The Need for Formalization of Informal Land Holdings in Ethiopia: Evidence From Peri-Urban Areas of Addis Ababa
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Date
2022-09
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Addis Ababa Unversity
Abstract
The peri-urban land of Addis Ababa and surrounding rural areas which have been held by
local landholders/farmers and used for agricultural purposes are under increasing risk of
being eroded and terminated due to urban expansion. The growing demand for land for
urbanization exerts very strong pressure on peri-urban land use and land rights. As urban
territories extend to adjacent peri-urban areas, the land rights of local landholders are being
cancelled and transferred to the segments of society that can afford to pay for leases and the
informal land holding and transfer have become the common practice in the area and the
formal laws and institutions are unable or incapable to control it and as a result the rule of
law is being undermined. Hence, this Thesis attempted to clarify the prevailing issues of what
constitutes informal land tenure, the status of informal rural land tenure under the formal
laws, the reasons for the prevalence of informal rural land tenure despite clear guidelines of
the formal system, the approaches to informal rural land tenure and the approaches to be
pursued. To this end, the thesis builds on policies and laws, interviews and focus group
discussions, literature review, Court Cases and experience of other countries. This study
revealed the widespread practice of informal land deals in peri-urban areas of Addis Ababa,
which demonstrates that the formal land and housing delivery system in Ethiopia appears
inefficient in meeting the needs of both urban poor and local peri-urban landowners. As a
result, this study supports the notion that informal settlements are responses to and witnesses
to the inefficiency and inadequacy of the formal urban land and housing delivery system.
Thus, the Thesis recommends regularization of the current informal landholdings and stricter
regulation as the only viable options since demolishing informal settlement areas would lead
to the worst-case scenario of displacing communities and an aggravation of the local sense of
insecurity. Moreover, the prevalence of informal land tenure leads to economic inefficiency,
insecure land tenure, lack of law and order, and loss of revenue for the government.