Livelihood of Rural Households in Resettlement Areas: the Case Study from Quara Woreda of North Gondar Zone, Amhara Region
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Date
2011-05
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Resettlement is an increas ingly becoming attractive as a way of out of press ing problems caused by
food shortage, land fragmentation, population pressure, rampant unemployment, marginality of land
and dec line in land productivity. With the aim to investi gate the live lihoods of ru ra l househo ld and
their strategies in resett lement area, the study was conducted using both quanti tati ve and quali tative
approaches. Based on data generated fro m household survey, focus group discuss ion, key informant
interview and observations, the study revealed that the area studi ed have experi enced higher
population trends due to continuous and ongo ing resettlement program. The program has two
edges, one with pos itive and enabling for better livelihood options and the other with negati ve and
destructive side. As a result, the li ve lihood assets are ga ined, lost and shaped. From criti cal
li ve lihood assets, social asset, whi ch is the most important li ve lihood asset of households is found
to be the source of oth er livelihood assets and strengthened more by di ffe rent soc ial bonding
mechani sms within and between host and settler community members. The ph ys ical asset of
households in the area is very limited, while the natural assets are gett ing less and less and
exacerbated due the resettlement program.
The dominant on- fa rm livelihood activities of households in the study area are crop cultivation and
animal production being major and minor, respecti ve ly. Households have experienced the change in
the li velihood activities to use better opportunities for better li ve lihood options and to minimize the
ri sks invol ved from constraining factors of resettlement program . The change in the livelihood
acti vities of households is manifested in three ways: the change within the same livelihood
activ ities, from subsistence to commercial; seasonal shi ft between diffe rent acti vities, on-farm
du ring rai ny season and off-farm during dry season; and the complete shift h om one type of activity
to the other, which is from on-farm to off-fa rm income generating.
The result of assessment of food security situation indicated that settlers have shi fted from aid
see king to household food se lf-sufficiency. In general, majority of households in the area have
ensured household food sufficiency th roughout the year. However, considerable num be rs of
households are still not atta ined household food sufficiency. Even though, most of households have
ensured suffi ciency of household food throughout the year, transitory food insec urity, particu larly
during the leafy stage of the crops is reported to occ ur in few households and it extends to better-off
households during natural hazard s.
Finally, thi s study recommended that resettlement programs should not be seen as panacea for all
soc io-economic problems of households other than so lving short-term problems at the expense of
natural resources and if it is to be durable and long-lasting development intervention, it has to
ensure sustainabil ity of livelihood of household s.
Key words: Resettlement, households, livelihood, assets, and f ood security
Description
Keywords
Resettlement, households, livelihood, assets, food security