Impacts of the Land Tenure System on
Sustainable Land Use in Ethiopia
Hossein Azadi, Saghi Movahhed Moghaddam, Hossein Mahmoudi,
Stefan Burkart, Diriba Dadi Debela, Dereje Teklemariam, Michal Lodin and
Philippe Lebailly
1. Introduction
In most developing countries, land is linked with people’s culture, identity,
and dignity. This claim is often expressed in the folklore of these countries. For
example, in Ethiopian national and heroic songs and poems, land is considered as
a dignity (i.e., the honor a person gives to himself) that soldiers are fighting for
(Bezu and Holden 2014). Despite their cultural importance, such perceptions and
beliefs can also lead to border and land conflicts. Land management is a perceptual
concept, and in physical terms, land is nothing but an economic tool. This is linked to
Sustainable Development Goal 15 (SDG 15), which is aimed at protecting, restoring,
and promoting the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems (e.g., lands and forests)
(United Nations 2015). Land policy in developing countries affects the development of
societies in different dimensions and goes beyond economic and cultural perspectives.
Since the period of colonial rule, the Ethiopian land policies have had impacts on
resource allocation and agricultural development (Götz 2019; FAO 2008).
Ethiopia’s landscapes are very diverse and stretch from deserts to volcanoes
and highlands. It has an area of 1,104,300 sq. km, which makes it roughly as wide
as France and Spain combined. More than 70% of Africa’s mountains are found in
Ethiopia. Despite these facts and in contrast to the documentation of the countries
origins, little is yet recorded about its land tenure system and other key related
issues (Lavers 2018). However, Ethiopia’s history has witnessed different rulers
during different epochs, and this has brought different land management systems.
Ethiopia is the second highest populated country in Africa (Ethiopia Population
2020) with a population of approximately 107.53 million (based on an estimation in
December 2018), and the annual growth rate is 2.46%. The key source of the country’s
economy is farming, which accounts for approximately 50% of the GDP, 85% of
total import/export revenue, and more than 80% of total employment (Ethiopian
Economics Association 2008; Cochrane and Vercillo 2019). Several theories about
the factors affecting living and land management in the East African highlands have
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been investigated (Fleskens and Stringer 2014). Among the main underlying theories
was the prospect of sustainable land use at any given location, which relies on the
“development pathways” and can be pursued. In turn, these development pathways
rely on factors that determine comparative benefits in various sites, including the
biophysical factors affecting agriculture capacity, market and facilities access, and
population density (Sreejith et al. 2020).
These factors might affect household choices of livelihoods (e.g., participating
in non-farm activities vs. crop production) and land use/management decisions
(e.g., cropping patterns, the proportion of on-farm inputs, tree planting, and soil
and water conservation measures). All of these decisions and choices will greatly
affect the sustainability and productivity, employment, food safety, and welfare
of agriculture (Wubneh 2018). In 2015, the United Nations, through the approval
of SDGs, adopted an ambitious agenda for simultaneously tackling several major
challenges of the 21st century. These goals are focused on eliminating hunger and
alleviating poverty while protecting the environment (United Nations 2015). The 17
SDGs and their targets present a new and coherent way of thinking about diverse
issues related to development, such as climate change, gender, and hunger. Fu et al.
(2019) conceptualized the relationship between three classifications of the SDGs:
(a) governance (including effective regulation, equitable rules, and systems, i.e., SDGs
9, 11, 12, 13, and 17) will ensure that (b) essential human survival needs are met
(SDGs 2, 6, 7, 14, and 15), while at the same time (c) maximizing expected objectives
(SDGs 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, and 16). The current study provides insights into the range of
actions regarding the land tenure system linked to SDGs in general and SDG 15 or
“Life on Land” in particular at the country level in Ethiopia.
Presently, 40% of the Earth’s land surface is already used for agriculture, and
arable land tenure will enhance under protectionist paradigms for food security. Many
cultivated areas represent high input and intensified landscapes, in which pesticides,
fertilizers, and irrigation are used with a severe environmental and biodiversity
impact (Leventon and Laudan 2017). Food sovereignty has become an alternative
way to achieve local food security, protect biodiversity and the environment, and
provide wider social values through non-industrial agriculture methods. The most
general definition of sovereignty, as defined by Beuchelt and Virchow (2012), is the
right of people to healthy and sustainable food and the right to develop their own
agricultural and food systems (Heckelman and Wittman 2015; Suh 2015). Food
sovereignty can be formulated as a form of localism, which restores sovereignty over
economics (Hess 2008).
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In the last decade, the sovereignty and accessibility of food have changed
considerably. In 2010, in Ethiopia, about 2.8 million people needed emergency food
aid, but at the same time, they had been selling over 600,000 hectares of their land
to transnational enterprises, exporting most of their products (Reuters 2011; Green
2011). Although a paradigm has focused on the financial and sovereign aspect of
food provision, Ethiopia still has great food insecurity, which is caused by a lack of
access to adequate, safe, and nutritious food (WHO 2017; Ruelle et al. 2019). However,
Ethiopia needs to fulfill its food security commitments along with broader values
(Leventon and Laudan 2017). For example, the threats posed by the commodification
of agriculture and global market competition are a factor that can challenge food and
existing systems in Ethiopia.
Commodity agriculture is a major contributor to many countries’ economies
(FAOSTAT 2017). In many countries (such as Ethiopia), commodity agriculture is
simultaneously linked to environmental and social challenges to improve agricultural
sustainability (Barona et al. 2010; Bowman et al. 2012). Concerning the effectiveness of
the sustainability paradigm in recent decades, civil society and voluntary governance
mechanisms have become more important (Pye 2019). Integrated food security data
will not measure food sovereignty’s importance, and data will not take unfair practices
and environmental harm into consideration. A large proportion of Ethiopians are
subsistence farmers who neglect human rights and environmental protection, since
they are deprived of their land, rights, and livelihoods (Jiren et al. 2020). In order
to achieve the goal of national food security and reduce the emergency food aid
required, rural farms and food sovereignty must improve their revenue with the
objective of securing their lands in Ethiopia. Agricultural commodities can also
change land use and land tenure in Ethiopia, as in many developing countries.
While the commodification of agriculture can lead to the conversion of large tracts of
land, price fluctuations after the introduction of a commodity to the market, due to
competition in global markets, will lead to the conversion of subsistence land into
commercial agriculture in some regions of Ethiopia. This is a serious threat to the
sustainability of agricultural systems, food security, sustainable rural livelihoods,
and land use conservation in Ethiopian regions (Jiren et al. 2020).
According to Moreda’s (2018) finding, the focus on land tenure security, at
least in the fields studied, might be misleading. Some existing concerns were
also revealed, appearing to threaten landowners’ tenure security (e.g., land rights
conditions) that may have led to further investment in land conservation activities.
The main problem, however, is latent rights with high levels of insecurity and conflict.
There is a significant social malaise, unfortunate agrarian structure, and significant
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pressure for land redistribution due to unsolved land tenure concerns, despite rapid
economic development (Ege 2017). As Legesse et al. (2018) demonstrated, land
is a fundamental asset of social, economic, and political sustainability, providing
ecosystem services, sustainability, and accumulating richness for rural communities
in developing nations, such as Ethiopia. Degradation of the land is among Ethiopia’s
biggest environmental problems. Among the key factors affecting the decision of
farmers to invest in land management, for example, may be ownership rights to land.
The literature recognizes that land rights play a significant role in land management.
Melesse and Awel (2020) demonstrated that in many African countries, agricultural
land use and tenure systems are characterized by subsistence production and a
system of community land tenure. Tenaw et al. (2009) discussed questions relating
to land tenure, land rights, agricultural productivity, and climate change impacts
on the north-western region of Amhara. Their findings show that land shortages
alone do not affect the production of agriculture; they affect the land tenure structure,
the lack of proper land ownership, the lack of enhanced agriculture technology, and
climate change. In most Sub-Saharan African countries, including Ethiopia, this is
the main issue.
In another study by Ege (2017), land tenure insecurity in the post-certification of
the Amhara region in Ethiopia was investigated. The results showed that ownership
rights are thought to have improved, but the evidence is weak and contradictory.
Land rentals are growing, and farmer insecurity is high. Legesse et al. (2018) looked
at the determinants of the decisions of farmers investing in reforestation actions
by concentrating on land tenure and property in northwestern Ethiopia. As they
showed, land provides ecosystem services, generates livelihoods, and accumulates
wealth in developing countries, such as ethics, and is a major factor in social, political,
and economic sustainability. Their study found that land safety is among the key
factors affecting the decision of farmers to intervene in reforestation. In Ethiopia
and Tanzania, Melesse and Awel (2020) examined the tenure of land, gender, and
productivity. They were found to be characterized by subsistence production and
a communal system of land tenure in many African countries. They also showed
that in general, tenure security affects the productivity of households positively and
considerably and is marginally significant, especially for female heads of households.
Ethiopia experienced a strong political debate on the relevant land tenure policy
based on Chala’s (2016) study. Imperial rule fostered an extreme state intervention
in complex tenure systems. However, the previous feudal system was actually
abolished by Derg, and so, access to land was distributed by peasant associations.
By declaring state ownership of land in the Federal Constitution, the incumbent
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administration changed certain policies of the former regime. The principal source
of controversy is the use of land as the instrument for sustainable development by
the Ethiopian regimes. Getahun (2019) argued that, in the Derg regime, although it
changed the land tenure from heterogeneous to a uniform land tenure system in the
whole country, there was unfairness in allocating fertile land to peasants. However,
some plots of fertile land were given to some peasants favored by the local state
agents, such as by members of land allotting committees. As a result, the Derg
regime’s land reform failed to maintain tenure security in southern provinces and
elsewhere in Ethiopia. Broadly speaking, while the 1995 constitution largely confirms
state land ownership as a continuation of Derg policies, some specifications are also
provided that seek to take into account the need for rural land and labor markets to
rise (World Bank 2013; Wubneh 2018; Tura 2018).
Focusing on one of the main targets of SDG 15, i.e., “promoting the
implementation of sustainable management of all types of landscapes”, this study
aims at discussing the underlying causes of socio-economic and policy-related factors
affecting the sustainability of land tenure systems in Ethiopia because the effects of
land tenure and land use policies on sustainability and productivity of agriculture,
income, food security, and welfare are generally not well understood yet. The
aim of this study is also to review and evaluate the performance of land tenure
systems in Ethiopia. This study conducted a systematic review to explore theoretical
considerations and overviews on current estimates related to land tenure security.
The study used major databases (1990 and 2020), including Google Scholar, the Web
of Science, and Science Direct. In addition, a comprehensive search was performed
to download relevant papers, articles, and FAO and World Bank reports on land
tenure system and land degradation in Ethiopia using the following keywords:
1) land tenure insecurity, 2) land use policy, 3) natural resources degradation, 4) land
governance, 5) farmers’ livelihood, and 6) land use decision making. Moreover, to
support the main findings of the current study mainly discussed in the discussion
section, other relevant papers were downloaded and reviewed. The systematic review
was limited to journal-articles published in peer-reviewed international journals and
reports written in English. The collected articles and reports address relevant issues
linked to the six keywords and help provide the coherent reviewing role of land
tenure institutions and strategies of farmers to secure land use rights. As shown in
Figure 1, the data collection process was conducted in three steps. The first step was
dealing with the collection of databases. In the second step, the (about 200) relevant
articles/reports were downloaded based on the six keywords, as discussed above. In
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the third step, the most relevant articles/reports (about 100) to the land tenure system
and land degradation in Ethiopia were chosen.
1. Database 2. Selection based on 3. Selection based on most 
(1990-2020) keywords relevant data 
– Google Scholar – Land tenure insecurity – Scope
– Web of Science – Land use policy – Title
– Science Direct – Natural resources – Abstract
– FAO degradation – Main findings
– World Bank – Land governance – Conclusion
– Farmers’ livelihood
– Land use decision 
making
Investigation Collection Analysis
300 200 100 
articles/reports articles/reports articles/reports
Figure 1. Steps of performing a systematic review and data collection.
2. Ethiopian Experiences in Land Tenure and Land Use Policy Issues
2.1. Land Tenure System in Ethiopia: A Historical Review
It is believed that Ethiopia was founded in 980 BC (Tareke et al. 2002). However,
due to the limited availability of information, the history of land tenure and land use
policy can be classified into three periods only: the pre-1975, the Derg (1975–1991),
and the modern (1991–present) land tenure and land use policies.
The system of land tenure in Ethiopia belonging to pre-1975 was among the most
complex tenure systems in the world and has not been studied in detail (Hawando
1997; Fitsum et al. 1999). Among the aspects that created a wide range of land use and
ownership are the geographical and cultural diversity and its history (IFPRI 2005).
The system’s dynamic nature played a critical part in hindering any significant steps
towards a substantive reform. Such problems may also have contributed to a number
of classifications and methods used to characterize this past system of land tenure.
However, the most widely known types of tenure are rist/kinship, family, church, and
state-owned structures (Melaku 2013). The rist/constitution tenure scheme was most
common in the northern part of the country, while in most of the country, private
tenure was prevalent.
The rist scheme was distinguished by the concept of accepting access to land
(using and transferring rights without displacement) for all descendants of citizens
with a shared ancestor and in an ambilineal manner (the right to inherit land from
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father and mother). Gult is considered as a tenure system, which is often easy to
confuse with rist as a variant or rist–gult. Gult is not the right to farm, but the right to
tax the profits of property is the main distinction. Less landlessness and tenancy were
among the positive qualities for private tenancy in this scheme, while land decline,
division of land, and constant land access litigation were among its major problems
in the literature (e.g., Chekol 2017; Binayaw 2015). The rist structure also became a
significant factor mediating the power of peasantry through the government through
the elites retaining these rights with its gult rights over landholders (Yigremew 2002).
In the final days of the Imperial Empire, private tenancy was known as the most
dominant system, affecting about 60% of the peasants and 65% of the country’s
population, and land was sold and exchanged under this scheme. Considerable land
concentration, exploitation, and insecurity have categorized the private tenure system,
which has led to student movements against the kingship of Derg (Fitsum et al. 1999).
The Derg land reform of 1975 is considered as a revolutionary move that
abolished tenant–landlord relations in Ethiopia, mainly recognized by its slogan
“meret le’arashu!” (“a land must be given to its farmer!”). The reform was intended to
fundamentally alter past agricultural relations and land owners, promote agricultural
productivity, create jobs, distribute soil, and increase rural incomes (Belay et al. 2014).
The right to own land has been vested on the state since the agricultural reform in
1975. Farmers may access land through state-controlled farmers’ associations. In
peasant associations in which they live, farmers have the open-ended right to use
land (the right to use the property of others), but it is subjected to the evidence that
they have a permanent natural residence and a capacity for continuous agriculture
and fulfilling administrative duties. In 1975, the “Public Property of Rural Land
Proclamation” nationalized all rural property and set out to redeploy it to its farmers
and organize farmers into cooperatives, thus removing exploitative landlord–owner
ties with the imperial regime (Dejene and Teferi 1994; Binayaw 2015; Cochrane and
Vercillo 2019).
The collectivization program was intensified by the Derg towards the end
of the 1970s with the promotion of state-cooperatives and the establishment of
large-scale state farms. State-cooperatives were to be formed through the merging of
their land, draught animals, and agricultural machinery by members of a peasant
association. Automatically, the head of the cooperative became the head of the
peasant organization and was thus able to exert significant political power and
control over all members of the association (Kebede 2002). Peasants should formally,
at their free will, join state-cooperatives (Dessalegn 2004), but some studies report
more vigorous organization implementation (Azeze 2002; Crewett and Korf 2008).
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It is not always true that land tenure security can increase productivity in
agriculture. A number of studies of African countries in the 1990s officially tested the
nature and strength of the relationship between tenure security and farm performance
(e.g., Kunz et al. (2016) in Gambia; Higgins et al. (2018) in Ghana, Kenya, and
Rwanda; and Delville (2010) in Kenya). Putting a few exceptions aside, land rights
have not been identified as a significant factor in determining whether or not farmers
make investments that improve land, use inputs that increase yields, obtain credit, or
improve land productivity (Lawin and Tamini 2017). Lawin and Tamini (2017) claim
that the most pronounced relationships were found in Rwanda, where the right to
bequeath was the main factor of some types of land improvement. Rwandan parcels
that could not be bequeathed were, under short-term arrangements, mostly rented or
borrowed. The research concluded that yields were not affected in any significant
way by the presence of land titles. These findings are contrary to the common notion
that tenure and titling safety lead to higher yields. All in all, agricultural productivity
is affected by many factors that could be beyond the security of land tenure. For
Northeastern Ghana, Murtazashvili and Murtazashvili (2016) argue that the focus of
politics alone on increasing property security does not lead to increased agricultural
production. However, other factors such as a lack of budget, poor soil fertility,
insufficient rainfall, outbreaks of pests and diseases, insufficient agricultural land,
burning of shrubs, and excessive felling of trees are the most important factors in
reducing productivity in agriculture.
In 1991, with the fall of Mengistu’s military–socialist Derg, farm collectives
were quickly dissolved, and land tenure changed limitedly, to the frustration of
several foreign donor agencies. In November 1991, the Declaration of the Transitional
Government of Ethiopia on Economic Policy led to the continuation of the Derg
regime’s land policy. Since the fall of the military socialist Derg regime in 1991, land
policy in Ethiopia has been controversial (Chigbu et al. 2019); many case studies
have been conducted on the land use system in different parts of Ethiopia. Next, the
government launched a land certification program to grant land use rights in order
to resolve land tenure issues at the end of the 1990s, while it tried to maintain the
ownership of all lands (Fleskens et al. 2014). In 1995, a new federal constitution in
favor of public ownership of land was adopted in Ethiopia. By this, the government
eliminated land policy as an efficient variable to control and monitor the changing
circumstances affecting the rural economy (Ali et al. 2017).
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2.2. Recent Changes in the Land Tenure System in Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s new land tenure policy continues to be seen as a fundamental concern.
Researchers are increasingly arguing about this controversial issue to persuade the
government to change land policy. Dejene and Teferi (1994) evaluated the current
tenure system by considering the existence of a high level of insecurity regarding land.
Land insecurity, in particular, is an obstacle to farmers’ interests in the conservation
of soil and other natural resources. They concluded that land tenure security should
ensure access to land for vulnerable groups, including pastoralists and women.
The backbone of Ethiopia’s land economy is smallholder agriculture. With few
exceptions, the rights of smallholders’ access to land have been largely preserved.
However, the conditions and criteria for women and pastoralists’ access to land are
poor and not properly understood. As a result, access to land by gender, occupational,
religious, and ethnic minorities is at risk and must be carefully controlled. Historically,
there have been concerns that Derg reforms have eroded the division of resources.
Despite the fact that it seems that after the reforms, these efforts to strengthen the
rights of women in the land were complementary to the changes that give equal
ownership to men and women, some discrimination has subsequently increased
since the land reform (Kumar and Quisumbing 2015; Flintan 2010).
Another neglected, but relevant, aspect is land access on behalf of indigenous
nomad tribes (pastoralists) and women. The way that nomadic populations
(pastoralists) wander from place to place and occupy areas for a limited period
of time makes it difficult for them to assert their territorial rights (Gilbert 2007;
Abate et al. 2015). The victims of international law are nomads and, therefore, their
specific claims need to be recognized. In most societies, such as non-indigenous
individuals or minorities, indigenous nomads face double discrimination. Despite
the gradual evolution and recent progress in the international land tenure rights of
nomads, they are still seen as nomadic societies in their homelands at the national
level (Makki 2018; Tamrat 2010).
In Africa, when privatized land tenures promptly fragment pasture and
sustain losses in ecosystem service services, intensified livestock production by
privatizing is often inconsistent with mobility strategy (Basupi et al. 2017). Greater
vulnerability to livestock disease incidences, climate variability, and land degradation
can, therefore, challenge the livelihood prospects of pastoralists in communal grazing
areas. According to Yang et al. (2020), cooperative grassland management practices
have led to considerably higher household incomes, better equality of gender, and
more managed grasslands than individuals. Nevertheless, because of their long-term
customary activities, many pastoralists chose different grassland management
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practices. In general, a new reform of rural tenure has enabled pastoralists to choose
different pastoral practices, and the promoted, large-scale cooperative pastoral
practices benefit the socio-ecological pastoral system. The academic debate has
limited knowledge of the historical development, land use patterns of pastoral
landscapes, and the way in which historical perspectives are embedded in the
political process. The link between several historical factors and the developments
in pastoralist landscapes and patterns of land use is less well understood. The
sustainability of current rangeland policies depends on this lack of empirical analyses
for the evolution of problems in the municipal rangeland (Fernandez-Gimenez 2006;
Basupi et al. 2017). In addition, the principles and methods for enforcing the land
tenure system were included in the newly drafted Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary
Democratic Front (EPRDF) constitution. Researchers, such as Bruce et al. (1994)
and Dessalegn (2003), argued that the EPRDF’s land policy is neither applicable to
the agrarian society in Ethiopia nor an incentive for farmers to invest and increase
productivity more than ever before. The pro-government advocate Hussein (2001)
analyzed the unfair practice of land redistribution in the Amhara region in 1997.
He added details on the policy overtones and implementation without the consent
of the majority of peasants to participate in the reallocation program. Since 1998,
rural land registration and qualification programs have been introduced in different
regions of Ethiopia. Protecting land ownership and strengthening land-use practices
are the primary objectives of the land registration system. The first phase began in
1998 in the Tigray region, followed by the Amhara region in 2002 and the Oromia
region in 2004, respectively. The second phase is underway in all regions of the
country. Ethiopia’s agricultural land registration system is among the world’s largest
land registration projects and is fully implemented (Deininger et al. 2008; Tigistu
2011). The land registration system in Ethiopia involves the right (title of registration)
with the name of the rightful owner and object of the right. The implementation
of land registration is a highly participatory process, with the majority of the land
demarcation input from the local community (Tigistu 2011).
In imperial and modern Ethiopia, land use policy, the real source of power,
remains at the core of a controversial political debate (Crewett and Korf 2008). There
are two antagonistic arguments concerning land ownership rights, which are the
basis of the debate. The government of Ethiopia continues to advocate state land
ownership, whereby landowners are granted usufruct rights solely (Getahun and
Lanen 2015). To protect rural farmers from selling their land to the rich, leaving
them without land or a source of livelihood, the right to sell or mortgage the land
is ruled out (Crewett and Korf 2008). The government builds its argument on the
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basis of two principles of social and historical justice: (1) justice acknowledged as
egalitarianism, ensuring equal access rights to such land for every farmer in need of
agricultural land, and (2) historical justice, providing tenure security to Ethiopian
farmers who have experienced land deprivation and land expropriation through
different methods during the process (Crewett and Korf 2008; Hussein 2001).
According to Lavers (2018), there are complex and potentially explosive problems
with ethnic and religious minority land rights. Pre-revolutionary land tenure systems
in most of Ethiopia were the result of conquest land alienation and settlement by
northern groups. Therefore, if there is a conflict with the local opinion or tradition,
the government must maintain the right to protect ethnic minorities, women, and
natural resources (Tura 2018). Lavers (2018), however, states that the truth is not
quite so clear-cut. While state ownership of land continues to dominate land tenure,
the establishment of ethnic federalism has direct consequences for land governance,
particularly in terms of non-indigenous ethnic minorities. In addition, in many parts
of the nation, non-customary tenure systems have maintained some influence.
2.3. The Underlying Causes of Land Degradation in Ethiopia
Land destruction was often listed as a major driver of environmental change and
had a broad range of environmental and socio-economic consequences, mainly due
to deforestation, for agriculture and settlement. Ethiopia experienced major famines
in the 1970s and 1980s because of deforestation and subsequent loss of productive
capacity (Bai et al. 2008). Ethiopia‘s annual forest loss rate from 1995 to 2010 was
estimated at 141,000 ha, which is approximately an annual decrease of 1.1 percent of
the total forest area (FAO 2010). Demand for domestic oil, expansion of farmlands,
and overgrazing have been considered as the key drivers of deforestation in Ethiopia
(Belay et al. 2014).
There were extreme land cover conversions in the Ethiopian highlands, mainly
due to demographic pressure (high population growth and densities) and the resulting
increase in food and household energy demand and the subsequent expansion of
croplands and destruction of forests (Rosell et al. 2017; Getahun et al. 2013). In the
central highlands of Ethiopia, there has been a major expansion of agricultural land
and settlements over half of the last century, which has taken place at the expense
of forests. Amsalu et al. (2007) recorded an 83% forest loss between 1957 and 2000,
and Minta et al. (2018) recorded a 73% reduction in forest cover in the Dendi-Jeldu
mountains of the central Ethiopian highlands in 1957 and 2014. Both authors link
this forest loss to the expansion of agriculture, pastureland, and settlements as a
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response to the scarcity of available and suitable land for cultivation. The same trend
of deforestation was found in North Central Ethiopia, South Wollo (Rosell et al. 2017).
As a result of both rural–urban and urban–urban migration, population growth
in the satellite cities surrounding Addis Ababa has increased in recent years (Lohnert
2017). In particular, the migration of Addis Ababa’s urban people, who are finding
job opportunities with the industries and developments in the urban fringes, has
brought about major changes in land use. This indicates that urban growth and
development cause vast deforestation ranges across major urban centers (Kasa et al.
2011; Mohammed 2015). The estimated cost of land loss associated with land use
and land cover changes in Ethiopia is estimated at around USD 4.3 billion annually
(Gebreselassie et al. 2016). According to Gebreselassie et al. (2016), in Ethiopia,
the cost of rehabilitating the degraded land through land use and cover change
was found to be around USD 54 billion over a 30-year duration. The land tenure,
which will be addressed in the next section, is among many reasons for degradation
(Chekol 2017).
As shown in Figure 2, there are three main levels for both land degradation and
land improvement. The first level, drivers of land degradation, can be mediated and
modified by the second level, the institutional environment. This process will/could
lead to land improvement if the third level, land user resource allocation, is considered
carefully. Land improvement and land degradation mitigation can result from a
behavioral change of land users and their reallocation of resources (e.g., capital or
time) to land improvement practices. The entire process will lead to land degradation,
unless all these three levels are mediated and modified by a number of institutional
programs on land tenure security.
Drivers of land Institutional Land user’s resource 
degradation: environment: allocation:
– Population growth – Informal rules & – Based on land user Land degradation
– Urbanization and customs capabilities
migration – Formal rules – Costs/benefits
– Climate change –  – Property rights – Access to resources
Insecure land tenure – Organizations and Land improvement
system governance
Figure 2. Three main levels of land degradation and land improvement.
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3. The Challenge: Impacts of Land Tenure Insecurity on Natural Resources and
Land Users
3.1. Land Degradation: Biodiversity Loss
Land degradation has been characterized by a steady decrease in the land’s
productive potential, which can occur through any combination of related processes,
such as soil erosion, soil nutrient depletion, biodiversity loss, and deforestation
(Le et al. 2012). Some of Ethiopia’s environmental challenges today include
the relationship between the environment and development in general, the poor
involvement of citizens, and community-based organizations in environmental
protection activities (Le et al. 2014). Furthermore, poor land management practices
coupled with a lack of understanding lead to the significant depletion of natural
resources, such as forest loss, soil degradation, and the scarcity of water supplies (Bai
and Dent 2008). Ethiopia has developed a variety of significant policies and strategies
regarding the climate. However, the formulation of sound policies and plans alone is
not an ideal solution, since the goals can only be accomplished if they are applied
correctly (Hansen et al. 2013). While poor policy and strategy implementation
remains a major constraint, some other policies and practices hinder the proper
implementation of successful and sustainable resource management activities, such
as investment policy or regional policies (Le et al. 2014).
As discussed by Gete (2015) and MoARD and WB (2007), despite the fact that
tackling land degradation and biodiversity loss through restoring degraded natural
resources (e.g., soil and forest) was a priority for the country, organizations dealing
with natural resource management were frequently restructured. This process
resulted and still results in a high turnover of staff, loss of institutional capacity
leading to discontinuity of activities and initiatives, and loss of institutional memory.
More importantly, the absence of participation in the management of resources
has resulted in the rejection of central government policies, such as settlement
and resettlement, reforestation and soil conservation campaigns, and tree cutting
prohibition programs (Yosef et al. 2013). In addition, public sector land development
efforts have been made with little consideration of traditional land users.
3.2. Soil Erosion: Land Productivity Loss
A key element in soil degradation is the process, which leads to a reduction or
loss in the current or future productivity of land and the ability to use it under the
effect of different natural or human factors (EPRS European Parliament Research
Service). The loss of soil is among the most obvious factors that affect farmers’
237
livelihoods and also indirectly affects the livelihoods of people depending on the
production of food by farmers. Soil erosion is highly sensitive to the effects of
both human and natural conditions (Pimentel and Burgess 2013). Gully erosion is
among the different forms of soil erosion across the globe and has an impact on the
productivity of land (Ionita et al. 2015).
Among the major causes of soil degradation in Ethiopia is soil erosion.
Berry et al. (2003) mention that the country’s annual economic loss derived from
soil degradation in the form of soil erosion and nutrient depletion is in the range of
10–11% of agricultural gross domestic product achieved by the country’s highlands.
Several recent studies (Yesuf et al. 2008; Tsegaye 2019) have estimated the annual cost
of soil degradation related to soil erosion and the loss of agricultural and grassland
nutrients to be around USD 106 million. The rapid population growth in Ethiopia
has led to a decline in the supply of cultivable land and very high soil erosion
rates (Essays UK 2013). Generally, the insecure land tenure system and the historic
changes in land use in Ethiopia have had a major impact on the country’s biodiversity,
natural resources, and farmers’ livelihoods, which will be discussed in the following
sub-section (Tsegaye et al. 2019).
3.3. Impacts on Farmers’ Livelihoods: Low Income
Land degradation poses environmental challenges and causes land productivity
losses that, in turn, lead to the conversion of high-value biomes, particularly in
countries with low-income, where most rural farmers rely on natural resources
(Lal et al. 2014). Land degradation caused by an unstable land tenure system has
negative implications for the protection of household food and directly reduces rural
communities’ livelihoods in Ethiopia. The initial effect of soil degradation is lower
crop yields, resulting in increased rates of poverty among farm households (von
Braun 2013). This poverty leads to less potential for land users to invest in sustainable
land management practices and thus higher land degradation rates (Bai et al. 2008).
It is important to understand the causes of land degradation and their interactions to
determine the correct steps to address it.
Land tenure, as a security feature, has fundamental roles in the livelihoods of
farmers. Secure land tenure can provide reasonably good markets with additional
benefits and opportunities, including production, input, and financial markets
(Baumgartner et al. 2015). Sound land ownership rights broaden the planning scope
of agricultural entrepreneurs and make expensive advances in sustainable land
management more practical and competitive with significant mid- to long-term
benefits (von Braun 2013). It is essential to recognize that a fair and efficient rule of
238
law is a prerequisite for secure land tenure, such that the effect of the rule of law on
sustainable land management supersedes that of land-right protection. Therefore,
in middle-income and advanced economies, sustainable land management has a
positive relationship with land tenure protection (Baumgartner et al. 2015).
4. The Solution: Land Tenure Institutions and Access to Land
4.1. Strategies of Farmers to Secure Land Use Rights: Use, Control, and Transfer
Policies and initiatives aimed at preventing and reversing land degradation
have long suffered from the lack of a strong and clearly defined goal for directing
action and designing tangible progress. A breakthrough agreement on the concept of
land degradation neutrality (LDN) was reached between the parties at the UNCCD
in October 2015. The LDN aims to mitigate the projected losses of land-based natural
resources and associated ecosystem features and services with metrics that produce
alternative benefits through strategies such as soil regeneration and sustainable land
management (Kust et al. 2018). The primary scope of land degradation research is
currently centered on assessment and monitoring based on various data sources,
measures in mitigation and ecological restoration, estimation of key drivers using
different techniques at different scales, or simulation of growth patterns and forecasts
using quantitative models. Yue et al. (2016) suggest that land use form and quantity
should meet human needs and be in accordance with the natural conditions. The work
of Kust et al. (2018) indicates that LDN policies need to communicate closely with
climate change adaptation plans. Countries have to perform a thorough assessment
of land degradation for non-farming land in order to make appropriate and timely
land degradation policy decisions.
Regimes regulating tenure rights include access to productive capital. It is
essential that land is accessed and managed at the farm level. This is crucial for
the livelihood, equity, and productivity of farmlands, especially in rural societies
(Lipton et al. 2009). Changing the property right system means either changing the
political structure or making substantial efforts by the current regime. Ethiopian
agriculture cannot produce enough to feed the country’s fast-growing population.
A brief historical analysis reveals that up to the end of the 1950s, Ethiopia was
self-contained in the production of staple food and net food export (Belay and Manig
2004). More importantly, the development of the Ethiopian economy, in general, and
that of the agricultural sector, in particular, have been affected by a range of policy
factors, including Ethiopia’s top-down approach, insufficient legislation, incorrect
priorities, and poorly defined property rights. Highland farmers believe that the
adoption of soil conservation measures is a pre-condition to achieve long-term land
239
use certificates in the sloping lands. Another strategy is to buy the farmland through
“owner financing”. A contract of sale of installments or land is a contract under
which the seller of the land (original owner) agrees to pay the selling price to a new
buyer. The new buyer enters the ground and begins to pay the seller/owner directly
on the basis of an agreed interest rate and other conditions (Belay and Manig 2004).
4.2. Implications of the Land Tenure System in Sustainable Land Use
Land tenure potentially impacts sustainable land use by improving incentives for
production and increasing soil and water conservation investments. Thus, changes
in access to farm holdings and the ability to exclude others from receiving benefits
accruing from land result in resource use changes. This, in turn, affects the demand
for labor and capital, productivity, and consequently, income and sustainability
(Binayaw 2015). Land use policies are generally considered to have significant
impacts on investments, but this might not be a universal formula applicable to all
contexts. For instance, in Kenya, Deininger et al. (2006) found no empirical evidence
proving that land titling enhances credit markets, land markets, and investments. A
secure land tenure system provides countries with a framework to eliminate poverty
by ensuring land tenure and ensuring stability on the land market (Holden and
Otsuka 2014). Since economic development is among the common goals of many
developing countries, such as Ethiopia, one might argue that Ethiopia’s current
policy of introducing an urban cadastral system is advancing the level of economic
development (Adem et al. 2020). Many land use planning programs were introduced
in Ethiopia, but with varying degrees of success. Each of these (pilot) projects
included cadastral device implementation trials, but these were not complementary
to earlier projects. This has resulted in overlaps, redundancies, and ineffective
and incoherent cadastral structures across the nation. The persistent absence of a
project progress assessment during each process was among the most remarkable
characteristics of these projects. In other words, the strengths and limitations of
the previous projects are not analyzed regularly, and the methods used in initial
projects are not being organized. On the other hand, international organizations
should create standards and metrics that can perform these tasks, but such standards
are not being implemented. For example, the FIG proposed a set of criteria for
developing and accessing the security of tenure (EFQM 2019). As shown in Table 1,
the important factors/issues relevant to land degradation and the institutionalization
of land tenure include participation, inappropriate land use system, population
pressure, and institutional failures. This table shows how these factors lead to land
degradation and how they could be avoided using relevant measures (strategies). As
240
an example, an inappropriate land use system (e.g., deforestation, and overgrazing)
could be avoided through a forest relations strategy and regulations on grazing
management by implementing forestry and plant control policies and legislation.
Table 1. Significant issues and focus areas in the combat against land degradation
and institutionalization of land tenure.
Important
Issues Factors Main Problems Main Solutions Measures to Betaken
Responsible
/ Body
- Lack of a supportive NGOs
environment - Environment - Building awareness (non-governmental
Participation - Losing the knowledge enhancement - Making local organizations),
- Failure to understand - Power development governance stronger international
the partnership partners
- Property ownership - Appropriate land use, Regional
- Steep slope farming and property use forestry, and plant government,
Inappropriate - Deforestation regulation control policies and NGOs/CBOs
land use system - Overgrazing - Forest relations strategy legislation (community-based
- Population pressure - Regulation on - Public education organizations),management grazing - Introducing a development
- Policies on population population strategy partners
- Introduction of a
- Uncontrolled growth - Stabilized population population policy
Population - The uneducated and
growth based on the e ectively (family Governments,ff
pressure motivated women to
economic growth NGOs/CBOs,
regulate their own - Practiced family
planning) development
fertility planning
- Alternate job chances partners
- Empowering females - Training andempowering women
- Creating clear
mandated and
- Institutional instability - Stable institutions, with Federal
- Resource scarcity clear mandates
empowered institution
- Fairly su governments,Institutional fficient
failures - Coordination and
- Suitable resources regional states,
integration problem - Clear integration and
resources NGOs,
collaborative e ort - Establishing a systemff where organizations Development
integrate their activities partners
and organize them
Source: Berry et al. (2003).
5. Discussion
5.1. Natural Resource Policies and Land Use Decision Making
The determinants of land tenure include changes in vegetation cover and
species spatial distribution, impacts on climate change, the effects of long-term
human activities, and land management practices variations (Kakembo 2001). Land
tenure is often cited in land transfers and improvements as a way of informally
obtaining and owning property by citizens and businesses and improving tenure
protection and alternative land usage, as observed in African countries, such as
Ethiopia (Mwangi et al. 2018). As stated by Zinda and Zhang (2017), land tenure
regimes shape how families use labor and other means of subsistence. Within a
241
given tenure system, existing households with changing trade-offs shift land–labor
relationships over the household life cycle. Therefore, the legacies of land distribution
after de-collectivization, in particular, secure access to land and restrictions on land
transfers, can create separate patterns connecting livelihood strategies to household
life cycles in Ethiopia alongside the growing market exchange of labor and production.
Land tenure underlies some of the incremental uses of land and includes farmers’ shift
cycles, turning forests into areas first used for annual and subsequently for perennial
crops (Wannasai and Shrestha 2008). Therefore, shifting land ownership in African
countries will alter the landscape pattern and ruin mature forests for the production
of modern agriculture. According to Gedefaw et al. (2020), land tenure patterns in
Sub-Saharan Africa are rapidly changing. They argued that extensive changes in land
tenure have occurred in some Ethiopian regions over the past three decades, such as
Gozamin. These changes occurred primarily in agricultural lands and then moved
to grasslands and forests. Based on the findings of this study, land degradation in
Ethiopia has significant socio-economic and environmental tradeoffs, and we need
to understand barriers within the social, economic, and political contexts. Kassa
et al. (2016) argued that transformation of crop forests and grain-based forests affects
biodiversity; soil fertility; soil loss; and economic, social, and cultural conditions
of the Ethiopian people. In addition, the loss of natural forest cover in various
areas threatens the sustainable agricultural practices and livelihoods of the local
community. In another study by Hammad and Tumeizi (2012), it was found that the
deterioration of land is a natural and socio-economic cause–effect phenomenon that
is common across the globe.
The socio-economic degradation of land in Azerbaijan calls for efforts to improve
farmers’ awareness of the environment, environmental standards, and legislation,
and for the reduction in land mismanagement, diversity of tenure has been observed
in common occupation regimes at different land levels in Ethiopia. As a result,
it can have different effects on management activities, such as forest cover and
land use management. Asaaga et al. (2020) showed that different components of
tenure security influence the adoption of non-consistent methods across the various
components of tenure security or specific, sustainable land management procedures
in African countries such as Ghana. According to the results, in Ethiopia, the
relationship between tenure security and sustainable land management investments
is also mediated by other important non-tenure factors (including access to credit,
modernized agricultural inputs, and targeted extension service support). The results
also correspond to and are confirmed in the studies by Kamwi et al. (2017), Walmsley
and Sklenička (2017), and Um (2020). These findings, therefore, suggest that Ethiopian
242
land tenure policy will produce a range of positive and negative outcomes relating to
investment in land conservation. This indicates the need to think more deeply about
prioritizing sustainable land management interventions, especially in emerging areas
in Ethiopia.
Overall, these findings are important for redesigning context-specific and
appropriate land-use policies to address barriers to Ethiopia’s sustainable land
management. Furthermore, according to the findings, particular attention should be
paid to tangible local incentives for taking action against land degradation. Due to
land degradation, consolidating land ownership mitigates certain economic losses
and costs (Nkonya et al. 2016). In confirmation of these findings, we can refer to
the results of the study by Barbier and Hochard (2018). They believe that land is
among the few productive assets that rural poor people own and that nearly all
of these households are engaged in agriculture. In low-income countries, such as
Sub-Saharan Africa, the rural poor population in agricultural degradation increased
over the period 2000–2010. Although degradation threatens the survival of the
poor population, this is a complex and economically, socially, and environmentally
important interaction. This also limits the impacts of economic growth and economic
reforms on poverty reduction.
The erosion of soil is a key cause of land degradation in various parts of the world.
This concerns especially developing countries where soil erosion through water
seriously endangers farm productivity and food security. In Ethiopia, precipitation is
erosive, and soil erosion by water is a major environmental challenge (Fenta et al.
2017). The issue is particularly important because heavy rainfall, steep roots, and
agricultural practices that reduce soil protection can lead to potentially high erosion
rates (Ebabu et al. 2019). The soil erosion threats and trends were linked to land
use and related land tenure practices, such as land fragmentation, especially in
agricultural communities. This level of understanding indicates the importance
that societies assign to their natural resources in their decision-making processes.
The productive land tenure system shows a clear trend for improving resource
management. By analyzing the findings of related studies, we learned that the
enhancement of forests and the weeding of land biomes have been productive,
primarily through participatory community engagement. This underlines the value of
collective governance and by-laws that appear to be more effective when implemented
and enforced at the local level. These results are consistent and in line with the
findings of studies by Ntihinyurwa et al. (2019), Uddin et al. (2018), Terefe et al.
(2020), and Sklenicka (2016).
243
5.2. Land Governance and Land Use Decision Making
Main aspects defining land governance include how land rights are defined,
exchanged, and transformed; how public oversight of land use and land management
is performed; how state-owned land is managed; and how information on land
ownership is collected, controlled, and made publicly available (Hailu 2016). Land
tenure, or access and rights to land, is essential to sustain people’s livelihoods. The
insecurity of perceived and de facto land tenure leads farmers through farming
and non-farm job opportunities to explore alternative strategies and avenues for
food supply. Therefore, from a political perspective, it is important to emphasize
that people’s livelihoods must be given priority in land governance, thus extending
the current positioning of land solely as a pathway for agricultural or conservation
production (Keovilignavong and Suhardiman 2020).
The way land governance is implemented can greatly influence how agricultural
and non-agricultural land is used and whether long-term sustainability investments
are being made. The land registration and certification of smallholder farms and
communal land, for example, can encourage land managers to engage in higher
value and more productive land uses (Byamugisha 2014). Secure rights can provide
incentives for longer-term investments to enhance land productivity, protect local
communities, and safeguard the environment in general (Falk 2016). Likewise, the
level of clarity of land tenure on forestlands can affect the willingness of land managers
to invest in future forest productivity or conversion to other land uses. Finally,
overlapping rights and claims can create conflicts (Hailu 2016) and greater uncertainty
for investors (Deininger and Ali 2007). Land management should enable different
stakeholders to participate in government decisions and ensure the safety of their
livelihoods (Azadi 2020). However, depending on the government’s decision-making
process, land governance could be poor or strong. So, land governance is a prerequisite
in rural areas of developing countries for economic growth and poverty reduction
(Bessa and Brunori 2017). In Ethiopia, the government is supporting the gradual
reform of land administration and tenure within the country’s system of state
ownership of land. For example, the last five-year plan committed to scale up
second-level land certification in the highlands, and innovative, pilot-level projects
of community certification of land, for rangeland communities, for example, are
underway (Woldegiorgis et al. 2018). However, gaps in land governance remain. A
recent assessment highlights important challenges requiring urgent attention, such
as strengthening rights to forest (Okoli 2019) and common lands (Ma Rhea 2018),
increasing the effectiveness of rural land use regulations (Van der Sluis et al. 2019),
improving public land management (Long and Qu 2018), making large land transfers
244
to private investors more transparent and competitive, and strengthening public
provisions of land information (Hailu 2016).
The common land resources grant “common access” to everyone and are used
for various economic gains, as the name indicates. They include the communal land,
community pastures, forestry, wildlife, wastelands, common dumping, thresholds,
banks, and river beds governed by social conventions and legal rules. Forests
supply forests. Agriculture and social forestry are also used to support livestock
pastures. In general, they represent a large proportion of poor Ethiopian farmers’
income, socio-economic growth, and livelihoods. The steady fall in agricultural
incomes has caused small farms to become inviable for farming practices. Thus,
most farmers use these resources to add to their income. Some farmers depend on
them for their livelihoods. Therefore, lands that are used collectively have a great
impact on the sustainability of environmental and social systems because they can
provide natural resources in the event of various crises and be used as an alternative
source when crops are damaged (Dwomoh and Wimberly 2017). Land tenure and
environmental conditions are closely related: land tenure can promote land use
practices that harm the environment, or it can serve to enhance the environment
(von der Mühlen et al. 2020).
The findings of Fonjong et al. (2016) indicate that the government; leaders;
and, to a certain extent, elites have played a central role in the formal and informal
processes of providing investors with land. Nevertheless, both processes neglect
women and communities affected because there are no mechanisms for holding actors,
particularly women, to account for their livelihood on land. It is, therefore, essential
to have a legislative framework that makes the process transparent and promotes
responsibilities and gender inclusion. Given that, in general, insecurity in land tenure
is a major limiting factor in Ethiopia and in developing countries for sustainable use,
the government has introduced a Rural Land Certification Program to ensure land
tenure. As shown by Mengesha et al. (2019), Alemu et al. (2020), and Abi et al. (2018),
as soon as their land was certified, the majority of farmers in Ethiopia practiced
sustainable land use. Land certification, therefore, makes a major contribution to
sustainable land use. Since access to land for developing countries, such as Ethiopia,
is a fundamental socio-economic requirement for sustainable agriculture and forestry,
tenure security is key to development in poor populations and is essential to achieve
sustainable development goals. Therefore, the rights of land tenure as the entry point
for the empowerment of the poor should be considered. The security of land tenure is
currently applied in Ethiopia with land registration and land certification. This helps
improve sustainable land use practices. This enables other countries, particularly
245
developing countries, to learn from this achievement and emphasize land tenure
rights for their country’s development and sustainability (Rampa et al. 2020).
In fact, property ownership and tenure security are fundamental factors and are
a good start for sustainable land management practices. Nevertheless, a policy on
land use in order to implement sustainable land use practices should be developed.
The land degradation and deforestation problem can otherwise not be resolved
(Hendriks et al. 2019). In turn, this could threaten agricultural output and exacerbate
the country’s poverty situation (Lencucha et al. 2020). Moreover, the experts and local
people have a weak tie to the plantations of tree plants. Practices and technology
are most often developed using a top-down approach without local citizens being
involved. Sustainable land use and sustainable development, in general, cannot lead
to this situation (Liu and Ravenscroft 2017). Indigenous local people’s knowledge
should be integrated with scientific expert knowledge to improve sustainable land
use and boost agricultural output (Adade Williams and Shackleton 2020). Most
of Ethiopia’s legal documents, including the constitution itself, stress the need
and value of public involvement in natural resource governance (Gebreamanuel
2015). However, the literature warns that such fundamental freedoms cannot
be expected to be followed because the decision-making power of the public is
significantly undermined by policymakers. The ECA (Economic Commission for
Africa) (2002) reported that current land policies have failed to achieve planned
outcomes due to a lack of public participation and interaction, as it is structured
using a centralized and top-down approach. According to the relevant studies
(Gebreamanuel 2015; Meshesha et al. 2012), these government policies have resulted
in a growing degradation of land.
6. Conclusions and Policy Implications
In conclusion, this study proposes some ways to tackle the problems arising
from the insecure land tenure system in Ethiopia. The main problem found is the
conversion of land classified as forest, protected area, or wetland to other uses affecting
the biodiversity and environmental health in Ethiopia. To safeguard land, providing
multiple ecosystem services and public goods, the official demarcation, mapping, and
registration of public lands must accelerate. This must be aligned with a computerized
land information system that supports public access. Performance gaps in allocating
land for agricultural investments, a key driver of land use change, must be closed.
Notable necessary improvements include increasing the institutional effectiveness of
multiple land investment institutions, seeking comprehensive consultations and new
246
benefit sharing models with local communities, and encouraging clear and enforceable
land contract clauses to safeguard water, biodiversity, and other natural resources.
The fact that the threats deriving from the commodification of agriculture and
the competition from global markets are not mentioned as major challenges for the
development of rural communities indicates that the sustainability paradigm is weak.
Sustainability pathways and goals set by the UN are a weak sustainability paradigm
for a poor, developing country, such as Ethiopia. This is because the UN sustainability
pathways fail to consider the peculiarity of the Ethiopian context, where the majority
of the population live in poverty (Worku et al. 2018), in rural inaccessible areas
(Kea et al. 2018), with low levels of school enrollment (Ramachandran 2017), and
very low access to capital (Manlosa et al. 2019) and investments (Haile et al. 2019).
Although Ethiopia has enacted laws to achieve a sustainable agricultural market,
considerable gaps remain in applying and enforcing these laws within the context of
food security and the commodification of agriculture.
More importantly, to achieve more sustainable food and land use, a functioning
monitoring system is required to enforce the existing legislative provisions or propose
new ones. This, in turn, will require further studies on the current capabilities and
practices within governmental structures and the awareness of landholders to apply
land laws that support a sustainable food and land use system. The small farmers of
Ethiopia play a significant role not only in feeding a large segment of the country’s
population but also in contributing to food security. There is, therefore, an urgent
need to promote strong rural economies in rural areas of the country, empowering
and renovating small-scale productive agriculture. This scales down the tide of
out-migration from rural regions and creates adequate employment opportunities and
strong foundations for food security. In this way, stronger sustainability paradigms,
such as food sovereignty or agro-ecology, are more capable of fully addressing the
sustainability needs of a developing country, such as Ethiopia. Although Ethiopia
has enacted laws to achieve social and environmental objectives, considerable gaps
remain in applying and enforcing these laws within the context of land allocation
decisions. Expanding access to customized agricultural extension services for female
farmers; increasing women’s access to key inputs, such as seeds, fertilizer, and
pesticides; building women’s assets and improving their access to credit; and other
gender reforms could support the transition towards a sustainable food and land
use system. It is also essential to monitor smallholder commercialization closely
in order to detect unintended risks that can lower nutritional outcomes or widen
gender gaps within households. Land degradation is a common problem in Ethiopia
and has a devastating effect on the socio-cultural and environmental settings of the
247
region. The findings revealed that major causes include rapid population growth,
extreme soil erosion, deforestation, low vegetative coverage, and unbalanced crop and
livestock production. To manage land loss, conservation policies have concentrated
on physical management mechanisms (such as soil erosion) and stable land tenure
systems throughout the past. Removing bottlenecks in land administration and
strengthening land and resource security can create incentives for more sustainable
land and resource management. Improved land administration results in economic
and social returns. Future studies on improving low price soil fertility applications and
the improvement of environmentally friendly or sustainable farming methods could
help in improving land use. Policymakers should consider the above-mentioned
points and consider the effective application of the laws.
Author Contributions: Conceptualization, H.A.; Writing the original draft, H.A., S.M.M.,
H.M., S.B., D.D.D., and D.T.; Resources, H.M., D.D.D., and D.T.; Review and editing, S.M.M.,
M.L., P.L., and S.B. All authors have read and agreed to the submitted version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research has not received any external funding.
Conflicts of Interest: This manuscript has been read and approved by all the authors. The
criteria for authorship have been met. The authors also do not have any financial interest or
any other conflict of interest. The manuscript contains nothing that is abusive, defamatory,
libelous, obscene, fraudulent, or illegal. Furthermore, the authors point out that the data file is
supplied for closer examination.
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