THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE LAND- LIVELIHOODS NEXUS IN AN ERA OF ECOLOGICAL CHANGE AND THE GLOBAL LAND RUSH Access to land, land conflict and large-scale land acquisitions in Ethiopia Tsegaye Moreda Shegro This dissertation is part of the Research Programme of CERES, Research School for Resource Studies for Development. Funded by the Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP). © Tsegaye Moreda Shegro 2016 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author. Printed in The Netherlands. Ipskamp Drukkers B.V. Josinkmaatweg 43 7545 PS Enschede Tel.: 0031-(0)53 482 62 62 Fax: 0031-(0)53 482 62 70 http:// www.ipskampdrukkers.nl/ THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE LAND–LIVELIHOODS NEXUS IN AN ERA OF ECOLOGICAL CHANGE AND THE GLOBAL LAND RUSH Access to land, land conflict and large-scale land acquisitions in Ethiopia DE POLITIEKE ECONOMIE VAN HET DWARSVERBAND TUSSEN GROND EN LEVENSONDERHOUD IN EEN TIJDPERK VAN ECOLOGISCHE VERANDERING EN EEN WERELDWIJDE RUN OP GROND Toegang tot grond, grondconflict en grootschalige aankoop van grond in Ethiopië Thesis to obtain the degree of Doctor from the Erasmus University Rotterdam by command of the Rector Magnificus Professor dr H.A.P Pols and in accordance with the decision of the Doctorate Board The public defence shall be held on Friday 18 November 2016 at 16.00 hrs by Tsegaye Moreda Shegro born in Dibati, Ethiopia Doctoral Committee Doctoral dissertation supervisors: Prof. M.N. Spoor Prof. S.M. Borras Jr. Other Members: Dr. M. Arsel Dr. R.B. Hall Dr. O. Visser To my mother Alemie Belachew Contents List of Tables, Figures and Maps x Acronyms xii Acknowledgements xiv Abstract xix Samenvatting xxii 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 The problematique 6 1.3 Theoretical framework on land-livelihoods nexus 17 1.4 Outline of the Thesis 40 Notes 42 2 METHODOLOGY AND DATA COLLECTION 44 2.1 Introduction 44 2.2 The Amhara region study areas 44 2.2.1 Research methods: a mixed approach 50 2.3 The Benishangul-Gumuz region study area and methods 63 2.4 Data analysis 66 Notes 67 3 RURAL VULNERABILITY, LAND AND LIVELIHOODS NEXUS IN THE CONTEMPORARY ERA OF ECOLOGICAL CHANGE AND GLOBAL LAND RUSH 69 3.1 Introduction 69 3.2 Poverty and vulnerability in rural sub-Saharan Africa 70 vi Contents vii 3.2.1 Smallholder agriculture and poverty reduction 73 3.2.2 Land-rural livelihoods nexus in sub-Saharan Africa 79 3.3 Rural livelihoods and vulnerability: The Ethiopian context 93 3.3.1 Introduction 93 3.3.2 Livelihood diversification 108 3.3.3 Land-migration nexus and its generational dimension 113 3.4 Conclusions 117 Notes 119 4 DYNAMICS OF ACCESS TO LAND AND LIVELIHOODS IN SOUTH GONDAR ZONE 123 4.1 Introduction 123 4.2 Patterns of landholdings and distribution 126 4.3 Means of access to land 132 4.3.1 Access through administrative-based land redistribution 133 4.3.2 Access through inheritance 136 4.3.3 Sharing with family/relatives 138 4.3.4 Land allocations by local authorities 140 4.3.5 Land rental and sharecropping 141 4.4 Land access and livelihood activities 150 4.4.1 Seasonal migration: The livelihood of the rural youth? 152 4.5 Conclusion 167 Notes 169 5 UNDERSTANDING THE DYNAMICS OF LOCAL CONFLICT OVER LAND IN SOUTH GONDAR ZONE 170 5.1 Introduction 170 5.2 The pattern of land conflict 172 5.3 Perception of land tenure security and land rights’ awareness 175 5.4 The nature of land disputes 182 5.4.1 Conflict within the household 183 5.4.2 Conflict between households over land rights and boundaries 190 5.4.3 Battle over communal lands: highly contested terrain? 196 5.5 Local governance and land conflict 202 5.6 Systems of land conflict resolution 209 viii THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF THE LAND-LIVELIHOODS NEXUS IN RURAL ETHIOPIA 5.7 Conclusion 214 Notes 214 6 LOCAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE DYNAMICS OF LAND DEGRADATION IN SOUTH GONDAR ZONE 215 6.1 Introduction 215 6.2 Local people’s perception of land degradation 217 6.2.1 Perceptions of soil erosion and fertility change 222 6.2.2 Farmers’ perspectives on the dynamics of soil fertility change 228 6.3 Local soil fertility management practices 231 6.4 Conclusions 236 Notes 237 7 THE POLITICS AND IMPLICATION OF LARGE-SCALE LAND ACQUISITIONS FOR INDIGENOUS LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN THE BENISHANGUL-GUMUZ REGIONAL STATE 238 7.1 Introduction 238 7.2 Land investment in the Benishangul-Gumuz region: trends and contradictions 239 7.3 The implications of land acquisitions for local livelihoods and the environment 250 7.3.1 Land dispossessions and declining access to land resources 251 7.4 Conclusions 260 Notes 262 8 THE POLITICAL REACTIONS OF AFFECTED COMMUNITIES TO LARGE- SCALE LAND ACQUISITIONS IN THE BENISHANGUL-GUMUZ REGIONAL STATE 264 8.1 Introduction 264 8.2 Local reactions 267 8.2.1 Reaction against investors 267 8.2.2 Reactions against seasonal immigrant labourers 271 8.2.3 Reaction against the state 274 8.3 Conclusions 280 Contents ix Notes 282 9 CONCLUSIONS 285 9.1 Introduction 285 9.2 The dynamics of access to land, land conflicts and land degradation 286 9.3 The political economy of large-scale land acquisitions in Ethiopia 294 Notes 300 List of Tables, Figures and Maps Tables 2.1 Oxen ownership in the study areas 50 2.2 Structure of the survey samples in each of the study sites 58 2.3 Sample households’ socioeconomic characteristics 59 3.1 Land distribution among smallholders in some selected sub- Saharan African countries 81 4.1 Distribution of landholdings among households, Tach Gayint woreda. 127 4.2 Distribution of landholdings among households, Fogera woreda 128 4.3 Age of household heads and land owned, Tach Gayint woreda 129 4.4 Household head age groups and their landholding size, Fogera woreda 129 4.5 Fragmentation of holdings and distance to farthest plots 130 4.6 Modes of acquisition of land: Tach Gayint and Fogera woreda 133 4.7 Statistics of land transfer cases through inheritance at woreda court, Tach Gayint 137 4.8 Incidence of sharecropping out/rental arrangements 142 4.9 Household participation in leasing in land 144 4.10 Composition of household livelihood activities (percent) 151 4.11 Seasonal labour migration in the study areas 153 4.12 Seasonal labour migration destinations 160 5.1 Incidence of land conflicts 173 5.2 Household perception of land tenure security 176 5.3 Major categories of land-related court cases at the Fogera woreda court 183 x List of Tables, Figures and Maps xi 5.4 The types of boundary markers used by farmers 191 6.1 Main challenges to household livelihoods 218 6.2 Household land investment practices 219 6.3 Causes of livelihood insecurity in the study areas 222 6.4 Households’ perception of changes in environmental conditions in the last 10 years in the Tach Gayint woreda 224 6.5 Perception of the indicators of soil erosion 224 6.6 Household perception of soil erosion 225 6.7 Farmers’ perception of soil fertility change 231 7.1 Number of land investment projects granted land by the regional government 241 7.2 Partial list of land transfers in the Benishangul-Gumuz regional state by the federal government 242 Figures 2.1 Number of PSNP beneficiaries in the Tach Gayint woreda 47 2.2 Trends in rice production in the Fogera woreda, 1993 – 2011 49 Maps 2.1 Map of the south Gondar administrative zone (showing the location of study woredas/districts) 46 2.2 Map of the Benishangul-Gumuz regional state, Ethiopia (showing the locations of the studied woredas). 64 Acronyms ADLI Agricultural Development Led Industrialization AfDB African Development Bank AILAA Agricultural Investment Land Administration Agency AISD Agricultural Investment Support Directorate ANRS Amhara National Regional State BGRS Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State BoEPLAU Bureau of Environmental Protection, Land Administration and Use BoFED Benishangul-Gumuz Bureau of Finance and Economic De- velopment CSA Central Statistical Agency DA Development Agent EPRDF Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FDRE Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia FGD Focus Group Discussion GDP Gross Domestic Product GPS Global Positioning System GTP Growth and Transformation Plan HLPE High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development MoARD Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development MoFA Ministry of Federal Affairs MoFED Ministry of Finance and Economic Development NGO Non-Governmental Organization xii Acronyms xiii OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development PA Peasant Association PASDEP Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty PSNP Productive Safety Net Programme SNNPR Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region SPSS Statistical Package for Social Sciences UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNECA United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Acknowledgements I am deeply grateful to a great number of people and institutions from which I have benefited enormously throughout my doctoral studies. I would like to begin by expressing my deepest gratitude to the Netherlands fellowship Pro- gramme (NFP) for the generous financial support extended to me to carry out my doctoral studies and research, without which it would have been im- possible. I am also grateful to the Land Deal Politics Initiative (LDPI), Trans- national Institute (TNI) in Amsterdam, Heinrich Boll Foundation (Ecofair Trade Project), and University of Gondar, for their contribution in providing financial and logistical support to conduct the fieldwork for this dissertation.