Analysis of the existing rural land legislations in regulating interests on land in the Amhara region, Ethiopia

Abstract

For decades, the absence of land policies has contributed to land degradation in developing countries. The Amhara region of Ethiopia has formulated legislation and registered land. This study examined the impacts of legislation on regulating land rights and restrictions. The study highlights that the legislation has provided landholders with opportunities to secure land rights. However, the study revealed that the existing legislation has gaps in regulating restrictions and responsibilities and lacks land policy; as a result, weak land governance has ensued in the region. To mitigate these problems, the government should formulate a land policy, spatial framework and strengthen land institutions.

Keywords:

• Rights
• Restrictions
• Legislation
• Participation
• Spatial Planning
• Cadaster

Acknowledgements

The authors express thanks to land administration experts, District courts, Justice Offices, Women's, youth and children affairs offices from the study areas for their participation to give data for this study. The authors are also grateful to landholders for their willingness to share their experiences.

Authors contribution

Adane Mehari: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Investigation, Data Analysis, Funding acquisition, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. Tadesse Amsalu: Conceptualization, Validation, Writing – review & editing, Supervision. Teshome Tafa: Conceptualization, Validation, Writing – review & editing, Supervision.

Additional information

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the German Academic Exchange Service in-Country/in-Region Scholarship Programme (SLGA, 2018 to 2022, reference number of funding: 57432578) and Institute of Land Administration, Bahir Dar University for supporting the research fund.

Notes on contributors

Adane Mehari Getie

Adane Mehari Getie is a Ph.D. candidate at Bahir Dar University Institute of Land Administration (Ethiopia) after its Ph.D. scholarship programme in land policy and governance was launched, with the support of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in the Network of Excellence on Land Governance in Africa (NELGA) in 2018. From 2018 to 2021, he attended Ph.D. academic courses and produced excellent results. Currently, he is conducting Ph.D. research under the working title rural land cadastre contributions to good land governance. He did his MSc in land administration and management from Bahir Dar University Institute of Land Administration, Ethiopia (2016). Besides, he has a certificate in land governance from the University of Twente, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), The Netherlands (2016). He has more than ten years of work experience in the land administration sector in different capacities, which is supported to have more focus on this topic. He did his PhD research on “Rural Land Cadastral Practice and its Contribution to Good Land Governance in Amhara Region, Ethiopia”. Adane has also some articles published in journals and presented at conference. His research interests include developing a framework for assessing the efficacy of the rural cadastral system, rural cadastre to women’s land use rights, Land legislation contribution in regulating interests in land, Transparency in land registration, and cadastre process: strategies to sustain land administration system, and Cadastre practices, tenure security, land acquisition and planning practice in peri-urban areas.

Tadesse Amsalu Birhanu

Dr. Tadesse Amsalu Birhanu has a PhD Degree in Forestry with special focus on social and policy issues fromthe University of Aberdeen, United kingdom (UK); MSc Degree in Environmental Forestry from the University of Wales, United Kingdom (UK), and BSc Degree in Plant Science (Agriculture) from Alemaya College of Agriculture, Addis Ababa University. He has over 35 years of profound Professional experience both in the Academic and Development sectors and has served at different capacities including: Head, of the Amhara Region Agricultural Research and Technology Multiplication Unit; Deputy Head of The Amhara Region Bureau of Agriculture, Manager of the Amhara Region Environmental Protection, Land Administration Use Authority; Advisor of the Amhara National Regional State President, on land and water management and Director of the Institute of Land Administration, Bahir Dar University. Dr. Tadesse is currently an academic staff of Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia, and working at the Institute of Land Administration with Academic Rank of Associate Professor. He is actively involved in teaching and advisory services to PhD Students in “Land Policy and Governance’’ and MSc Students in “Land Administration and Management’’ programmes. And, on top of these assignments, he is serving as a Coordinator of the Ethiopian Land Research and Development Network (ETHIOLANDNET) established at the Institute of Land Administration, Bahir Dar University. Dr Tadesse has published over 14 scientific articles in reputable journals.

Teshome Taffa Dadi

Dr. Teshome Taffa Dadi is an assistant professor in urban land Management at the Institute of Land Administration (ILA) of Bahir Dar University (BDU), Ethiopia. He did his Ph.D. in Informal settlement at the University of South Africa (UNISA) and Master’s study in Land Management at the Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden (2006). He has more than 30 years of experience in teaching and advising both undergraduate and postgraduate students, research, consultancy services, and management positions in various capacities. To mention the recent ones, from October 2020 to January 2020 he was associate editor of the Journal of Land Policy and Governance and from November 2014 to March 2015 he was the coordinator of Research and Community service at ILA. He also participated in consultancy and research activities. To mention the recent ones, he worked as a team member in the consultancy service of the “Assessment of the Impact on Farmers of the Policy Differences between Oromia and Amhara Land Proclamations for Land Investment for Transformation (LIFT) Programme, June 2015”, as a consultant in writing Background Report on Land Governance Assessment Framework Analysis for public Land Management in Ethiopia, LGAF Ethiopia, December 2015. Together with his team, he conducted an Evaluation of Institute of Land Administration (ILA) BSC Graduates’ Performance at Work: an Evaluative Tracer Study in 2013, among others. He has also some articles published in journals and presented at conferences.