Publication
Title
Socioeconomic and environmental impact of expropriation of agricultural land for urbanisation in Ethiopia
Author
Abstract
Globally, incorporation of agricultural lands into the urban boundary has been a common phenomenon. Governments use various alternatives to access the required land, including land expropriation procedures, which refers to the compulsorily taking of land from the landholders without their consent by paying compensation. In Ethiopia, the urban population is growing rapidly which resulted into an increase in the demand for urban land for housing construction, public services provision, and infrastructure developments. As the Ethiopian constitution prohibits sale of landholders, governments, at various levels, have been expropriating land from the surrounding farmers to meet the demand for urban land. The general objective of this thesis is to improve the understanding of the impacts of local land deals for urbanization on socioeconomics of farmers and the environment. The findings of this thesis revealed that there are gaps in the current practices of land expropriation for urban expansion that should be improved. The results showed that the compensation paid to the affected farmers is found to be economically inappropriate, i.e., not enough to restore the affected farmers’ livelihoods, in contrast with the land laws that allows a compensation amount that would put previous land users in a better or the same wellbeing as before the land expropriation. In addition, it is indicated that the land expropriation process does not take into account the value of ecosystem services, which are benefits obtain from the land, and important for the wellbeing of the society. We conclude that while land expropriation is an important tool to obtain land from the landholders when it is needed for public purposes, the practices in the study area show it is adversely affecting the socioeconomics of farmers and the environment.
Language
English
Publication
Antwerp : University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics , 2021
Volume/pages
162 p.
Note
Supervisor: Van Passel, Steven [Supervisor]
Supervisor: Minale, Amare Sewnet [Supervisor]
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
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Record
Identifier
Creation 12.05.2021
Last edited 01.01.2024
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