are compensated in grain.

5.4.3 Tree planting and protection of wood lands a) Tree planting Extensive discussions were held with peasant farmers in all the ten peasant associations how keenly they follow tree planting as an important component of environmental protection. Farmers admit that they are not keen tree planters, and they have reasons for not being so and they want these reasons to be evaluated. a) Their preference is sinus moll and eucalyptus tree. Nursery sites in all peasant associations run and financed by the Project provide seedlings of both tree species. According to the farmers, the problem with these tree seedlings is that they are not termite-resistant. Sinus moll tree seed is used as a spice, and a kilo of the seed fetches Birr 1.25- 1.50 in the local markets. In addition to other uses of the tree, farmers are eager to plant sinus moll as a cash crop. Irrespective of their demand for termite-resistant species, farmers do what ever is possible to grow some of he tree species.

Page: 41 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda b) The dry weather and extensive heat running from October to the end of May is severe for seedlings to survive. Farmers cite the extensive heat as a factor negatively impacting on their efforts. Farmers plant seedlings around their homesteads so that children and women can easily water the seedlings during the dry season. The severity of the weather for raising trees is well recognized by the Project personnel. The Project has introduced an incentive system which entails payment of grain for each of the seedlings that has survived after accurate count by the personnel of the Project and farmers. c) Agro-forestry is also pursued by the Project. There is a cultural practice of letting cattle astray to graze any where for a period of five months (January-June). Trees planted on farm boundaries and in the farms are trampled over and grazed by cattle. Farmers think that they have little influence on this customary practice negatively impacting on the development of agro-forestry in many parts of the country. Compensation ("afelama") for tree seedlings destroyed unlike in other places is not demanded. According to farmers such compensation will not be demanded because no household is immune from the practice of negligently letting his cattle into the crops or pasture belonging to another farmer. Goat rearing is a survival strategy of farmers of the locality; stall feeding of goats as a solution to increase the survival rate of seedlings sound as a very strange story to many farmers. d) From flowering up to the time of harvesting sorghum, young boys and girls are very busy chasing grain eating birds for which effective control has not yet been found. Many farmers do not want to plant trees in their farms because of a fear that such trees will be a nesting ground for grain eating birds. They also feel planting many trees in the farms will make farming very difficult; so clearing of woodlands according to how farmers perceive has close links with the two reasons mentioned above. b) Protection of existing forest land Willingness of farmers and efforts they exert to plant trees is very vivid. Reasons they give for not planting trees particularly those related to problems of termite and long dry spell running for months are equally shared by the local level development agents. Farmers have started to show concern to protect wooded lands from being encroached upon by unauthorized persons. In one of the peasant associations, Kola Jemo, farmers have developed their own rules that are binding on members of the peasant association for accessing what they call "protected forest" land. A member may cut trees only for house construction and for fencing. Non-members have no direct access to this "protected forest"; but under exceptional cases non-members whose houses have been burnt down and who require poles for house construction will be allowed to access the forest under strict control of kebele members. Kebele members caught felling trees for charcoal making will be fined Birr 50, and the charcoal will be confiscated. A kebele member found cutting trees to benefit a non-member will also be fined Birr 50.00. Every day seven farmers from the peasant association will act as forest guards. Another peasant association, Kola Gedera, has similar rules against unauthorized cutting of trees though its scheme is not as elaborate as Kola Mojo peasant association. What has been started by these peasant associations is indicative of farmers' concern to protect their natural

Page: 42 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda vegetation, and should be assisted by the Project in elaborating the scheme by making mandatory on tree users to plant at least a seedling for every tree they fell.

5.5 Conflict scenarios and procedures for resolving them There are localized conflicts / disputes involving members of the same peasant associations. These are minor disputes for which procedures for resolving them are in place. The second type of conflicts arise between bordering peasant associations for which official mechanisms for resolving them have ceased to operate. Less serious conflict is common and involves two members of a peasant association disputing over the boundaries of their respective holdings. An act of trespass usually starts such conflict. The executive committee of a peasant association has a first instance jurisdiction to see such disputes; but farmers prefer to submit their complaints to an intermediary forum which sees and decides on the matter. Five local elders known as "wada" elders elected from members of a peasant association will first mediate between the contending parties. "Wada" elders will call upon surviving members of a committee responsible for land distribution during the initial phases of implementation of land reform. A judgment will be awarded after considering evidences presented to the "wada" elders, and the boundaries will be adjusted accordingly. A farmer filing complaint for adjustment of his boundary has the option of taking his case to the judicial tribunal of a peasant association. Since the executive committee of a peasant association recognizes the jurisdiction of "wada" elders, the practice of advising disputing parties to go first to the community elders is well established. Farmers also prefer to be mediated by elders to avoid small litigation cost which PA tribunal charges. More serious conflicts are those involving two adjoining peasant associations over boundaries or reciprocal use of resources. The land reform law in the event of such disputes involving two peasant associations gives jurisdiction to the Woreda peasant association which is defunct. There is a long standing practice where one PA can access the resource of another peasant association particularly for wet season grazing locally known as "Dereba". As of recent some peasant associations have started to deny access to their resources by neighboring peasant associations. This intolerance for reciprocal resource use arrangements constitutes the cause for major conflicts among peasant associations. The dispute between Wole Menesire and Girmi Goba peasant associations is a typical example to demonstrate the rising concern among peasant associations to conserve their resources for the exclusive benefits of their members. According to the narrative of elders and farmers of Wole Mensesire peasant association, their PA is the smallest in size, about 17 "gashas" of land, and that they have been tolerated by Girmi Goba peasant association to take their livestock to the territory of the latter for wet season grazing. Early 1995 peasant farmers of Wole Menesire were notified by Girmi Goba peasant association not to cross into its boundary either for "yegara" farming or for grazing purposes. What has triggered this misunderstanding according to information gathered from peasant farmers of Wale Menesire was a claim they have submitted with the Woreda administration for a fresh boundary demarcation between pas so that the size of their PA would approximate 20 "gashas" like the rest of the peasant association.

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Peasant farmers of Girmi Goba have their story to tell. They admit that farmers from Wale Menesire had access to their resources, both for grazing and farming. Farmers give two reasons for terminating the relationship: first, farmers from Wale Menesire should not be tolerated any more because they have put their share of grazing area under intensive cultivation, and second that they have broken their mutual understanding which prescribes against felling of trees for fuel wood and charcoal making. According to farmers of Girmi Goba even incense trees were felled for making planks and frames for doors. Church and community elders had to interfere to reach a negotiated settlement. The Woreda administration could not intervene for an apparent lack of jurisdiction over disputes involving land claims. Church and community elders were only able to secure permission for farmers of Wale Menesire peasant association to continue with "yegara" farming in Girmi Goba peasant association. The "right" of Wale Menesire peasant association for wet season grazing could not be re-negotiated. Starting this season peasants of Wale Menesire peasant association will face a problem to access grazing area, and some farmers have started to talk in terms of decreasing their cattle. As illustrated in the case of Dugda Dera peasant association, the practice of former land owners in evicting landless farmers from the "Bereha" zone on the pretext that the land belonged to their ancestors and a claim to which community elders acquiesce may generate into major conflict scenario unless rectified by the Woreda administration. It might be such illegal practice that has triggered the demand of a fresh land-redistribution in this peasant association, a demand almost absent in the other nine peasant associations of the Project area. Inter-PA conflicts over resources are engendered because of unequal resource endowments and uncertainty of what the government might do by way of a new land redistribution programme. What has been witnessed in the ten peasant associations CPAR is a revival for protecting the natural resource endowments, a concern so lacking in other peasant associations.

5.6 Perceptions of Project officials and extension workers The Project officials feel that the population of the ten peasant associations are caught in a hostile environment, and that the population cannot do much to reverse acute environmental degradation by themselves without external assistance. CPAR intervention was preceded by food for work, and the Project had to go through a transition period to pull out the communities from the dependency syndrome before talking to farmers on developmental issues. Among priority interventions which the Project implemented was its rural road network to link the ten peasant associations to the main road Addis-Bahr Dar. As many springs as possible have been developed and capped by the Project. These initial interventions are engendering a spirit of hope in the minds of many farmers who look upon the Project for more development initiatives. The Project strictly follow participatory methodology where farmers assess their problems and constraints, and according to the project personnel farmers have started to identify areas of activities where the Project needs to focus to ameliorate multiple problems which they encounter. The Project has so far established forums where farmers dialogue on their perceptions. Each and every peasant association

Page: 44 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda has village development committee (VDC) consisting of male and female farmers. Members of the village development committees are elected by the respective peasant associations. Under the development committees, other committees such as credit committee, women's committee, land use committee, health committee attend to specific functions. These committees have close working relationship with the local level development agents (extension agents) who are assigned to each of the ten peasant associations. Project personnel as well as the local level development agents perceive landlessness as a serious problem in all the ten peasant associations. A study commissioned by CPAR put landless persons to be 36% of the total households. They do not see fresh land redistribution as a solution to the problem of landlessness. This is why the Project is preparing to launch a second phase of diversification and intensification. In addition the Project has commissioned studies to investigate the extent to which incense and gypsum can be exploited on a commercial basis to open employment opportunities for landless youth. Many Project personnel agree that there is no dramatic changes in terms of physical achievements in relation to proper resource management. The consensus among Project personnel and particularly among local level development agents is that farmers are mentally prepared and invariably follow advises to manage their resources, plant trees, build check dams and flood diversion structures within the limits of their capabilities. Development agents do not contest reasons which farmers present for tree planting on massive scale. Some Project personnel feel that the government should adopt a tenure policy which would motivate farmers to undertake different investments on land. Farmers should have security of tenure, and the surest way of providing security of tenure is through a recognition of free-hold title. Private ownership of land apart from being a sine quo non for sustainable can facilitate transfer of land to enterprising farmers requiring more land to expand their farming activities. This is an old argument that has contributed to the polarization of the Transitional politics and on the Constitution is very clear. The change of a user right to free-hold title requires amendment of the Constitution. The possibility for this is very remote. Discussions made with farmers, both male and female, at different levels do not suggest what some experts of the Project present as prescription for sustainable resource management. During such discussions, community elders were called upon to depict a historical profile of their natural endowments and how these resources have been dwindling over the years. Farmers in retrospect assume responsibility for the vast destruction of their resources which they attribute to lack of awareness and proper orientation they have had in the past. They appreciate what the Project provides by way of awareness creation towards proper resource management. Farmers were asked whether they ever worry that some one unrelated to them would benefit from investments they make over the land in the event fresh land redistribution takes place. This was not their immediate worry. They reason out that any future land redistribution programme will not affect their holdings because of large size of their households; and even if they were to be affected they will only be told to accommodate adult members of their households whom they in fact are currently supporting by giving them a share from family holdings.

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5.7 Role and mandate of local administration and institutions The Woreda administration is at the third and last tier of the administrative structure of the Oromia Council. The Woreda administration has a stake on how land within its boundaries is administered, though no one is clear what land administration constitutes. At present the Woreda administration has little influence on the activities of the Project. The local administration apart from maintaining law and order through a large contingent of armed men elected from the community members, lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate disputes arising between peasant associations. The Woreda court likewise does not have jurisdiction over land matters. It is the "wada" elders and PA judicial tribunals which give what ever legal remedy that is available. The peasant associations which had extensive powers and responsibilities on land matters under the land reform law are loosing their influence. Derg policy of March 1990 which has conferred inheritable life-long lease to peasant farmers has undermined the role of peasant associations regarding land allocation and administration. The replacement of the peasant associations by "peace" committees was the last blow to farmers' institution which had played critical role to implement the land reform law. The evictions of farmers from land over which they have established an occupancy right by former land owners is a clear loophole in the policy directive which marginalizes the role of peasant associations before providing for a stop-gap institutional arrangement. The institutionalization of "wada" elders to adjudicate disputes arising between members of the same peasant association will facilitate resolution of such disputes without requiring the parties to go through lengthy and costly court litigation. The role of "wada" elders in settling disputes must be encouraged; but they should be oriented to decide within the limits of the law.

5.8 Institutional strengthening and the role of donors in land tenure development. During the initial years of the land reform programme PA boundaries were marked in such a way that each PA will have a jurisdictional area of 20 "gashas" or 800 hectares. With a slight plus or minus, pas were established over the same area. Actual measurement of PA area has not taken place, and their boundaries were natural physical features such as rivers and mountains. Of recent some peasant associations have started to say that they were cheated and now demand boundary adjustments. The demand is not a popular demand as the dispute between Wale Manasire and Dugda Dera peasant associations has indicated. Within each peasant associations land was first allocated on mere estimates which was followed by actual land measurement between 1972 and 1974 E.C. Each peasant associations had committee of elected elders for measuring and distributing land among the PA members and other beneficiaries of the land reform programme. They had no sophisticated instruments except their rope ("gemed") measuring 50 meters, and boundary alignments were done on common sense. Stone piles, trees, elevated grounds etc. were utilized as boundary marks between individual farm plots and pasture land. The custom requires that these boundaries remain in tact; and in the event the boundaries are removed, farmers have no maps to refer to, but will call

Page: 46 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda upon elders to give their testimony on the true picture pertaining when the land was measured, demarcated, and distributed among farmers. Farmers in nine out of the ten peasant associations surveyed have shown very little interest in the wisdom of land measurement and redistribution. Even persons labeled as landless are not pushing for a fresh land redistribution because they see no permanent solution in it. Peasant farmers in Dugda Dera peasant association who mistook the study team for government officials responsible for land redistribution were suggesting for an immediate establishment of committee of honest elders to execute land redistribution. In the eyes of farmers it is the government that can do and undo things, and not external donors.

Page: 47 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda

6. Recommendations at Federal and State Levels (including lower levels organs)

6.1 Ownership of rural land. Ownership of rural and urban lands is vested in the State and the Peoples of Ethiopia. Land as a common property of nations, nationalities and peoples of Ethiopia cannot be sold or subjected to other means of transfer. Control of the State over land is allowable only if it does not prejudice the right of nations, nationalities, and peoples of Ethiopia to own land. The land reform law of 1975 which decreed rural land to be under the collective ownership of the Ethiopian people has gone one step further in creating peasant associations over a jurisdictional area of 800 hectares as a geographical unit where this "collective ownership" is to be exercised and manifested by peasant farmers residing in this geographical unit. The land reform experience over the last 20 years attest to this fact of peasants defending the boundaries of their peasant associations as independent unit of ownership within a broader concept of collective ownership. It will be premature to state definitely that the Constitution will rest contented without providing a spatial framework for exercising common ownership of land by "nations, nationalities, and peoples". Be this as it may, there is a need for designating a definite geographical unit for exercising the communal right over land. This could be the existing area of peasant associations or an enlarged geographical unit which will take population dynamism, proper resource management etc. into account. Designating smaller units as points of reference for manifestation of the type of land ownership will not affect the integrity of the Constitution.

6.2 User right The Constitution recognizes a user right. Again the Constitution does not give any clue as to the attributes of this user right and different transactions that might arise from it. The Constitution clearly stipulates that the shape which the user right takes will be determined by a subsequent legislation. The following issues are relevant to the exercise of a user right. a) Rules of inheritance: employment opportunities outside agriculture is very limited. We cannot possibly expect that other economic sectors will grow to the extent of providing employment opportunities to release the pressure on land. For many years to come holdings will pass from generation to generation. As the law (Constitution) stands now, whether the user right is inheritable or not is not clear. If the user right is inheritable, the following questions have to be considered: i) One heir or all heirs: different scenarios and their consequences can be considered. One heir scenario is tenable from the point of view of avoiding subdivision of the land among several heirs. Which of the children should substitute the deceased farmer is a further question to be considered. The eldest or the youngest? One heir scenario leaves out other children earning a livelihood from the same land. Would this be tenable from the point of view of equity and fairness? Several heirs scenario is equitable and fair; but how about subdivision of land beyond economic unit and its inappropriateness for proper resource management?

Page: 48 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda ii) Group inheritance: under similar condition the land reform law recognizes "group inheritance" by the surviving wife and children who have not attained majority. In a similar way if the user right recognized by the new Constitution is envisaged to be inheritable, "group inheritance" should be allowed for the benefits of children who have not attained majority and for the wife who has an equal share to a family land under the present Constitution. This arrangement will avoid sub-division of land among several heirs, and group farming should be encouraged. Group inheritance will have a limited scope, and its effectiveness is short-lived. "One heir” scenario cannot be avoided as a solution against sub-division of land. b) The right to lease land: the Constitution is silent whether this right is allowable or not. Proclamation 3/1995 issued by Oromia State Council recognizes this right with certain limitations. This law limits a farmer to lease part of his land for a period of three years. The prevailing opinion is that farmers cannot lease to an investor, but only to other farmers residing in the same peasant association or coming from another peasant association. Lease of land, as experience of Wara Jarso indicates is the only possible way of accessing land by landless young men who cannot access land through official channel. Another important function of lease is to female-headed households and elderly people who cannot personally cultivate land for lack of draught animals, and because of old age. Limitation of the lease period as Proclamation 3/1995 is trying to do is to avoid alienation of the lessor from his land for a longer period. But limitation of the lease period will disadvantage female-headed households and elderly people who resort to the practice as the only possible way of earning a living. Even if limitation is to be imposed on the lease of land, it should be based on local conditions that pertain. Lease of land among peasant farmers must be allowed without any limitations on either the size of land to be leased or the duration of the lease.

6.3 Security of tenure. The land reform law of 1975 recognized a user right for peasant farmers. The reform while being thoroughly welcomed for its far reaching redistributive justice has been severely criticized for being inimical for resource management both at the farm and national level. Sustainable crop production which requires maintaining soil fertility at an optimum level through planned fallow cycles, indigenous or modern soil loss measures, tree planting etc. will be abandoned if farmers are not certain that they will have maximum benefits from investments they make on their holdings over a considerable period of time. In the Ethiopian scene arguments for tenure reform is closely related with sustainable resource management. Threats to security of the user right were identified as being constant allocation of land to new claimants which led to reduction in size of existing holdings, preferential treatment given to producers' cooperative to attach any land held by an individual farmer for its expansion, and eviction of farmers by state farms. The thrust of the reform did not lean towards changing a "user right" to free-hold title, but rather on removing what have been identified as threats to the security of tenure. The semi- permanent nature of land allocation to new land claimants by peasant association terminated with conferring of a life-long lease on farmers. Preferential treatment extended to producers' cooperative was lifted, and expansion of the state farms was reoriented to take into account the right of farmers.

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For almost six years, farmers are enjoying a relative security of tenure apart from the fear they have about how the new government is going to deal with the land question. The new Constitution has not gone far in recognizing free-hold title; instead it endorsed once again a user right similar to what the land reform law has set out to achieve in 1975. The Constitution is silent whether farmers are going to have transferable and inheritable life-long lease, or a user right for a definite period of time. These are details which the Constitution did not want to be concerned with. It is expected that details on the user right will be provided by a subsequent legislation. Whether the subsequent legislation will be issued soon or after the intended land redistribution takes place is not clear. Postponement of the issue will only exacerbate the apprehension of farmers. A user right per se is not defective in giving security of tenure for proper resource management provided it is not ambiguous and all the parameters are clearly defined. The present life-long lease did not require details for administrative intervention either by farmers' organizations or formal government structures. During the Derg period particularly until the policy declaration of March 1990 conferring transferable and inheritable life-long lease on peasant farmers, sources of insecurity that have been identified by many studies were softened in the ten peasant associations of Wara Jarso Woreda. Allotment of land which was based on family size was not seriously affected because farmers tried to maintain household size at a level that would not expose them to surrender a portion of land to new land claimants. The menace caused by producers' cooperatives was totally absent because such institutions hardly existed in the ten peasant associations. If investment level by farmers in the ten peasant associations is not at the optimal level, the ten peasant associations of Wara Jarso Woreda will qualify for a study to identify and substantiate other factors for not investing in the land. Farmers in the ten peasant associations of Wara Jarso Woreda undertake different investments towards sustainable resource management. Some of these investments are indigenous while some others are new recommendations by CPAR. Factors that constrain farmers against investing on their holdings have been assessed. The constraints are: · recommended investments are not technically viable. In all the ten peasant associations farmers complain that the tree species that are recommended are not termite-resistant; · the dry long spell characteristic of the ten peasant associations make tree planting efforts a futile exercise; · customary practice of letting cattle astray to browse any where for a period of 5 months makes fodder tree planting in farms and over farm boundaries a non- rewarding venture; · run-off and erosion controls through indigenous practices have proved ineffective because of steep slopes and ferociously cascading floods during the rainy season.

Despite these constraints farmers in all the ten peasant associations are keenly following recommended practices on individual farms and they follow other major flood control measures recommended for group action. Peasant associations are keenly guarding their natural resources against encroachments by members of other

Page: 50 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda peasant associations. Two of the peasant associations have drawn their own management plan to control unauthorized tree felling either by their own members or other farmers coming from bordering peasant associations. In none of the ten peasant associations have farmers complained or attributed failure, if any, to adopt indigenous or modern resource management techniques to tenure constraints. From a limited assessment of the ten peasant associations, a user right similar to what farmers say they have is adequate enough to stimulate farmers to undertake sustainable resource management. The user right which the Constitution recognizes should be a life-long lease in line with the current practice. In the ten peasant associations farmers tend to rely on receipts of land use tax as evidence of their occupancy right in a some what similar way previous land owners used to rely on tax receipts as conclusive evidence of their ownership. Once the user right is decided upon, life-long lease or other variation, it appears necessary to issue farmers appropriate document evidencing their lease right over their land.

6.4 Competencies of the Federal Government and State Councils Under Article 51(5) of the Constitution, the Federal Government has an exclusive right to legislate on land use and protection of natural resources. The right to administer land and other natural resources in accordance with federal laws is left to the State Councils. This division of task between the Federal Government and State Councils envisages a uniform land policy which will then be implemented by the State Councils and lower level State organs. There are already signs that this neatly delineated areas of competencies between the Federal government and State Councils will eventually get blurred through practices. The State Councils seems to say "hands-off" to federal ministries on certain matters specifically given to these institutions, perhaps a carry over from the practices of the Transitional period. The confusion as regards respective mandates of the Federal Government and State Councils over land and other natural resources may arise because no where in the Constitution are elements of land use and land administration clearly elaborated and amplified. Even if the broad parameters of land use and land administration as concepts of resource management are elaborated, should State Councils and their local level organs denied concurrent jurisdiction to legislate over land use practices? National land use policy however detailed it might be has to be supplemented by a further exercise to undertake local level land use planning. In this limited scope, State Councils should be authorized to engage in local level land use planning within the broader framework of the national land / land use policy. The Land Use Regulation Department in the old Ministry of Agriculture had been grappling with participatory land use planning in some parts of the country with active involvement of farmers. Such experiences will definitely contribute towards a comprehensive national land use policy. Projects funded by donors and NGOs should be encouraged to reorient their efforts to undertake local level land use planning without having them to wait for a national policy which will take considerable period of time to evolve. NGOs like CPAR with the necessary expertise and orientation for land use planning should be encouraged to do so.

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7. Recommendations at the Project Level

7.1 Constraints to investments As already elaborated above, at least in the ten peasant associations of Wara Jarso Woreda, investments over land for sustainable resource management have more links with other constraints than insecurity of tenure. Removal of the constraints as elaborated by peasant farmers themselves will enhance investments in land to an optimum level desired by the Project. The Project management unit should keep constant dialogue with farmers to identify and substantiate some more constraints, if any, preventing farmers from investing on their holdings, and to seek solution along with the farmers themselves.

7.2 Common property management The Ethiopian experience is replete with examples where mechanisms for common property management proved disastrous leading to destruction of community forests. In the majority of the cases many of the community wood lot was a top-down intervention where communities concerned hardly understood how they were to benefit from the intervention. Some peasant associations in Wara Jarso Woreda, have started to show great concern for common property management. They have developed their own rules governing how members of their peasant associations and other users can access their forest resources. In relation to this initiative by local farmers, the Project can have two roles: i) to assist these pioneering peasant associations to refine their management plan of their forest resources, and play a catalytic role so other peasant associations adopt similar common property management scheme; ii) to play an advocacy role so that local level officials (in this case Zonal and Woreda officials) to endorse rules initiated and developed by the communities for common property management as having the force of law binding community members and other farmers who might be granted access to such resources. (One model developed by Kola Mojo peasant association prescribes penalties to be imposed on violators; prescriptions of penalties might not have much effect unless embraced by local level officials). Some peasant associations are sub-divided into zones / villages. In some of the peasant associations units of land have been earmarked by farmers themselves as a dry season pasture area to be grazed only by livestock belonging to the particular zone / village. This is a start for local level land use planning, and the Project and farmers concerned can develop rules for accessing such pockets of grazing area by types of livestock etc.

8. Some Issues for Policy Dialogue

Policy dialogue is an ongoing process, and in fact the dialogue has been pursued at different levels. Nationals and donors have had their contribution to enhance the policy dialogue. The policy dialogue took a sharp turn during the Transitional period in the participation of regional forces which in the past never had the opportunity to

Page: 52 Z. Asfaw & G. Tolossa: Land Tenure Structure and Development in Ethiopia: A Case Study of 10 Peasant Associations in Wara Jarso Woreda present perspectives of the people they claim they represent. In fact policy dialogue during the Transitional period led to the polarization of the Transitional politics. Characteristics of the policy dialogue was a total lack a mutual learning process by all the stockholder; instead the policy dialogue was fraught with narratives of different stockholder which are incompatible with each other. Sometimes land and tenure issues were presented as essential components of the national question in which case the land question is presented as non-negotiable. The policy dialogue crystallized in two draft provisions on property rights, minority and majority view. The minority view maintained private ownership over rural and urban land should be given constitutional recognition while the majority view maintains that ownership of rural and urban land should vest in the State and the peoples of Ethiopia. The Constituent Assembly which was convoked to adopt the new Constitution endorsed the majority view. For several years to come ownership of rural and urban land is vested in the State and the peoples of Ethiopia what ever it means. Policy dialogue on aspects of land ownership is not in vogue.

The Policy dialogue may have to focus on the following and related issues. 1) advantages and disadvantages of a fresh land redistribution as an employment generating opportunity for millions of landless persons in rural areas; other aspects such as fragmentation and sub-divisions of holdings can be considered; 2) further steps to make the user right recognized by the Constitution more secured to motivate farmers for sustainable resource management; 3) the usefulness of cadastral survey and all attendant activities against heavy costs that cadastral survey entails; and 4) the desirability of having a uniform system of tenure.

In addition to these issues directly related with tenure structure, other non tenure factors that constrain sustainable resource management have to be identified and thoroughly substantiated. Change in behavior brought about by nation-wide programme of food for work for instance has to be evaluated as a factor affecting decisions for resource management. Previous policy dialogue which mainly focused on tenure issues has diverted attention to identify and substantiate other non tenure factors militating against sustainable resource management. Hopefully the limited experience in the ten peasant associations of Wara Jarso Woreda might attract interests to study some of these factors eclipsed by tenure considerations.

9. The Role of Donors

As has always been the case donors were / are at the center of policy dialogue. Their contribution in the policy dialogue is uniquely seen in the comparative experiences they bring to the national debates. The almost definitive position taken by the Constitution on property rights will limit their participation in the policy dialogue to more technical matters identified above. State governments have the constitutional mandate to administer land and natural resource within their respective territories. This is a new function particularly for the

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Woreda Councils who during past years were only involved in administrative routines. These lower level structures lack capacity both in terms of trained manpower and capital equipment to undertake their new mandates. Donors will have a considerable role in building the capacity of these local level institutions. The role of donors as capacity builders is all pervasive. Federal and State institutions should also be assisted to build their technical competence. The Ministry of Agriculture sooner or later will embark on an important task of formulating a national land policy. The role of donors in providing technical assistance and expert knowledge towards the formulation of national policy cannot be overemphasized.

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