Ayalew Gebre (PhD)Tefera Goshu2024-12-252024-12-252024-03-01https://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/3981Large-scale agricultural schemes in Ethiopia’s pastoralist lowlands have historically been part of state consolidation, resource expropriation, and the strategy of transforming pastoralist livelihoods. Although successive regimes implemented pastoralist development projects with a highly centralized and top-down approach, this research shows that state development intervention is highly contested within state institutions and among local communities. Based on fieldwork among the Karrayu pastoral communities in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, this dissertation explores how a large-scale irrigation project, exemplifying pastoral development, has been differently imagined by the regional state, the federal government, and the local people, as well as how its outcomes have been negotiated on the ground. The study employed multi-method of data collection such as focus group discussion, in-depth interviews, and observation which were then analyzed using a thematic data analysis strategy. The project was initially viewed as a symbol of ‘autonomy’ and an instrument of poverty reduction for the regional state, but was a ‘waste of money’ for the federal government, whereas the local community blamed it as a consolidation of land alienation. However, while this was eventually considered a 'success’ and an ‘achievement’ of development by the regional and federal administrations, it became a source of unhappiness and confusion for some local people, mainly in the downstream villages. In contrast, other locals in the upper stream and some in downstream villages still believe the project is a prospect of betterment and economic improvement. The project linked to privatizing communal land has excluded many pastoral individuals and groups from accessing their ancestral land. Some were not allocated land; all, including those who were allocated a parcel, lost access to the rest of the land to which they previously had access; and some of those who were granted ownership rights were also unable to reap the full benefit of their land. The project has also radically altered the traditional value, understanding, and pattern of interactions centered on natural resources in the area. Natural resources, water, and land have gained significant economic value. Access to water (for irrigation) has grown more competitive than ever before, and sometimes even conflictual, making the equitable distribution and allocation of irrigation water critical, often in opposition to the persistent tradition of water sharing and utilization in the area. The implementation of the project has also reinforced exploitative economic interactions mediated through sharecropping arrangements involving multiple actors and marketing relationships. Landowners and pastoralists have marginally benefited, while capitalists maximize wealth without displacing locals from their land, i.e., accumulation without dispossession. Finally, the study suggests a policy implication targeted at increasing households' capacity and negotiating power, as well as ensuring equitable land allocation, so that local pastoralists and disadvantageous members get maximum benefit from the project. Key words: Pastoral development, Ethiopia, Karrayu, Irrigation project, Sharecroppingen-USPastoral developmentEthiopiaKarrayuIrrigation projectSharecroppingThesis