Ethiopia

Gendered Impacts of Commercial Pressures on Land

Citation:

Daley, Elizabeth. 2010. Gendered Impacts of Commercial Pressures on Land. Rome: International Land Coalition.

Author: Elizabeth Daley

Abstract:

This paper contains a careful and focused analysis of the gendered impacts of commercial pressures on land (CPL), and especially their impacts on women. It is based on a review of the literature on CPL to date and an analysis from a gender perspective of International Land Coalition country case studies carried out in India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Ethiopia, Zambia, Rwanda and Benin. Arguing that women are both likely to be affected differently from men by large-scale land deals and disproportionately more likely to be negatively affected than men because they are generally vulnerable as a group, the paper provides recommendations as to how tools and procedures envisaged by proposed regulatory frameworks must be locally appropriate and must specifically address all four aspects of women’s vulnerability with respect to CPL: productive resources, participation in decision-making, relative income poverty and physical vulnerability. (International Land Coalition)

Topics: Extractive Industries, Gender, Gender Analysis, Gender-Based Violence, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Land Grabbing, Multi-National Corporations, Rights, Land Rights, Women's Rights, Sexual Violence, SV against Women, Violence Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa, Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Benin, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Rwanda, Zambia

Year: 2010

Tenure Insecurity, Gender, Low-Cost Land Certification and Land Rental Market Participation in Ethiopia

Citation:

Holden, Stein T., Klaus Deininger, and Hosaena Ghebru. 2011. “Tenure Insecurity, Gender, Low-Cost Land Certification and Land Rental Market Participation in Ethiopia.” Journal of Development Studies 47 (1): 31–47. doi:10.1080/00220381003706460.

Authors: Stein T. Holden , Klaus Deininger, Hosaena Ghebru

Abstract:

There is a renewed interest in whether land reforms can contribute to market development and poverty reduction in Africa. This paper assesses effects on the allocative efficiency of the land rental market of the low-cost approach to land registration and certification of restricted property rights that was implemented in Ethiopia in the late 1990s. Four rounds of a balanced household panel from 16 villages in northern Ethiopia are analysed, showing that land certification initially enhanced land rental market participation of (potential) tenant and landlord households, especially those that are headed by females.

Annotation:

Quotes:

“An important policy issue is whether land reforms can contribute to enhancing the allocative efficiency and therefore augment the productivity and poverty reduction effects of land rental markets (Otsuka, 2007; de Janvry et al., 2001; Holden et al., 2008). Besley (1995) and Brasselle et al. (2002) identified three main types of effects that could contribute to enhanced investments, land productivity and land market activity related to land reforms. These are the assurance (tenure security), realisability (gains from trade) and collateralisation effects. The main novel contribution of this paper is to provide a rigorous assessment of the impact of the recent low-cost land registration and certification reform in the Tigray region in Ethiopia on land rental market activity. In Ethiopia, we may ignore the collateralisation effect as land sales and mortgaging of land remain illegal, but the first two effects may be important given that past policies created tenure insecurity and suppressed land transfers. About 50 per cent of the households in our baseline survey in 1998 feared they would lose land in redistributions they expected would occur in the future.” (32)

“Female heads of household (widows, divorced and single women) also received certificates in their name for land in their possession. Traditionally, women move to the home of the husband upon marriage, the husband is in charge of land management and only men can cultivate with oxen. Female-headed households therefore face problems with land management and therefore commonly rent out much of their land (Ghebru and Holden, 2008). Their relatively weak position makes their tenure more insecure because of their limited ability to till the land (drawing on a ‘land to the tiller’ philosophy) and the demand for land by (male) in-laws and blood relatives. The receipt of land certificates is likely to have strengthened the position and ability of female land possessors to rent out land without risking the loss of possession. We develop a theoretical model which shows that asset poverty enhances and tenure insecurity suppresses female landlord households’ land renting, but that land certification strengthens tenure security and should enhance such activity.” (32)

“The Ethiopian land reform in 1975 made all land state land, eliminated the wealthy rural landlord elite, and prohibited land sales and rentals and hiring of labour (Rahmato, 1984). Based on a ‘land to the tiller’ ideology, communities (peasant associations established by the new regime) distributed land to households based on their family size (their need and ability to cultivate), creating an egalitarian land distribution that required follow-up redistributions to maintain the egalitarian distribution and provide land to new households. However, such redistributions created tenure insecurity which was thought to undermine investment incentives (Alemu, 1999; Holden and Yohannes, 2002; Deininger and Jin, 2006). Households that rented out their land feared losing it in the next redistribution.” (33)

“After a long civil war, the military government was overthrown and a new government was formed in 1991. Eritrea succeeded in achieving independence and a more market-friendly policy was introduced in Ethiopia. Some political and administrative authority was devolved from the federal to the regional governments; in the case of land policies, a new federal land proclamation was introduced in 1995 and regional land proclamations were made at times subsequently allowing some local variation in land laws (provided they did not violate the federal land law).” (33)

“Even though the 1975 land reform in Ethiopia contributed to an egalitarian land distribution, land rental markets have been very active and are dominated by sharecropping arrangements (Teklu and Lemi, 2004; Holden and Ghebru, 2006; Bezabih and Holden, 2006; Pender and Fafchamps, 2006; Deininger et al., 2008b; Tadesse et al., 2008). Ghebru and Holden (2008) found the land rental market in Tigray to be characterised by substantial transaction costs and asymmetries in market access due to the rationing of tenants by landlords. Many actual and potential tenants failed to rent in as much land as they wanted to (Ghebru and Holden, 2008). A large share of the contracts was among kin and kinship relations, appearing to improve access to rentable land (Holden and Ghebru, 2006). In the Amhara region of Ethiopia, Deininger et al. (2008b) also found evidence of high transaction costs in the land rental market, as did Tikabo et al. (2007) in Eritrea. 

In this context, whether registration and certification has contributed to increased tenure security, especially for the poor, including women, are important policy concerns. Anecdotal evidence from Tigray (Haile et al., 2005; MUT, 2003) suggests that women think differently than men about their land certificates as their tenure rights have been less secure; this may imply that certificates have a greater welfare- enhancing effect on women. Furthermore, cultural rules constraining women’s ability to cultivate their land means that single women need to depend on assistance from men, or they must rent out their land. This cultural taboo means that female- headed households in Tigray are often landlords because they are poor in non-land resources (MUT, 2003). Certification may have strengthened the bargaining power of female-headed households in the land rental market, reducing their poverty.” (34)

Topics: Economies, Poverty, Gender, Land Tenure, Governance, Households, Rights, Land Rights Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Ethiopia

Year: 2011

Intimate Partner Physical Violence Among Women in Shimelba Refugee Camp, Northern Ethiopia

Citation:

Feseha, Girmatsion, Abebe G/mariam, and Mulusew Gerbaba. 2012. “Intimate Partner Physical Violence among Women in Shimelba Refugee Camp, Northern Ethiopia.” BMC Public Health 12 (1): 125. 

Authors: Girmatsion Feseha, Abebe G/mariam, Mulusew Gerbaba

Abstract:

Domestic violence has unwanted effects on the physical and psychological well-being of women, which have been recognized globally as an important public health problem. Violence perpetrated by intimate partner is one form of domestic violence, a serious human rights abuse and a public health issue, among refugees owing to its substantial consequences for women's physical, mental and reproductive health problems. Because the incidents are under-reported, the true scale of the problem is unknown and unexamined among refugee women in Ethiopia. Thus, this study aim to assess the magnitude of intimate partner physical violence and associated factors among women in Shimelba refugee camp, Northern Ethiopia.

Keywords: Intimate partner violence, risk factors, Ethiopia, refugee camp

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Refugee/IDP Camps, Domestic Violence, Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Health, Mental Health, Reproductive Health, Violence Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Ethiopia

Year: 2012

Gender Mainstreaming Experiences from Eastern and Southern Africa

Citation:

Tadesse, Matebu, and Abiye Daniel, eds. 2010. Gender Mainstreaming Experiences from Eastern and Southern Africa. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA).

Authors: Matebu Tadesse, Abiye Daniel

Abstract:

Mainstreaming a gender perspective is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in any area and at all levels. It is a strategy for making the concerns and experiences of women as well as of men an integral part of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres, so that women and men benefit equally, and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal of mainstreaming is to achieve gender equality. This work explores the experiences of Kenya, Tanzania, and Ethiopia from Eastern Africa; and Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Swaziland from Southern Africa. All cases show the varied attempts to mainstream gender at national, institutional, and civil society levels, including grassroots experiences. (Google Books)

Topics: Gender, Gender Mainstreaming, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality Regions: Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa Countries: Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Year: 2010

Challenging the Patriarchal National Security Paradigm: The Role of Ethiopian Women in Peace and Security

Citation:

Ayele, Mesfin G. 2010. “Challenging the Patriarchal National Security Paradigm: The Role of Ethiopian Women in Peace and Security.” In The Gender Imperative: Human Security Vs State Security, edited by Betty A. Reardon and Asha Hans, 87–109. New York: Routledge.

Author: Mesfin G. Ayele

Topics: Armed Conflict, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Gender Equality/Inequality, Security, Human Security Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Ethiopia

Year: 2010

From Child Soldier to Ex-Fighter, a Political Journey: Female Fighters, Demobililisation, and Reintegration in Ethiopia

Citation:

Veale, Angela. 2003. “From Child Soldier to Ex-Fighter, a Political Journey: Female Fighters, Demobililisation, and Reintegration in Ethiopia.” Institute for Security Studies Monographs 85: 1-64.

Author: Angela Veale

Topics: Combatants, Child Soldiers, Female Combatants, DDR, Gender, Women, Girls, Gender Analysis Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Ethiopia

Year: 2003

Collective and Individual Identities: Experiences of Recruitment and Reintegration of Female ExCombatants of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Army, Ethiopia

Citation:

Veale, Angela. 2005. “Collective and Individual Identities: Experiences of Recruitment and Reintegration of Female ExCombatants of the Tigrean People’s Liberation Army, Ethiopia.” In Invisible Stakeholders: Children and War in Africa, edited by A. McIntyre, 105-27. Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies.

Author: Angela Veale

Topics: Combatants, Female Combatants, Gender, Women, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Non-State Armed Groups Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Ethiopia

Year: 2005

Promoting a Gender-Just Peace: The Roles of Women Teachers in Peacebuilding and Reconstruction

Citation:

Kirk, Jackie. 2004. “Promoting a Gender-Just Peace: The Roles of Women Teachers in Peacebuilding and Reconstruction.” Gender & Development 12 (3): 50–9.

Author: Jackie Kirk

Abstract:

Schools - however temporary and improvised they may be - are often among the first community organisations to start functioning after a crisis. It is important that they set a high standard in encouraging the active participation of women in reconstruction and peacebuilding after conflict. This article examines the potential of women teachers for significant participation in building a gender-just peace, and the challenges that exist for women to fulfil this potential. Drawing on examples from a number of different contexts, especially Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and south Sudan, it discusses women teachers' personal and professional development. It identifies some of the challenges faced by women in becoming teachers, and strategies to support women teachers to become agents of change in their societies.

Topics: Development, Education, Gender, Women, Peacebuilding, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction Regions: Africa, East Africa, Asia, South Asia Countries: Afghanistan, Ethiopia, South Sudan

Year: 2004

Sitting at the Table: Securing Benefits for Pastoral Women from Land Tenure Reform in Ethiopia

Citation:

Flintan, Fiona. 2010. “Sitting at the Table: Securing Benefits for Pastoral Women from Land Tenure Reform in Ethiopia.” Journal of Eastern African Studies 4 (1): 153- 78.

Author: Fiona Flintan

Abstract:

The pastoral areas of Ethiopia are witnessing radical change in terms of both increasingly restricted mobility and access to vital resources. A cause and consequence of such constraints has been a move toward sedentarised forms of livestock and agricultural production. This is occurring in a political and socio-economic vacuum, in which the customary institutions responsible for resource allocation and access to land are becoming weaker, and where the Ethiopian government has yet to develop a clear policy or strategy for resource distribution and tenure security in pastoral areas. To date, pastoral women's property rights have been afforded a certain degree of protection by customary institutions; however, the impact on such protection is likely to be negative as these institutions weaken. Appropriate and effective government protection for women's property rights do not yet exist. Land tenure reform in pastoral areas appears imminent, partly due to increasing conflicts over access to resources, and to the existence of such reforms in other parts of the country. This paper discusses the changing nature of pastoral land rights in Ethiopia through a detailed case study of the Boran people in Oromia Regional State. It sets the case within wider national land reform processes and makes recommendations regarding how civil society and other actors can best engage with land policy and law formulation and implementation processes to secure women's land rights. (Flintan 2010)

Keywords: pastoralism, Borana people, women's rights, sedentarisation, land

Topics: Civil Society, Gender, Women, Land Tenure, Political Economies, Rights, Land Rights, Property Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Ethiopia

Year: 2010

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