IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v9y2020i2p35-d313132.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Role of Social Norms in Natural Resource Management: The Case of the Communal Land Distribution Program in Northern Ethiopia

Author

Listed:
  • Shunji Oniki

    (Social Sciences Division, Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8686, Japan)

  • Melaku Berhe

    (Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, College of Dryland Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Tigray Region, P.O. Box 231, Ethiopia)

  • Teklay Negash

    (Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, College of Dryland Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Tigray Region, P.O. Box 231, Ethiopia)

Abstract

The increasing population pressure in the rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa has caused land degradation as well as an increase in the number of landless farmers. To promote a conservation-oriented utilization of communal lands and increase the livelihood of poor farmers, the Ethiopian government introduced a program to distribute less-utilized communal lands to landless farmers. This study identified the social norms related to natural resource conservation that affect the participation in this program. Using data from 477 farmer households in northern Ethiopia, we estimated probit models with endogenous regressors for the determinants of social norms and their impacts on program participation. The results show that social norms related to conservation positively affect program participation. Regarding policy implication of the findings, an intervention to improve the social norms of local farmers leads to sustainable resource conservation without reducing intrinsic motivation of the local people. A conservation-oriented utilization of the communal lands would be more effective if the land distribution program was accompanied by other programs to improve the social norms in the villages.

Suggested Citation

  • Shunji Oniki & Melaku Berhe & Teklay Negash, 2020. "Role of Social Norms in Natural Resource Management: The Case of the Communal Land Distribution Program in Northern Ethiopia," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-17, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:9:y:2020:i:2:p:35-:d:313132
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/9/2/35/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/9/2/35/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brasselle, Anne-Sophie & Gaspart, Frederic & Platteau, Jean-Philippe, 2002. "Land tenure security and investment incentives: puzzling evidence from Burkina Faso," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 373-418, April.
    2. Stein T. Holden & Keijiro Otsuka & Klaus Deininger (ed.), 2013. "Land Tenure Reform in Asia and Africa," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-137-34381-9, October.
    3. Frey, Bruno S & Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, 1997. "The Cost of Price Incentives: An Empirical Analysis of Motivation Crowding-Out," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(4), pages 746-755, September.
    4. Gebremedhin, Berhanu & Swinton, Scott M., 2003. "Investment in soil conservation in northern Ethiopia: the role of land tenure security and public programs," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 69-84, July.
    5. John L. Pender & John M. Kerr, 1998. "Determinants of farmers' indigenous soil and water conservation investments in semi‐arid India," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 19(1-2), pages 113-125, September.
    6. Berhanu, G/medhin & Pender, John & Ehui, Siemon, 2003. "Land Tenure and Land Management in the Highlands of Northern Ethiopia," Ethiopian Journal of Economics, Ethiopian Economics Association, vol. 8(2), pages 1-97, July.
    7. Beekman, Gonne & Bulte, Erwin H., 2012. "Social norms, tenure security and soil conservation: Evidence from Burundi," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 50-63.
    8. Anderson, C. Leigh & Locker, Laura & Nugent, Rachel, 2002. "Microcredit, Social Capital, and Common Pool Resources," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 95-105, January.
    9. Bicchieri,Cristina, 2006. "The Grammar of Society," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521574907, September.
    10. Klaus Deininger & Daniel Ayalew Ali & Takashi Yamano, 2008. "Legal Knowledge and Economic Development: The Case of Land Rights in Uganda," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 84(4), pages 593-619.
    11. Mehretie Belay & Assefa Abegaz & Woldeamlak Bewket, 2017. "Livelihood options of landless households and land contracts in north-west Ethiopia," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 141-164, February.
    12. De los Santos-Montero, Luis A. & Bravo-Ureta, Boris E., 2017. "Natural Resource Management and Household Well-being: The Case of POSAF-II in Nicaragua," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 42-59.
    13. Richard Akresh & Joyce J. Chen & Charity T. Moore, 2016. "Altruism, Cooperation, and Efficiency: Agricultural Production in Polygynous Households," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(4), pages 661-696.
    14. Ansink, Erik & Tesfaye, Abonesh & Bouma, Jetske & Brouwer, Roy, 2017. "Cooperation in watershed management: A field experiment on location, trust, and enforcement," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 91-104.
    15. Deininger, Klaus & Ali, Daniel Ayalew & Holden, Stein & Zevenbergen, Jaap, 2008. "Rural Land Certification in Ethiopia: Process, Initial Impact, and Implications for Other African Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 1786-1812, October.
    16. Fitsum Hagos & Stein Holden, 2006. "Tenure security, resource poverty, public programs, and household plot‐level conservation investments in the highlands of northern Ethiopia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 34(2), pages 183-196, March.
    17. Todd Moss & Gunilla Pettersson & Nicolas van de Walle, 2006. "An Aid-Institutions Paradox? A Review Essay on Aid Dependency and State Building in Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers 74, Center for Global Development.
    18. Otsuka, Keijiro & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Payongayong, Ellen & Aidoo, J.B., 2003. "Land tenure and the management of land and trees: the case of customary land tenure areas of Ghana," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(1), pages 77-104, February.
    19. Lin, Justin Yifu, 1992. "Rural Reforms and Agricultural Growth in China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(1), pages 34-51, March.
    20. Bruno S. Frey, 1997. "Not Just for the Money," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1183.
    21. Klaus Deininger & Daniel Ayalew Ali & Tekie Alemu, 2011. "Impacts of Land Certification on Tenure Security, Investment, and Land Market Participation: Evidence from Ethiopia," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 87(2), pages 312-334.
    22. Jagger, Pamela & Pender, John L., 2003. "Impacts of programs and organizations on the adoption of sustainable land management technologies in Uganda," EPTD discussion papers 101, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    23. Sethi, Rajiv & Somanathan, E, 1996. "The Evolution of Social Norms in Common Property Resource Use," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(4), pages 766-788, September.
    24. Holden, Stein T. & Otsuka, Keijiro, 2014. "The roles of land tenure reforms and land markets in the context of population growth and land use intensification in Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 88-97.
    25. 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.
    26. Elinor Ostrom, 2000. "Collective Action and the Evolution of Social Norms," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 137-158, Summer.
    27. World Bank, 2017. "World Development Indicators 2017," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 26447.
    28. Yoshiho Matsunaga, 2015. "Salary commensurate with social capital," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(14), pages 1116-1121, September.
    29. Stein T. Holden & Keijiro Otsuka & Klaus Deininger, 2013. "Land Tenure Reforms, Poverty and Natural Resource Management: Conceptual Framework," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Stein T. Holden & Keijiro Otsuka & Klaus Deininger (ed.), Land Tenure Reform in Asia and Africa, chapter 1, pages 1-26, Palgrave Macmillan.
    30. Jack, B. Kelsey, 2009. "Upstream-downstream transactions and watershed externalities: Experimental evidence from Kenya," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1813-1824, April.
    31. Gebremedhin, Berhanu & Pender, John & Tesfay, Girmay, 2003. "Community natural resource management: the case of woodlots in Northern Ethiopia," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(1), pages 129-148, February.
    32. Place, Frank & Otsuka, Keijiro, 2001. "Population, Tenure, and Natural Resource Management: The Case of Customary Land Area in Malawi," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 13-32, January.
    33. Oniki, Shunji & Negusse, Gebremichael, 2015. "Communal Land Utilization in the Highlands of Northern Ethiopia: Evidence of Transaction Costs," Japanese Journal of Agricultural Economics (formerly Japanese Journal of Rural Economics), Agricultural Economics Society of Japan (AESJ), vol. 17, pages 1-6.
    34. Guy Nkamleu & Guy Nkamleu & Bernadette Dia Kamgnia, 2014. "Working Paper 196 - Uses and Abuses of Per-diems in Africa- A Political Economy of Travel Allowances," Working Paper Series 2070, African Development Bank.
    35. Pender, John & Jagger, Pamela & Nkonya, Ephraim & Sserunkuuma, Dick, 2004. "Development Pathways and Land Management in Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 767-792, May.
    36. Jason Delaney & Sarah Jacobson, 2016. "Payments or Persuasion: Common Pool Resource Management with Price and Non-price Measures," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 65(4), pages 747-772, December.
    37. Noah J. Goldstein & Robert B. Cialdini & Vladas Griskevicius, 2008. "A Room with a Viewpoint: Using Social Norms to Motivate Environmental Conservation in Hotels," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(3), pages 472-482, March.
    38. Stein T. Holden & Hosaena Ghebru, 2013. "Welfare Impacts of Land Certification in Tigray, Ethiopia," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Stein T. Holden & Keijiro Otsuka & Klaus Deininger (ed.), Land Tenure Reform in Asia and Africa, chapter 6, pages 137-161, Palgrave Macmillan.
    39. Pender, John, 2004. "Development pathways for hillsides and highlands: some lessons from Central America and East Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 339-367, August.
    40. Gabre-Madhin, Eleni Z., 2001. "Market institutions, transaction costs, and social capital in the Ethiopian grain market:," Research reports 124, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    41. Dong, Xiao-Yuan, 1996. "Two-tier land tenure system and sustained economic growth in post-1978 rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 915-928, May.
    42. Stein Holden & Klaus Deininger & Hosaena Ghebru, 2011. "Tenure Insecurity, Gender, Low-cost Land Certification and Land Rental Market Participation in Ethiopia," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(1), pages 31-47.
    43. Giuseppe Danese & Luigi Mittone, 2015. "Norms and trades: An experimental investigation," Rationality and Society, , vol. 27(3), pages 259-282, August.
    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. Sarujan Sathiyamoorthy & Kei Kajisa & Takeshi Sakurai, 2023. "Performance of community‐based tank irrigation system and its determinants: Evidence from Tamil Nadu, India," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 61(3), pages 232-252, September.
    2. Yami, M. & Mekuria, Wolde, 2022. "Challenges in the governance of community-managed forests in Ethiopia: review," Papers published in Journals (Open Access), International Water Management Institute, pages 1-14(3):147.
    3. Oniki, Shunji & Berhe, Melaku & Negash, Teklay & Etsay, Haftu, 2023. "Do economic incentives crowd out motivation for communal land conservation in Ethiopia?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    4. Shunji Oniki & Haftu Etsay & Melaku Berhe & Teklay Negash, 2020. "Improving Cooperation among Farmers for Communal Land Conservation in Ethiopia: A Public Goods Experiment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-16, November.
    5. 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.

    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. Oniki, S. & Berhe, M. & Negash, T., 2018. "Roles of the social norms on participation in the communal land distribution program in Ethiopia," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277070, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. Adamie, Birhanu Addisu, 2021. "Land property rights and household take-up of development programs: Evidence from land certification program in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    3. Fenske, James, 2011. "Land tenure and investment incentives: Evidence from West Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 137-156, July.
    4. Holden, Stein T. & Otsuka, Keijiro, 2014. "The roles of land tenure reforms and land markets in the context of population growth and land use intensification in Africa," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 88-97.
    5. Ayalew, Hailemariam & Admasu, Yeshwas & Chamberlin, Jordan, 2021. "Is land certification pro-poor? Evidence from Ethiopia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    6. 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).
    7. Muna Shifa & Murray Leibbrandt & Martin Wittenberg, 2015. "Does tenure insecurity explain the variations in land-related investment decisions in rural Ethiopia?," SALDRU Working Papers 150, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    8. Hagos, Hosaena Ghebru, 2012. "Tenure (in)security and agricultural investment of smallholder farmers in Mozambique:," MSSP working papers 5, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    9. Shunji Oniki & Haftu Etsay & Melaku Berhe & Teklay Negash, 2020. "Improving Cooperation among Farmers for Communal Land Conservation in Ethiopia: A Public Goods Experiment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-16, November.
    10. Holden, Stein T. & Ali, Daniel & Deininger, Klaus & Hilhorst, Thea, 2016. "A Land Tenure Module for LSMS," CLTS Working Papers 1/16, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 16 Oct 2019.
    11. Ghebru, Hosaena, 2015. "Is There a Merit to the Continuum Tenure Approach? A Case of Demand for Land Rights Formulation in Rural Mozambique," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211683, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    12. Mehretie Belay & Assefa Abegaz & Woldeamlak Bewket, 2017. "Livelihood options of landless households and land contracts in north-west Ethiopia," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 141-164, February.
    13. Ayalew, H., 2018. "Is tenure Security Pro-poor? Decomposing Welfare Effects," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277532, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    14. Adere, Tilahun Habtamu & Mertens, Kewan & Maertens, Miet & Vranken, Liesbet, 2022. "The impact of land certification and risk preferences on investment in soil and water conservation: Evidence from southern Ethiopia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    15. 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.
    16. Holden, Stein T. & Ghebru, Hosaena, 2011. "Household Welfare Effects of Low-cost Land Certification in Ethiopia," CLTS Working Papers 3/11, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 10 Oct 2019.
    17. Bezu, Sosina & Holden, Stein, 2013. "Unbundling Land Administrative Reform: Demand for Second Stage Land Certification in Ethiopia," CLTS Working Papers 3/13, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 10 Oct 2019.
    18. 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.
    19. Holden, Stein T. & Tilahun, Mesfin, 2020. "Farm size and gender distribution of land: Evidence from Ethiopian land registry data," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    20. Deininger, Klaus & Jin, Songqing, 2006. "Tenure security and land-related investment: Evidence from Ethiopia," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(5), pages 1245-1277, July.

    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:9:y:2020:i:2:p:35-:d:313132. 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.