Perception of peri urban farmers towards farm land eviction resulted from urban expansion

Farmers view the forced expropriation of land during urban expansion as a harmful influence. This study aims to investigate how peri-urban farmers perceive being evicted due to urban expansion, focusing on land valuation process, compensation amount, and livelihood improvement. These factors are taken as latent variables for analysis together with 11 other indicators. The research was carried out in Injibara, Burie, and Gish Abay towns in the Amhara region of Ethiopia. Data was collected from 197 evicted households through random selection. Data analysis utilized partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results demonstrate that the amount of compensation and the land valuation process positively and significantly impact the livelihoods of evicted farmers. Specifically, land valuation has a direct, indirect, and total effect on livelihood improvement by 30.65%, 5.2%, and 35.8%, respectively. Furthermore, compensation has a direct impact of 27.7% and acts as a mediating variable between valuation and livelihood improvement. This depicts that the land valuation process has a more substantial effect on improving household livelihoods compared to compensation. The study suggests that addressing farmers’ perceptions of land eviction involves improving the livelihoods of evicted households. This could be achieved by making the land valuation process participatory, considering the land’s location, enhancing the skill of land valuation professionals, reducing corruption, prioritizing employment for evicted households, and ensuring timely compensation payments while considering inflation expectations. In conclusion, this research highlights the importance of conducting thorough socioeconomic assessments before evicting peri-urban farmers, as overlooking their perceptions towards land eviction could lead to community discord.