Household Perception and Demand for Better Land Rights

Protection in the Era of Agricultural Transformation in

Ethiopia

Hosaena Ghebru, Bethlhem Koru, and Alemayehu S. Taffesse International Food Policy Research Institute - IFPRI

Research Seminar organized by the Ethiopia Strategy Support Program and the Ethiopian Development Research Institute

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

April 15, 2015

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ETHIOPIAN DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH INSTITUTE

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Back ground

• The Ethiopia constitution states that all land belongs to the state and individual households

are given user rights but no right to sell.

• Ethiopia implemented one of the largest, fastest and cheapest land registration and

certification reforms in Africa. About 6.3 million rural households have received the First

Stage Land Certification (FSLC) in the four major Regional States

• Each region arranges the process of land certification with in the framework of its own

regional proclamation

• Certification in Tigray took place soon after the redistribution in 1997/98 EC and certification

in the rest three region took place in the year 2003/2004 EC

• This first land certification relied on the use of general boundaries, which neither include a

map nor any kind of spatial reference

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Empirical evidence: Impacts Land

certification in Ethiopia1. Land investments and productivity

i. Holden, Deininger and Ghebru (AJAE, 2009)

ii. Deininger, Ali, Holden and Zevenbergen (WD, 2008)

iii. Alemu, Holden, Ghebru and Kassie (book chapter, 2013)

iv. Deininger, Ali and Alemu (LE, 2011)

v. Ghebru and Holden (JAE, 2014)

2. Impacts on land conflicts

i. Holden, Deininger and Ghebru (2010)

3. Impacts on land rental market participation

i. Holden, Deininger and Ghebru (JDS, 2011)

ii. Deininger, Ali and Alemu (LE, 2011)

4. Welfare impacts

i. Holden and Ghebru (2011) ... (book chapter, 2013)

ii. Ghebru and Holden ...Food security: IFPRI working paper (2013)

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Rationale for a second-level land certificate

• Lack updating mechanism in First Stage Certification Program

• Probability of increasing border related disputes

- Erosion corrodes natural boundaries

- Number of witnesses diminish - moved away or no longer live in the area

• Dynamics of Tenure insecurity

- Increase in land values (urbanization/economic vibrancy) demand for better clarity of

boundary markings

• Population growth/pressure

-Increases demand for land and

-Further pressure on border demarcations

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Research questions

• This study strives to answer the following research questions in relation to the

Second Stage Land Certification:

• What are the factors associated with household of tenure insecurity in Ethiopia?

• What is the demand for the Second Level Land Certification ?

• What are the factors associated with household demand for the Second Stage

Land Certification?

• What instruments can be used for effective targeting to maximize program

outcomes?

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Data

• The study is based on Agricultural Growth Program (AGP) Survey data. The 2013 Surveycovered 7,500 farm households

• The data covers 93 woredas (61 treatment and 32 control) in the four main region (Amhara,Oromia, SNNP, and Tigray) selected by government of Ethiopia due to their high potential foragricultural growth;

• A community (or Kebele)-level survey that brings a wealth of information on community assets,infrastructures, access to markets and price information was also administered to complementhousehold-level data;

• The data is analyzed at parcel and household level using descriptive and regression analyses;

• The AGP & the Land reform component: treatment districts are subject to extensive landadministrative reforms in the form of Second Level Land certification (SLLC) andimplementation of rural land administration systems

• SLLC program includes mega projects by LIFT, REILA, ELAP, SLMP and etc

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Data: Sample Area

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Sample Distribution

Regional States Sample Size

Number ofTreatment

Districts

Number ofControlDistricts

Total Districts

Tigray 1612 8 4 12

Amhara 2106 17 10 27

Oromiya 2106 18 9 27

SNNP 2106 18 9 27

Total 7930 61 32 93

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Methods

• Assessment on tenure insecurity of the household is analyzed using generalized ordered

logit model;

𝑃 𝑌𝑖 > 𝑗 =exp(∝𝑗 +𝑋𝑖𝛽𝑗)

1 + 𝑒𝑥𝑝 𝛼𝑗 + 𝑋𝑖𝛽𝑗, 𝑗 = 1,2, … .𝑀 − 1

𝑌𝑖= Measure of tenure insecurity

The study uses logistic model to analyze those factors that explain the demand for further

land demarcation

The dependent variable takes the value of 1 for the househol reported to have interest in

participating in further land demarcation and zero for those who do not;

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Indicators of land tenure insecurity

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Perceived risk of privateland dispute

Perceived risk of landexpropriation

Likelihood of boarderdispute

Perc

en

t (%

)

% of HH with different tenure insecurity variables

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Descriptive results: Household level

Total

Household characteristics

Household size 4.9

Sex of Head (1=male) 70%

Age of the Head of Household 45

Number of parcels 3

Households who have First Level Land Certificate (%) 68%

Households interested in the 2nd Level Land Certification (%) 64%

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Descriptive Analysis: Parcel level

Variables Tigray Amhara Oromia SNNP

Mode of land Acquisition

Allocated 79.0 60.2 51.2 13.1

Purchased 1.9 1.6 2.6 8.4

Inherited/Parent's gift 19.0 38.1 46.1 78.5

Mortgaged 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.0

Total 100 100 100 100

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Parcel level..

Parcel Characteristics Perceived risk of private land dispute

No Yes Sig

Years since the parcel acquired 20.0 20.1

Distance of the parcel from owner's home 18.6 19.0

The parcel is registered with the 1st Level Certificate (in %) 69.3 67.5

Demand for 2nd level Land Certification 59.2 67.3 ***

Farm size owned (in hectare) 0.44 0.47 ***

The parcel is acquired through allocation (in %) 53.2 55.1 ***

The parcel is acquired through inheritance/parental gift (in %) 43.5 42 **

The parcel is acquired through purchase (in %) 3.2 2.9

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Regression result: Factors explaining tenure insecurity

• Larger farm size is associated with higher level of tenure insecurity;

• Level of tenure insecurity is lower on parcels acquired via inheritance as compared to

parcels via government allocation;

• Parcels with natural boundary for boarder demarcation have higher risk of land dispute;

• The level of tenure insecurity is found to be higher on parcels acquired recently as

compared to parcels under household possession for longer periods;

• Boarder dispute in the past are linked with higher perception of tenure insecurity

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Regression Result: Demand for SLLC- Logistic model (ME)

Explanatory Variables Model - 1 Model - 2 Model - 3

Perceived risk of Gov't expropriation (1=yes) -0.011 -0.014 0.002

Perceived risk of private dispute (1=yes) 0.047* 0.052* 0.062**

Village level – Av. # hhs with expenditure on new

housing 0.067*** 0.078*** 0.067***

Village level - av. # of years since parcel acquisition

via PA allocation -0.002** -0.002**

Interaction term (Rented out * Gender) -0.131** -0.119 -0.064

Boarder dispute experience (1=yes) 0.069*** 0.066***

Protect against encroachment (1=yes) 0.153*** 0.150***

Land predominantly acquired via inheritance -0.043* -0.041*

Tigray region 0.113*

Amahara region 0.041

SNNP region -0.124***

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Conclusion

• Results from the econometric and descriptive analysis revealed that demand forfurther land demarcation is positively associated with higher perception of tenureinsecurity - perceived risk of private dispute

• Furthermore, results show that HHs with boarder dispute experience are at higherrisk of tenure insecurity and are more likely to demand new formalization of land

• HHs who believe (awareness) that land certificate provides better protectionagainst land disputes are more likely to be interested in the second-stage certificate

• HHs who acquired their land through inheritance and households with longeryears since land acquisition are less likely to demand for the Second Stage LandCertification

• Findings indicate that there is significant variation among regions in terms of themode of land acquisition and demand for further formalization.

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Policy Implications

• Generally, perceived risk of land dispute, and the demand for land demarcation are stillhigh in Ethiopia

• As there is a variation between regions in terms of the extent of the tenure risk and needfor the Second Stage Land Certification, the rollout strategy of the Second Level LandCertification should avoid a blanket approach and, hence, with more caution and pragmaticapproach (context based)

• The implementation of the Second Stage Land Certification need to be tailored in a gradualfashion (piloting) while giving priority to dispute prone areas and possibly based on need

• As results show that tenure risk and demand for formalization are hugely associated withparcel-specific properties, a parcel-based certification seems to be suitable in maximizingthe outcomes and maintaining the sustainability of the program

• Households’ awareness about the added values of Land Certification calls for the need forsensitization or awareness creation campaign to maximize the impacts of the newintervention

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Thank You!

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