1. Shewakena Abab and Anna Corsi The World Bank Group
The Emerging Tenure Right Fortunes and Its Policy Implications: The Case of the World Bank Financed Ethiopia Sustainable Land Management Project II By
Shewakena Abab and Anna Corsi
The World Bank Group
Paper prepared for presentation at the “2017 WORLD BANK CONFERENCE ON LAND AND POVERTY”
The World Bank - Washington DC, March 20-24, 2017

2. Presentation Outlines
Introduction
Objectives of the Study
Research Questions
Study Areas, Data and Methods
Results and Discussions
Conclusion and Recommendations

3. 1) Introduction
Ethiopia's diverse production landscapes provide a range of services to the rural people including:
crops and livestock,
timber and firewood,
fresh water, and many more
land degradation problem threaten the resilience of rural livelihoods in many ways
climate insecurity,
water insecurity,
food insecurity, and
livelihood insecurity – especially the youth and women

4. Intro… the causes of LDs are both natural and anthropogenic
land tenure uncertainty further exacerbated the land degradation problem

5. Intro…
To avert this LD problem the Government’s SLMP has been introduced as a flagship national program since 2008
Project objectives, components and funding
The PDO of SLMP-2 (2014 to 2019) is to reduce land degradation and improve the land productivity in selected watersheds in targeted regions in Ethiopia.
Component - 1
Integrated Watershed and Landscape Management
Component - 2
Institutional Strengthening, Capacity Development and Knowledge Generation and Management
Component - 3
Rural Land Administration, Certification and Land Use
Component 4
Project management

6. …Introduction Spatial coverage
SLMP-2 is operating in 135 major/critical watersheds in 6 regional States;
Average size of critical watershed is just over 10,000 ha (1,371,058 total ha) and
average micro watershed size is 710 ha (1925 total number).
However, not all micro watersheds have been targeted to receive treatment.
Of the 1925 total micro watersheds, (1,292,200 ha) are targeted by SLMP-2

7. …Introduction Applying an innovative but pragmatic approaches
It demonstrating the critical link between an integrated and sustainable natural resources management at landscape and rural poverty alleviation
supporting relevant policy instruments and knowledge infrastructure
on the ground investment
technological and extension services

8. …Introduction Population
Ethiopia largest “youth bulge” in sub-Saharan Africa,
70 million people under the age of 30,
Half the labor force aged 15-29
13 million aged 10 to 14, soon to join labor force(CSA, 2015)
Over 80 % of rural employment is in agriculture, and
this rises to 90 % for men and
74 % for women (Fuje, H. and Lire, E., 2016).
Landholding and tenure security … the factors that constrain:
farm income,
jobs and
the level of household food security
therefore, youth’s access to land tenure and property rights is becoming crucial to Ethiopia ever before
Landless youths obtaining degraded communal lands in exchange for their restoring.

9. 2) Objectives of the Study
The aim of the study is therefore to :
analyze the current access to land by landless youth in the face of land scarcity and regulatory impediments;
assess how the new model works in the watersheds supported under SLMP-2 and provide evidence for policy dialogue and reform;
assess the soundness of this model in creating resilience livelihoods for part of the bottom 40 percent of the population in line with the Bank’s twin goals: end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity

10. 3) Research Questions
How are land scarcity and regulatory restrictions is affecting access to land and what are the implications for rural youth livelihoods in particular?
When organized into groups, are youths better positioned to secure access to land as a source of future livelihood and natural resource governance?
How does SLMP-2's support for land administration affect access to land and land tenure security of landless youths and provide livelihood options?
Under which modalities the degraded communal land allocation and its management works?
What are the best practices and policy considerations for scaling-up nationwide?

11. 4) Study Areas, Data and Methods
a) Study Area
135 watershed of SLMP-2 spread over 6 regions
all the micro watersheds in the critical watersheds were listed with their population and total household size
micro watersheds were clustered into upper, middle and lower catchments following the drainage direction and location of the micro-watersheds.
Finally, selected one micro watershed from each cluster randomly using random sampling technique 401
Regional State
Total number of Woredas/ Watersheds
Total sub watersheds in the watersheds
Proposed sample sub- watershed (EAs) *3
Number of Micro watersheds selected
Upper
Middle
Lower
Total
Oromia 39
234
117 38
116
Tigray 13
103
Amhara 34
505
102
SNNP 31
308 93
Gambella 6 28 18 5 15
Benishangul-Gumuz 12
101 36
135
1279
405
133
134
401

12. Study Areas…
b) Data
The socio economic survey covered all 135 critical watersheds (90 new and 45 existing)
Based on a sample frame, equal number of HHs selected using a three by 20 cluster sampling design that results in 8100 HHs ( 22.5% female headed) and of which about 99% interviewed
focus group discussions with 8 youth groups having 20 average members
c) Method
Simple descriptive statistics and legal reviews are used to interpret and analyze the results.

13. 5) Results and Discussions
Proportion of households with landholding size:
with less than 0.5ha accounted for 22%
between 1 & 2 ha accounted for 25%
strikingly, over 23.3 % of the sample HHs are landless or nearly landless (of which 8.2% male and 15.1% of female heads)
The distribution of landholding is disproportionate and relatively biased against women and youth in all watersheds
the average landholding is 1.4 ha per HH
the average landholding size of female- headed HHs is 1.2 ha compared to 1.5 ha of their counterpart male headed HHs
the largest landholding is in the lowland WS of Benishangul Gumuz (2.5 ha) and Gambella (1.9 ha)
the smallest in Amhara (0.97 ha) and in Tigray regional states (0.68 ha)
This shows that youths tend to have limited access to agricultural land because of a high degree of land scarcity as one goes from the most lowland to most highland regions.
Mean
total landholding by households (ha)
landless
>2.00
Region
Tigray
0.682
0.0%
13.1%
31.1%
40.1%
11.4%
2.4%
1.9%
Gambella
1.875
.7%
1.0%
6.0%
24.0%
19.3%
21.0%
28.0%
Amhara
0.967
6.5%
6.2%
17.5%
42.0%
17.0%
5.7%
5.2%
OROMIA
1.744
4.7%
4.0%
10.7%
18.7%
12.5%
25.4%
Benishangul
2.491
2.6%
3.6%
13.9%
15.6%
15.8%
44.8%
SNNPR
1.246
8.5%
17.9%
32.3%
13.7%
15.1%
Age of head
<20
1.323
4.5%
12.1%
24.2%
21.2%
6.1%
9.1%
22.7%
20-30
1.121
11.2%
21.6%
28.2%
8.6%
30-40
1.275
4.3%
8.0%
17.7%
32.0%
14.7%
8.2%
15.0%
40-64
1.508
3.2%
18.4%
10.1%
19.6%
>64
1.664
3.4%
10.3%
30.8%
17.4%
11.3%
22.4%
Average
1.378
4.6%
7.74
17.26
28.9
13.82
9.46
18.22
Gender
Male
1.446
3.5%
14.5%
31.3%
16.4%
9.7%
18.6%
Female
1.185
7.7%
31.5%
15.2%
12.2%
Total
1.388
4.2%
6.4%
15.5%
16.1%
9.4%
17.1%

14. Results… Region Age Mean family Size Crude density (person/km2) <15
Youths tended to have limited access to agricultural land as a factor of family size and farm size:
Average family size is 5
43 % member of the youth groups pointed out that large family size as the primary reason for landlessness
40.8 % respondents said that their parents have very small landholding size
Only 6.2 % of youth obtained farm land through temporary donation from their parents in exchange for their labor
This shows that youths tend to have limited access to agricultural land either through inheritance or donation
Region
Age
Mean family Size
Crude density (person/km2)
arable density (persons/km2)
Crop land density (person/km2)
<15
15-64
>64
Tigray
46.9
49.9
3.2
5.16
166.00
226.70
362.40
Gambella
41.0
57.7
1.3
4.99
144.74
160.33
306.91
Amhara
48.4
48.9
2.7
4.87
160.45
207.35
286.60
Oromia
47.9
50.0
2.1
5.58
192.33
201.08
328.81
Benishangul
56.5
42.5
1.0
5.33
140.88
183.49
SNNPR
47.3
51.4
5.89
439.67
498.63
Total
49.5
5.39
234.02
273.56
590.48

15. Results…
Land scarcity as a function of regulatory restrictions affecting access to Land
Federal and Regional land laws prohibited further land redistribution (the last is before 20 years ago)
Most regions restricted land rental in size (not more than half) and duration (<5 to3 years)
The law prohibited mortgaging for smallholder farmers
52% member of youth groups identified legislative restrictions on size and duration hinders to rent in as landholders tended to retain it except labor poor landholders
83% members of youth groups emphasize lack of access to capital or credit hamper to rent in land and to start up a business
Youths tend to have limited access to agricultural land due to lack of initial capital and regulatory restrictions on land rental market which impedes the opportunity to facilitate access to land.

16. Results…
In the absence of all these or limited options what do the youths do?
self organize into youth groups having common interest of productive activities
with an average member of 20 youths
with their own executive committee members and agreed bylaws
subject to both internal and external regular performance auditing
submit an application to the Kebele(sub district) Administration requesting for land allocation
administration consult with the Kebele/sub district LAUC
prioritize list of youth groups
Kebele/village Council approves
designated communal degraded land allocated

17. Results…
What are the Effects of SLMP-2 Operations on Land and Land Tenure Security of Landless Youth Groups and Livelihood Options?
The GoE in its GTP II (2015/16 to 2019/20) targeted 27.8 million parcels of land to be surveyed, mapped, registered and 7.2 million households issued with SLLC
SLMP-2 has targeted 2 million parcels of land, and issuing half a million households with SLLC to individual and communal lands.
Youth groups issued with legal landholding certificates or other documentations

18. Results… Effects of SLMP-2 Operations…
as of December 2016, over 740 youth groups with more than 15,000 members (40 percent female) have organized for tenure rights to over 2,850 hectares, receiving group landholding certificate or other legal documentation
Addressing both the scarcity of land and regulatory framework,
this provides opportunities for income generation and incentivizes good land stewardship among the next generation of community leaders,

19. 6) Conclusion and Recommendations
6.1 Conclusions
despite this positive initial results the increase in youth landlessness and unemployment remains a pressing challenge in rural Ethiopia in the years to come.
the allocation model and its management demonstrated promising and sustainable natural resource governance which feature some form of co- management among the state, the community and the youth groups.
without security of tenure, households are significantly impaired in their ability to secure sufficient food and to enjoy sustainable rural livelihoods.
the study concludes that this activity increases livelihood opportunities, empowers youths who have few other options but to migrate, and strengthens the basis for more citizen engagement and participation in local development and natural resource governance.

20. Conclusion… 6.2 Recommendations
Functional and innovative land tenure systems are crucial to diversify and balance competing land uses in rural landscapes and are therefore a key to climate resilient development.
Moreover, increasing economic efficiency through vibrant land rental market, land tenure and land policy play a crucial role for equity and social balance as well as resilience landscapes and livelihoods. The initial recommendation is:
a) Develop comprehensive strategic framework towards youth - The strategy would provide incentives and enabling conditions for rural youth group to form, operate and contribute to shaping green rural transformation pathways
b) Improve restrictive provisions on land rental market – lifting restriction on land rental market could facilitate vibrant transactions and access to landless youth which also promote sustainable rural-to-urban transition.
c) Strengthen and roll out the new communal tenure right through enhanced natural resource management and livelihood extension services - the study shows that the new youth group models are proven approaches for engaging landless and unemployed youth in economic activities that build natural and economic wealth.

21. Thanks for Listening

22. Shewakena Abab and Anna Corsi
The Emerging Tenure Right Fortunes and Its Policy Implications: The Case of the World Bank Financed Ethiopia Sustainable Land Management Project II By
Shewakena Abab and Anna Corsi
The World Bank Group
Paper prepared for presentation at the “2017 WORLD BANK CONFERENCE ON LAND AND POVERTY”
The World Bank - Washington DC, March 20-24, 2017