NATURAL RESOURCES CONTROL TRAJECTORY: CUSTOMARY RIGHTS, COERCIVE CONSERVATION AND COAL MINING IN THE YAYO DISTRICT, SOUTHWEST ETHIOPIA By Kassahun Kelifa Suleman Student Number: 3210300 Thesis submitted to the Institute for Social Development, Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences, University of the Western Cape, in fulfillment of the requirement for the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Degree in Development Studies March 2016 Supervisor: Professor Julian May Table of Contents Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................................i Declaration................................................................................................................................. vi Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... vii Key Words .................................................................................................................................. ix Dedication ................................................................................................................................... x Acknowledgment ..................................................................................................................... xi List of Maps ............................................................................................................................. xiii List of Tables........................................................................................................................... xiv List of Figures ........................................................................................................................... xv List of Appendices ................................................................................................................. xvi List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ............................................................................. xvii Chapter One: Contextualising the research agenda ..................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Prior interdisciplinary research on local livelihood, conservation, and coal mining nexus ..................................................................................................................................... 6 1.3 Justification for the study .................................................................................................. 9 1.4 Research questions ............................................................................................................ 15 1.5 Objectives of the study ...................................................................................................... 16 1.5.1 General objective ....................................................................................................................... 16 1.5.2 Specific Objectives .................................................................................................................... 16 1.6 Significance of the study .................................................................................................. 17 1.7 Scope and delimitations of the study .......................................................................... 18 1.8 Layout of the thesis ............................................................................................................ 20 1.9 Chapter summary ............................................................................................................... 24 Chapter Two: Research methodology and methods .................................................. 25 i 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 25 2.2 Research approaches and methods ............................................................................. 25 2.2.1 Duration of the study /study phase................................................................................... 26 2.2.2 Selection of the case study site: Why the Yayo district? ........................................... 30 2.3 Hitting the ground: The actual fieldwork phase ..................................................... 33 2.3.1 The preliminary research phase ......................................................................................... 34 2.3.2 The qualitative research stage ............................................................................................. 35 2.4 Challenges of the fieldwork and critiques of research approach ..................... 49 2.5 Data analysis and presentations ................................................................................... 51 2.5.1 Data organisation/ preparation .......................................................................................... 51 2.5.2 Analysis of the dataset ............................................................................................................ 52 2.6 Background of the study area ........................................................................................ 57 2.6.1 Geographical features and location ................................................................................... 57 2.6.2 Climate ........................................................................................................................................... 59 2.6.3 Land tenure and Land use types ......................................................................................... 59 2.6.4 Human population and settlement .................................................................................... 61 2.6.5 Biodiversity endowments ..................................................................................................... 62 2.6.6 Local scale economic activities ............................................................................................ 66 2.7 Chapter summary ............................................................................................................... 67 Chapter Three: Review of related literature ................................................................ 69 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 69 3.2 Poverty, biodiversity conservation and extractive industries .......................... 69 3.2.1 Nexus between poverty and biodiversity ....................................................................... 69 3.2.2 Biodiversity conservation‐mining nexus ........................................................................ 83 3.3 The social dimensions of biodiversity conservation and mining ..................... 84 3.3.1 Social dimensions of biodiversity conservation ........................................................... 84 3.3.2 The social dimensions of extractive industries ............................................................ 95 3.4 The political dimensions of resource control .......................................................... 98 3.4.1 The politics of biodiversity conservation........................................................................ 98 3.4.2 The power relations in conservation and mining ..................................................... 101 3.5 Understanding resistance in conservation and mining .................................... 105 3.6 Analytical framework of the research ..................................................................... 108 ii 3.6.1 Political ecology as analytical framework .................................................................... 108 3.6.2 Critiques of a political ecology approach ...................................................................... 112 3.7 Chapter summary ............................................................................................................ 113 Chapter Four: Customary access, control, management, and use of forest biodiversity in the Yayo District ..................................................................................... 115 4.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 115 4.2 Interaction between the local communities and the forest biodiversity .... 116 4.2.1 The roles of coffee forest and wild coffee in the village economy ...................... 116 4.2.2 Gender relations in the context of forest and wild coffee access, control, and use …. ............................................................................................................................................... 119 4.2.3 Wild coffea arabica and rural life in the Yayo district ............................................. 125 4.2.4 Wild coffee production and trading ................................................................................ 130 4.3 Contested local perceptions surrounding wild coffees ..................................... 137 4.4 Customary forest and wild coffee control............................................................... 145 4.4.1 Prelude on the historical facets of resource access and ownership .................. 145 4.4.2 The genesis and role of customary resource control systems ............................. 148 4.4.3 ‘Bakkee abbaa alangee’ and its role in the customary forest and wild coffee access and