Resettlement and Sustainable Livelihoods in Ethiopia: a Comparative Analysis of Amhara And
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RESETTLEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS IN ETHIOPIA: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF AMHARA AND SOUTHERN REGIONS BY KASSA TESHAGER ALEMU Submitted in accordance with the requirements For the degree of DOCTOR OF LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY In the subject DEVELOPMENT STUDIES At the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: DR SEVENIA VICTOR PETER MADZIAKAPITA February 2015 i DECLARATION I, KASSA TESHAGER ALEMU, do hereby declare that this doctoral thesis titled “RESETTLEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS IN ETHIOPIA: A Comparative Analysis of Amhara and Southern Regions” is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. In addition, I also declare that this work has not been submitted elsewhere for a similar or any other educational or non-educational award. Candidate: Kassa Teshager Alemu Signature: __________________ Date: __________________ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I express my gratitude to the University of South Africa (UNISA), Department of Development Studies, for giving me the chance to do my PhD in Development Studies. I appreciate the UNISA- Ethiopia Branch staff members and UNISA-SANTRUST PhD proposal development programme coordinators and trainers for the hard work and support they provided in this study. I sincerely thank the School of Graduate Studies, Ethiopian Civil Service University, for the funding and study leave provided. I thank the Institute of Public Management and Development Studies (IPMDS), Department of Development Management, for providing multi-dimensional support and giving me a pleasant working environment. I am also grateful to the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI) in Sweden for providing me the African Guest Researchers Scholarship of 2014. This has supported me in doing the analysis of the data with guidance and material support of the institute library and staff members. I express my sincere thanks and deep appreciation to Dr. Victor Sevenia Madziakapita, my supervisor, for his invaluable and supportive supervision throughout this study. I highly appreciate his supervision style and insightful comments, unreserved guidance and encouragement. Without his dedication and support, this study would not have been successfully completed. I very much appreciate the support of the library staff members of UNISA main campus, Pretoria; UNISA-Ethiopia branch, Ethiopian Civil Service University, Forum for Social Studies, Ethiopian Economics Association, Addis Ababa University and Economic Commission for Africa. Their unreserved support in searching and providing me the relevant books and articles for this study is unforgettable. I thank the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Amhara and Soutern, Nations, Nationalities and People’s Region /SNNP/ (in this paper “Southern Region”), Agriculture and the Rural Development bureaus, Amhara and Southern Region Food Security Coordination Bureaus, the Kaffa Zone and North Gondar zone Food Security Coordination Offices, Metema and Decha districts sector offices (Agriculture, health, education, water, land and environmental protection). iii All these ministries, bureaus and offices and their heads, experts and staff members deserve my sincerest gratitude. I very much appreciate the contribution of my informants, respondents and enumerators, local and regional officials. Enumerators at Metema (Kassa Asegie, Mohamed Nuru, Mulugeta Eshetu, Amanuel Chekol, and Kibrekidusan Banitie) and enumerators in Decha (Belay Ademe, Tewodros Gezahegn, Firehiwot Teka, Sindu Ademe and Anteneh Teshager), I shall never forget their unreserved support during my data collection. Enumerators at Decha, they gave me their life during data collection. We were about to lose our life due to a car accident when we were travelling from Bulkabul to Decha. Thanks to the Almighty God, we were saved and no one had been seriously injured. However, the event has put you in my mind and I shall never forget it in my life. Thanks to Anteneh and Getnet for their special support in data collection and data entry. It was their strength and remarkable cooperation that constantly gave me power and motivation. My special thanks and appreciation also go to the resettlers and host community representatives, village leaders, teachers, development agents and others, who welcomed us during data collection into their homes, as well as provided us with food, coffee and accommodation. Their support was wonderful in both districts. I thank my friends, Shawel Asfaw, Zigiju Samuel, Tesfaye Chofana, Terefe Zeleke, Deribe Asefa, Tegegn Gebiyaw, Desalegn Shamebo, Hibret Nigusie, Shumet Abejie, Nahu Asteraye, Bersisa Kacho, Taye Alemu, Raju Krishna, and others. Thank you for always asking about my progress and injecting motivation (and sometimes pressure) to finalise my work. Our academic discussions and informal talks during tea breaks have given me power and strength to concentrate on my PhD studies. I am intensely grateful to my wife, Yichalu Zelalem, and my children, Tewodros and Solomon. Their passion to see me through has been my constant and invaluable source of motivation. This work would have been impossible without the persistent love and support of my wife and children. iv Praise and Glory to the Almighty God for his indescribable mercy, immeasurable grace and unchangeable love! v ABSTRACT Resettlement as a development discourse has become a worldwide phenomenon. This phenomenon is mainly caused by population pressure, war or prolonged hostilities between countries or groups within the country, irreversible environmental degradation and development projects. While there are diverse causes of resettlement situations, this study focused on state sponsored resettlement programmes caused by socio-economic, political and environmental problems in Amhara and the southern regions of Ethiopia. The main objective of this empirical study was to analyse the effects of planned government intra-regional resettlement programme on the sustainable livelihoods of resettled households in Ethiopia. The central research question was: Does a planned intra-regional resettlement programme provide sustainable livelihoods for settler households in the two selected regions of Ethiopia? If it does, what chain of factors explains the livelihood security and sustainability? If it does not, what are the interacting variables and how have they generated a process of livelihood insecurity? To this end, the combination of Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF) and Impoverishment Risks and Reconstruction (IRR) models were used as the pillars of the theoretical and conceptual framework of the study. Mixed method design that combines both quantitative and qualitative data from primary and secondary sources were used in this study. Primary data were collected through a household survey, key informants interview, focus group discussion and field observation. A total of 250 households were surveyed and a total of 28 interviewees were contacted from the two regions. A total of 6 focus group discussions were also conducted with purposively selected participants. This study concludes that the effects of planned resettlement on the sustainable livelihoods of resettlers were mixed and challenged the generic representation of the scheme as a success or a failure. The adverse effects were mainly due to policy gaps, the mismatch between policy and practice, poor inter-sectoral and inter-regional integration and inadequate capacity building efforts. Recommendations were provided in line with these gaps. In addition, the knowledge documented through the application of SLF and IRR in mixed method design contributed to the methodological and theoretical advancement of resettlement and livelihood studies. Key words: Amhara, assets, Decha, Ethiopia, IRR, Livelihood, Metema, outcome, resettlement, resettlers, risks, SLF, Southern, state, strategies. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ................................................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ................................................................................................................. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................. vii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................ xii LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................... xiv ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................... xv CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND ....................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Background and Rationale ................................................................................................. 1 1.3 Problem Statement .............................................................................................................. 4 1.4 Research Questions ............................................................................................................. 7 1.5 Research Objectives ............................................................................................................ 7 1.6 Scope of the Study ..............................................................................................................