Belachew Yirsaw

Abstract: SUMMARY Achieving efficient land use, encouraging investors and investment and realizing the cost of urban land and make an efficient use of it are some of the major national and regional goals in Ethiopia. To achieve these goals, the government of Ethiopia has accepted urban land lease policy as the alternative land tenure system so as to provide a room for individuals and investors to land to use land use rights through transferring from the state to land users. Once individuals or investors acquire these land use rights they acquire tenure. So that they can either sell or use it to the maximum economic benefit. Hence, security of land tenure is important to encourage investment in land improvements as well as the development of efficient land use through efficient and equitable land markets. Efficient functioning of land markets requires efficient and updated land registration systems which clearly indicate legal ownership of land. However, the lease towns of Ethiopia, like most cities in developing countries suffer from land market distortions caused by poor land development and management policies including poor planning, slow provision of infrastructure and services, poor land information systems and slow land transaction procedures. Distortions in the land market often lead to land speculation. If the land registration system develops in such away that it clarifies lease rights, it minimizes disputes and enables the government to use the land in its maximum economic use. Opinions collected from residents, investors and financial institutions in Addis Ababa and the lease towns of the Amhara national regional state is used to assess the major problems related to the implementation of the policy in an efficient utilization of urban land in encouraging investment and the appropriate use of the money generated from lease. We found out that from the view of investors, tenure security is more important than the mode of ownership. Hence, tenure security is important for investment attraction and expansion. Institutional constraints, legal gaps and proper land and mortgage registration systems should be given due attention so as to get the desired objectives of the lease policy.

Abstract: As the national capital, Addis Ababa remains the economic, political and administrative hub of Ethiopia. In the last 50 years, the city has gained international significance as the headquarter of the African Union (AU), UN Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA) and a regional office for a number of international organizations including UNDP, UNESCO and the European Economic Commission (EEC). However, like many cities in the developing world, Addis Ababa is facing a number of problems related to population growth, lack of economic opportunities, inadequate infrastructure, shortage of housing, and large areas of informal development with major environmental problems. This profile identifies some of the strategic planning elements that the city could adopt as Addis Ababa strives to develop into a premier metropolitan area for a sustainable community and a diplomatic capital.

Abstract: In recent times, peri-urban land use planning is challenging in contemporary urbanization in sub-Saharan Africa in general and in Ethiopia in particular. This study analyzes peri-urban informal land market and tenure security status and its implications in peri-urban land use planning around Gondar city of Ethiopia. It uses primary data collected through household survey, field observation and key informant interviews, which are complemented by secondary data from national legal and policy documents, and regional and city administration reports. The analysis utilizes descriptive statistics and chi-square test. The result showed that a plot acquisition from peri-urban areas passes through its own stages, which mainly start to identify a plot for sale, and ends with the confirmation of letter of agreement signed by transacting parties without legal ground to do so. It also indicated the main actors (land brokers, local peri-urban landholders, social and religious relations) in the peri-urban informal land market, traditional social institutions (Idir, equb etc) played a significant role in processing peri-urban informal settlements, and stabilizing land related conflicts by social sanctions.

Abstract: The discourse on peri-urban land management frameworks cuts across different scientific domains and different tiers of government. The complexities of constructing effective framework lead to increasing land use conflicts, a consistent high rate of informal settlement patterns, frequent occurrence of illegal land acquisition, inequality in land access, and social unrest in most parts of peri-urban areas. These problems call an effective peri-urban land use management framework. Hence, the main objective of this paper is to conceptualize and synthesize the existing land management frameworks with the view to support the design of a new effective peri-urban land management alternative/framework. The study predominantly relies on a concept-centric literature review followed by a contextualization within the current Ethiopian land management systems. The scientific and grey literature reviewed have been selected based on their connection to the conceptual, methodological and operational discussions on land use intervention and spatial management in peri-urban areas. In addition, government-based land policies, frameworks, and directives are also included in the critical review, and are interpreted qualitatively in a content-wise based on the contemporary land management concepts and paradigms. The preliminary synthesis result of this paper was presented in the Ethiopian national annual land conference in 2019 and inputs were obtained from different stakeholders such as government officials, experts, researchers, and non-state actors. The review signals that the existing peri-urban land management frameworks consisting of the institutional arrangements related to land use intervention and the associated land information infrastructures are missed up, incoherent and far from being integrated. The legal frameworks, data standards, and structures between urban and rural land sectors are also different. These missed up urban and rural dichotomies, the isolated urban and rural land use policies and the different tiers of urban and rural land administration institutions result in a situation where managing peri-urban land use is ineffective. The result signals both a methodological and a technical gap in peri-urban land management in Ethiopia which hampers the effectiveness of decision-makers and practitioners. These limitations call for an urgent need towards an effective peri-urban land management framework/alternative through the alignment of land management indicators and requirements both horizontally and vertically. This could help to realize effective and evidence-based land management practices.

Abstract: Introduction Depuis son introduction en Ethiopie il y a un peu plus d'un siecle, l'eucalyptus a ete diffuse massivement sur le territoire national. Addis Abeba, la capitale, a notamment adopte cette espece exotique et est aujourd'hui plongee dans une foret urbaine et periurbaine. Ces plantations alimentent un marche local toujours demandeur de bois de chauffe et de bois d'œuvre. Le gouvernement federal et la Municipalite se partagent la tres grande majorite des exploitations. Mais le succes e...