Urban Expansion and It's Socio-Economic and Environmental Effect on the Farming Community: The Case Meri
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Date
2010-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The Addis Ababa city administration, under proclamation No.3, 1994, established a lease
holding system according to which investors can lease land areas for commercial and
industrial use . The leased areas are acquired through conversion of agricultural and
green land occupied by the farmers living in the surrounding of Addis Ababa . Although
the city administration believes that the lease land allocation system boosts the market
value and proper exploitation of urban land , most of urban expansion projects tend to
aggravate the periphery people's impoverishment .
Throughout its history Addis Ababa city has undergone a horizontal expansion pattern.
Present expansion program implemented by the city administration is through
intervention projects that are large in scale and size. Meri kebele 16 is one of the
periphery areas in the city where large projects of residential expansion are being
implemented dislocating the farming community from their land This study mainly
investigates the effects of the expansion of the city on the socio-economy and
environment of the dislocated farmers from Meri To fulfill the above objective,
household survey, participatory group discussions, key informants interviews and
observation were used to assess the situation. The results of the study indicated that the
expansion program implementation was not participatory and have impoverished the
farming community. The compensation paid to the dislocated was very low to rehabilitate
the farmers and negatively affected the livelihood of the dislocated farming community.
Better access to school, electricity and clean water are the few benefits which are
acquired as a result of urban expansion. The permanent plant coverage is redu cing from
time to time which results in soil degradation and in addition as a result of improper
waste management the area is getting polluted. Furthermore, the study revealed that
women and children are major victims to livelihood cnsls. The coping
mechanism/strategy adopted by the majority of the dislocated farmers is casual that is
daily labor, traditional alcohol selling, small trade and farming . Expansion program that
may be proposed on, the periphery in the future needs the participation of the
community in planning and implementation; so as to reduce the negative effects of
dislocation program on the farmers socio-economy and environment.