A Case Study from Ethiopia.
DCG Report 38
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Betru Nedessa, Jawad Ali, and Ingrid Nyborg
Land degradation is a severe problem across sub-Saharan Africa, and Ethiopia is among the most affected countries. Land degradation in Ethiopia is especially severe in the highlands where the average soil loss from farmland is estimated to be 100 tons/hectare/year (Hagos, 2003; FAO, 1986). To stop further land degradation, the government of Ethiopia has initiated a number of projects including soil and water conservation works and the establishment of Area Enclosures (AEs) with the financial assistance of international donors, mainly the World Food Program (Betru, 2003).
Establishment of AEs has been an important strategy for the rehabilitation of degraded hillsides. This practice has become very common, especially in the highlands, due to the impressive improvement of productivity and reduction in soil erosion in the areas enclosed in the early 1980s (WFP/MoA, 2002).
In spite of the impressive results of the ecological rehabilitation and improvements of productivity, many communities have had a bad experience with AEs in the past due to uncertainty and the lack of clarity of land tenure and public land use policy in the country. Due to these uncertainties, the communities did not have decision making power in the management and utilization of the resources. In addition, they could not use grass and wood produced in the AEs. This adversely affected the sense of ownership and community commitment for effective protection and sustainable management of the resources. This problem is still not adequately addressed and the communities are uncertain about the future of land tenure and land use policy. This has restricted them in making decisions that are important for the sustainability of the AEs and resources within. In an attempt to remedy this situation, the Drylands Coordination Group (DCG) commissioned this study to develop guidelines to support the government in developing management plans with a clear land tenure and land use policy for the sustainable management of AEs.
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