IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v8y2019i10p148-d275626.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Farmers Willingness to Participate In Voluntary Land Consolidation in Gozamin District, Ethiopia

Author

Listed:
  • Abebaw Andarge Gedefaw

    (Institute of Surveying, Remote Sensing and Land Information, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Peter-Jordan-Strasse 82, 1190 Vienna, Austria
    Institute of Land Administration, Debre Markos University, 269 Debre Markos, Ethiopia)

  • Clement Atzberger

    (Institute of Surveying, Remote Sensing and Land Information, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Peter-Jordan-Strasse 82, 1190 Vienna, Austria)

  • Walter Seher

    (Institute of Spatial Planning, Environmental Planning and Land Rearrangement, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Peter-Jordan-Strasse 82, 1190 Vienna, Austria)

  • Reinfried Mansberger

    (Institute of Surveying, Remote Sensing and Land Information, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Peter-Jordan-Strasse 82, 1190 Vienna, Austria)

Abstract

In many African countries and especially in the highlands of Ethiopia—the investigation site of this paper—agricultural land is highly fragmented. Small and scattered parcels impede a necessary increase in agricultural efficiency. Land consolidation is a proper tool to solve inefficiencies in agricultural production, as it enables consolidating plots based on the consent of landholders. Its major benefits are that individual farms get larger, more compact, contiguous parcels, resulting in lower cultivation efforts. This paper investigates the determinants influencing the willingness of landholder farmers to participate in voluntary land consolidation processes. The study was conducted in Gozamin District, Amhara Region, Ethiopia. The study was mainly based on survey data collected from 343 randomly selected landholder farmers. In addition, structured interviews and focus group discussions with farmers were held. The collected data were analyzed quantitatively mainly by using a logistic regression model and qualitatively by using focus group discussions and expert panels. According to the results, landholder farmers are predominantly willing to participate in voluntary land consolidation (66.8%), while a substantive fraction of farmers express unease with voluntary land consolidation. The study highlighted the following four determinants to be significant in influencing the willingness of farmers for voluntary land consolidation: (1) the exchange should preferably happen with parcels of neighbors, (2) land consolidation should lead to better arranged parcels, (3) nearness of plots to the farmstead, and (4) an expected improvement in productivity. Interestingly, the majority of farmers believes that land consolidation could reduce land use conflicts. The study provides evidence that policymakers should consider these socio-economic, legal, cultural, infrastructural, and land-related factors when designing and implementing voluntary land consolidation policies and programs.

Suggested Citation

  • Abebaw Andarge Gedefaw & Clement Atzberger & Walter Seher & Reinfried Mansberger, 2019. "Farmers Willingness to Participate In Voluntary Land Consolidation in Gozamin District, Ethiopia," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-21, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:8:y:2019:i:10:p:148-:d:275626
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/8/10/148/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/8/10/148/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bizimana, Claude & Nieuwoudt, W. Lieb & Ferrer, Stuart R.D., 2004. "Farm size, land fragmentation and economic efficiency in southern Rwanda," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 43(2), pages 1-19, June.
    2. Blarel, Benoit, et al, 1992. "The Economics of Farm Fragmentation: Evidence from Ghana and Rwanda," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 6(2), pages 233-254, May.
    3. Dethier, Jean-Jacques & Effenberger, Alexandra, 2012. "Agriculture and development: A brief review of the literature," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 175-205.
    4. Timmer, C. Peter, 2002. "Agriculture and economic development," Handbook of Agricultural Economics, in: B. L. Gardner & G. C. Rausser (ed.), Handbook of Agricultural Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 29, pages 1487-1546, Elsevier.
    5. Rachel Sabates-Wheeler, 2002. "Consolidation initiatives after land reform: responses to multiple dimensions of land fragmentation in Eastern European agriculture," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(7), pages 1005-1018.
    6. Wilfred Nyangena, 2008. "Social determinants of soil and water conservation in rural Kenya," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 10(6), pages 745-767, December.
    7. Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob & Jumbe, Charles & Chamberlin, Jordan, 2014. "How does population density influence agricultural intensification and productivity? Evidence from Malawi," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 114-128.
    8. Erwin Knippenberg & Dean Jolliffe & John Hoddinott, 2020. "Land Fragmentation and Food Insecurity in Ethiopia," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(5), pages 1557-1577, October.
    9. Gonzalez, X.P. & Marey, M.F. & Alvarez, C.J., 2007. "Evaluation of productive rural land patterns with joint regard to the size, shape and dispersion of plots," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 92(1-3), pages 52-62, January.
    10. Bezu, Sosina & Holden, Stein, 2014. "Are Rural Youth in Ethiopia Abandoning Agriculture?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 259-272.
    11. Bouma, Jetske & Bulte, Erwin & van Soest, Daan, 2008. "Trust and cooperation: Social capital and community resource management," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 155-166, September.
    12. Fatma Gul Unal, 2008. "Small Is Beautiful: Evidence of an Inverse Relationship between Farm Size and Yield in Turkey," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_551, Levy Economics Institute.
    13. Josephson, Anna Leigh & Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob & Florax, Raymond J.G.M., 2014. "How does population density influence agricultural intensification and productivity? Evidence from Ethiopia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 142-152.
    14. Gonzalez, X. P. & Alvarez, C. J. & Crecente, R., 2004. "Evaluation of land distributions with joint regard to plot size and shape," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 31-43, October.
    15. Amemiya, Takeshi, 1981. "Qualitative Response Models: A Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 19(4), pages 1483-1536, December.
    16. Terry van Dijk, 2002. "Export of Planning Knowledge Needs Comparative Analysis: The Case of Applying Western Land Consolidation Experience in Central Europe," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(7), pages 911-922, October.
    17. Siyan Zeng & Fengwu Zhu & Fu Chen & Man Yu & Shaoliang Zhang & Yongjun Yang, 2018. "Assessing the Impacts of Land Consolidation on Agricultural Technical Efficiency of Producers: A Survey from Jiangsu Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-17, July.
    18. Giuseppe Davide Cioffo & An Ansoms & Jude Murison, 2016. "Modernising agriculture through a ‘new’ Green Revolution: the limits of the Crop Intensification Programme in Rwanda," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(148), pages 277-293, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zang, Yuzhu & Yang, Yuanyuan & Liu, Yansui, 2021. "Toward serving land consolidation on the table of sustainability: An overview of the research landscape and future directions," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    2. Bahar, Sevgi Kesici & Kirmikil, Müge, 2021. "The evaluation of agricultural landowner inputs before and after land consolidation: The Kesik Village example," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    3. Abebaw Andarge Gedefaw & Clement Atzberger & Walter Seher & Sayeh Kassaw Agegnehu & Reinfried Mansberger, 2020. "Effects of Land Certification for Rural Farm Households in Ethiopia: Evidence from Gozamin District, Ethiopia," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-23, October.
    4. Żanna Stręk & Przemysław Leń & Justyna Wójcik-Leń & Paweł Postek & Monika Mika & Leszek Dawid, 2021. "A Proposed Land Exchange Algorithm for Eliminating the External Plot Patchwork," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-15, January.
    5. Uchendu Eugene Chigbu, 2020. "Land, Women, Youths, and Land Tools or Methods: Emerging Lessons for Governance and Policy," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-6, December.
    6. Lei Yan & Xubin Lei & Kairong Hong & Hui Li & Mengyuan Chen, 2022. "Improving Farmer Willingness to Participate in the Transfer of Land Rights in Rural China: A Preference-Based Income Distribution Scheme," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-22, March.
    7. Weilun Feng & Yurui Li, 2021. "Measuring the Ecological Safety Effects of Land Use Transitions Promoted by Land Consolidation Projects: The Case of Yan’an City on the Loess Plateau of China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-15, July.
    8. Abebaw Andarge Gedefaw & Clement Atzberger & Thomas Bauer & Sayeh Kassaw Agegnehu & Reinfried Mansberger, 2020. "Analysis of Land Cover Change Detection in Gozamin District, Ethiopia: From Remote Sensing and DPSIR Perspectives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-25, June.
    9. Asiama, Kwabena Obeng & Voss, Winrich & Bennett, Rohan & Rubanje, Innocent, 2021. "Land consolidation activities in Sub-Saharan Africa towards the agenda 2030: A tale of three countries," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    10. Fan Yang & Guangqing Chi & Ge Wang & Shirui Tang & Yunting Li & Cong Ju, 2020. "Untangle the Complex Stakeholder Relationships in Rural Settlement Consolidation in China: A Social Network Approach," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-19, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bahar, Sevgi Kesici & Kirmikil, Müge, 2021. "The evaluation of agricultural landowner inputs before and after land consolidation: The Kesik Village example," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    2. Pierre Damien Ntihinyurwa & Walter Timo de Vries, 2021. "Farmland Fragmentation, Farmland Consolidation and Food Security: Relationships, Research Lapses and Future Perspectives," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-39, January.
    3. Latruffe, Laure & Piet, Laurent, 2013. "Does land fragmentation affect farm performance? A case study from Brittany," Factor Markets Working Papers 151, Centre for European Policy Studies.
    4. Jia, Lili, 2012. "Land fragmentation and off-farm labor supply in China," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), volume 66, number 66.
    5. Ntihinyurwa, Pierre Damien & de Vries, Walter Timo & Chigbu, Uchendu Eugene & Dukwiyimpuhwe, Patrick Acklam, 2019. "The positive impacts of farm land fragmentation in Rwanda," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 565-581.
    6. Gatterer, Markus & Leonhardt, Heidi & Salhofer, Klaus & Morawetz, Ulrich, 2024. "The legacy of partible inheritance on farmland fragmentation: Evidence from Austria," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    7. Asiama, Kwabena Obeng & Voss, Winrich & Bennett, Rohan & Rubanje, Innocent, 2021. "Land consolidation activities in Sub-Saharan Africa towards the agenda 2030: A tale of three countries," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    8. Abay, Kibrewossen & Hirvonen, Kalle & Minten, Bart, 2017. "Farm size, food security, and welfare: Descriptive evidence from the Ethiopian highlands," ESSP working papers 111, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    9. Latruffe, Laure & Piet, Laurent, 2013. "Does land fragmentation affect farm performance? A case study from Brittany, France," Working Papers 207854, Institut National de la recherche Agronomique (INRA), Departement Sciences Sociales, Agriculture et Alimentation, Espace et Environnement (SAE2).
    10. Takada, Jun & Shuto, Hisato, 2023. "Causal linkages between land reform and factor demand under tenure insecurity: Evidence from Amhara Region, Ethiopia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    11. Laure Latruffe & Laurent Piet, 2013. "Does land fragmentation affect farm performance?," Working Papers hal-01208858, HAL.
    12. Fitsum Assefa Adela & Joachim Aurbacher & Gumataw Kifle Abebe, 2019. "Small-scale irrigation scheme governance - poverty nexus: evidence from Ethiopia," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(4), pages 897-913, August.
    13. Ganjar Kurnia & Iwan Setiawan & Ahmad C. Tridakusumah & Gani Jaelani & Mahra A. Heryanto & Adi Nugraha, 2022. "Local Wisdom for Ensuring Agriculture Sustainability: A Case from Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-13, July.
    14. Ntihinyurwa, Pierre Damien & de Vries, Walter Timo, 2021. "Farmland fragmentation concourse: Analysis of scenarios and research gaps," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    15. Akkaya Aslan, Şerife Tülin, 2021. "Evaluation of land consolidation projects with parcel shape and dispersion," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    16. Wójcik - Leń, Justyna & Postek, Paweł & Stręk, Żanna & Leń, Przemysław, 2020. "Proposed algorithm for the identification of land for consolidation with regard to spatial variability of soil quality," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    17. Shunji Oniki & Melaku Berhe & Koichi Takenaka, 2020. "Efficiency Impact of the Communal Land Distribution Program in Northern Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-14, May.
    18. Marcos-Martinez, Raymundo & Measham, Thomas G. & Fleming-Muñoz, David A., 2019. "Economic impacts of early unconventional gas mining: Lessons from the coal seam gas industry in New South Wales, Australia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 338-346.
    19. Ndip, Francis Ebai & Molua, Ernest L. & Mvodo, Meyo-Elise Stephanie & Nkendah, Robert & Djomo Choumbou, Raoul Fani & Tabetando, Rayner & Akem, Nina Fabinin, 2023. "Farmland Fragmentation, crop diversification and incomes in Cameroon, a Congo Basin country," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    20. Nancy McCarthy & Talip Kilic & Alejandro de la Fuente & Joshua M. Brubaker, 2018. "Shelter from the Storm? Household-Level Impacts of, and Responses to, the 2015 Floods in Malawi," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 2(3), pages 237-258, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:8:y:2019:i:10:p:148-:d:275626. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.