impacts of rural land certification in ethiopia: empirical evidences from the northern highlands of...

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Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia Hosaena Ghebru (Ph.D) Presented at a Seminar “Towards what works in rural development in Ethiopia: Evidence on the impact of investments and policies” December 13th, 2013 Hilton Hotel, Addis Ababa

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International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Ethiopian Development Research Institute (EDRI). Conference on "Towards what works in Rural Development in Ethiopia: Evidence on the Impact of Investments and Policies". December 13, 2013. Hilton Hotel, Addis Ababa.

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Page 1: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the

Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

Hosaena Ghebru (Ph.D)

Presented at a Seminar “Towards what works in rural development in Ethiopia: Evidence on the impact of investments and policies”

December 13th, 2013

Hilton Hotel, Addis Ababa

Page 2: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Introduction

• New land reforms high on the development agenda:• (High Level) Commission on Legal

Empowerment of the Poor - LPI• USAID, The World Bank, DFID (scaled

up financing of land reform projects)• Land governance – integral component of

the G-8 alliance for food security• MDGs: Rights based approaches

Page 3: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Land reform approaches: old and new• Classical land titling reform: Formalizing private property rights to land

• Surveying and titling upon demand• High tech and high cost approach

• Land redistribution policies and projects• Revolutionary reforms of the past (Eg. Ethiopia)• Regular redistributions to maintain an egalitarian land distribution

(China, Ethiopia, Eritrea)• ”Market-assisted” redistributions in countries with inequitable land

distributions (e.g. Brazil, Bolivia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, The Philippines)

• Formalization of customary land rights• Demarcation of village borders and village land use planning• Issuing of customary land certificates• Legal recognition of customary land rights

• Low-cost land registration and certification• Broad-based, large-scale implementation with strong local participation • Low-cost technology approach

Page 4: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Mixed stories: failed reforms

• Land titling in Kenya and Madagascar• Have not enhanced tenure security, promoted investment,

land and credit markets (e.g. Place and Migot-Adholla 1998, Jacoby and Minten 2006,2008)

• Land distributions remain extremely skewed after many years with land redistribution reforms in Latin-American countries, South Africa, Zimbabwe, …

• Sucessful reforms:• Ethiopia: Low-cost land registration and certification• China: Household responsibility system• India: Computerized registry system, tax-base

Page 5: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

The three neoclassical focal points of land reform

• Tenure security• Enhance investment

• Transferability• Gains from trade• Reallocate land to more efficient users

• Credit access• Land as collateral

How important are each of these and are they always achievable?

Page 6: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Conceptual model 1

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Sources and effects of tenure insecurity

-State

Private

Unclearborders

Encroach-ment

Conflicts

Expropri-ation

Redistri-bution

Sources of risk

Tenureinsecurityof owners

User rights

Transfer rights

Mort-gaging rights

-

- Limited land

transfers

Limited investment

Production inefficiency

Limited access to

credit

Rights

Page 7: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Conceptual model 2

7

State

Private

Unclearborders

Encroach-ment

Conflicts

Expropri-ation

Redistri-bution

Tenuresecurity of

owners

User rights

Transfer rights

Mort-gaging rights

Land transfers

Investment

Production efficiency

Access to credit

Low-cost land registration and

certification

-

+

+

+

+

+

Food security

-

Rights

Sources of risk

+

Page 8: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Land certification in Ethiopia

• Certification: Individual households are given user rights• Includes rights to use, bequeath, inherit, rent out, invest• No right to sell or mortgage• Responsibility for land conservation• Restrictions on migration and on duration of rental contracts• Restriction that maximum 50% of holding can be rented out• Obligation to use the land

• Land certification started first in Tigray Region in 1998 • Land certification started in 2003-2005 in three other

regions (Amhara, Oromiya, and SNNP regions) of the country

Page 9: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Background, continued

• Land Registration and Certification 1998-99

• Highly participatory and low cost approach• Granted user rights to land into perpetuity

• New Land Law Reforms in Tigray 2006-2010

• Established local Land Administration Committees and Land Courts

• Restriction on land rental at 50% of farm size• Confiscation of land from households who have been

away for more than two years with access to off-farm income sources

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Page 10: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Empirical evidence: Land certification in Ethiopia

1. 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)

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. Food security: IFPRI working paper (2013)

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Page 11: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Data in Tigray Region

• Household panel data survey• Stratified random sample of 400 households in

16 communities• Stratification based on population density,

market access and agroclimatic variation (sub-sample of an IFPRI community level survey)

• Surveyed in 1998, 2001, 2003 and 2006• Household and farm plot level data• Use households for which we have complete

data (balanced panel)

• Survey of 400 local conflict mediators in 27 communities (85 villages)

Page 12: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

Tenure Insecurity, Gender, Low-cost Land Certification, and Land

Rental Market Participation

By

Stein Holden, Klaus Deininger and Hosaena Ghebru

Page 13: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Gender and Market Participation: Key Hypotheses

• H1. Female-headed households are more likely to rent out land and rent out more land than male-headed households (due to their poverty in non-tradable non-land resources) vs.

• H2. Female-headed households rent out less land than male-headed households because they are more tenure insecure.

• H3. Landlords that received certificates rent out more land after the reform (due to increased tenure security).

• H4. Female landlords that received land certificates rent out more land as a response to getting land certificates compared to male landlords that received land certificates (because they initially were more tenure insecure and land certificates increased their tenure security relatively more).

Page 14: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Findings

• Significant and positive effect of land certification on the amount of activity in the land rental market • Potential landlords have become more willing to rent

out their land, especially female-headed households• Female-headed households with land certificates

rented out significantly more land • Easier for (potential) tenants to access land to rent in

• Significant transaction costs in the land rental market also after the certification

Page 15: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

Impacts of Low-cost Land Certification on Investment and

Productivity

ByStein Holden, Klaus Deininger and Hosaena Ghebru

Page 16: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Investments, Management and Productivity of Land: Hypotheses

• H1: Having a certificate for a farm plot enhances investments on the plot in form of building of new structures, improvement/ maintenance of existing conservation structures and planting of trees

• H2: Restrictions on tree planting in the land proclamations (especially on eucalyptus) have prevented investment in trees. Therefore, land certification has not stimulated this type of investment and there will be no difference between plots with and without certificates

• H3:Land certification has enhanced land productivity

Page 17: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Findings

• Land certification has contributed to• Increased investment in trees• Better management of soil conservation structures• Higher land productivity

Page 18: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Yield distribution, plots with and without land certificate

0.1

.2.3

.4.5

De

nsi

ty

0 2 4 6 8 10logtotvalha

Certificate No certificate

Page 19: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

Links between Tenure Security and Food Security: Can land registration and certification enhance food

security

Hosaena Ghebru and Stein Holden

Page 20: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Objectives

• To analyze the link between tenure security enhanced by land registration and certification and household food security

• Hypotheses: • H-a: Land certification has enhanced food security in form of

calorie availability for households.• H-b: Land certification has in particular enhanced the calorie

availability through strengthened use rights and investments• H-c: Land certification has enhanced calorie availability through

enhanced participation in land rental markets• H-d: Land certification has in particular enhanced the calorie

availability of female-headed households

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Page 21: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Key Conclusions

• Land registration and certification has enhanced tenure security in our study area (northern Ethiopia)

• Food availability has been enhanced via increased investment and land productivity on owner-operated land

• Food availability has been enhanced through increased access to land through the land rental market for tenant households

• Implications: • Recent restrictive land law reforms may reduce the tenure

security and land rental market effects of land certification

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Page 22: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Calorie availability of male- and female-headed households in 1997-98 and 2009-10

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0.0

00

2.0

00

4.0

00

6.0

00

8

De

nsity

1800 Kcaldaily_calorie_intake2

female headed HHs 1998 male headed HHs 1998

kernel = epanechnikov, bandwidth = 172.0371

(A) Calorie supply comparison - 1997/980

.000

2.0

00

4.0

00

6

De

nsity

1800 Kcaldaily_calorie_intake2

female headed HHs 2010 male headed HHs 2010

kernel = epanechnikov, bandwidth = 273.3059

(C) Calorie supply comparison - 2009/10

Page 23: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

Can land registration and certification reduce land border conflicts?

ByStein Holden, Klaus Deininger and Hosaena Ghebru

Page 24: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Main findings

• The land reform in Tigray has contributed to a reduction in land border disputes

• Better market access is associated with less conflicts• Variation in quality of the reform was reflected in the

frequency of conflicts: Better quality -> Less conflicts– Quality of land demarcation and measurement– Involvement of local elders enhanced timely conflict

resolution

• Many land border conflicts near district centers remain unresolved– Expansion of urban centers into rural areas has not been

addressed well by the reform

Page 25: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Successful land reform in Ethiopia

• Land certificates have been provided to more than 6 million households and for more than 20 million plots of land within a period of 8 years

• Land certification has in Tigray enhanced • Tenure security, especially of women• Land rental market participation• Land investments• Land productivity• Reduced land conflicts• Reduced poverty, especially of female headed households(Ghebru and Holden 2008, 2013; Holden et al. 2008a, 2008b, 2011,

Deininger et al. 2008, Holden and Tefera 2008,). The studies can be obtained from author upon request.

Page 26: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Why has the Ethiopian land reform been so successful, despite ...?

• It has not provided full private property rights to land• It has not opened for sales markets for land• It has not opened for mortgaging of land • It has not used advanced technology or highly skilled

technical staff during implementation (except in pilot areas)

Page 27: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Conclusion: Wider perspective

Why the Ethiopian reform with more restricted rights has been successful while land titling programs in Kenya and Madagascar did not have similar effects:

• Collateral effect unimportant in all cases• Initial tenure insecurity higher in Ethiopia – created a

demand for certificates• Low cost and rapid implementation through a

participatory and transparent process• Local administrative capacity and motivation• No local elite was threatened by the reform

Page 28: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

What next for the land governance sector in Ethiopia?

• Institutional/administrative issues• Incidences of 2nd generation land ownership together

with lack of updates in the land registery system potential ownership (inheritance-related disputes)

• Policy/regulatory issues• More restrictive land use policies concealed land

contracts inefficiency in the land rental market incidences of contractual-related disputes

• 1st stage land certification 2nd stage land certification (?) more depth of rights• Rural population pressure and increasing landlessness

incidences of parcel border disputes demand for 2nd stage certification

Page 29: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

What next for the land governance sector in Ethiopia: on-going studies by ESSP

• Administrative reforms• How does the local adminstrative capacity coping with

the increasing pressure on land? Land registery books or computers or both?

• Policy/regulatory reforms• How do the recent restrictive land policies and

regulations affect spatial and economic mobility of farm households and its implications on the boader agenda of agricultural transformation in the country

• 1st stage land certification 2nd stage land certification (?) more depth of rights• What is the demand for a more formalized land rights and the 2nd

stage land certification in Ethiopia

Page 30: Impacts of Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Empirical evidences from the Northern Highlands of Ethiopia

INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Thank you!

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