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Impacts of Land Certification on Tenure Security, Investment, and Land Markets: Evidence from Ethiopia

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  • Deininger, Klaus
  • Ali, Daniel Ayalew
  • Alemu, Tekie

Abstract

While early attempts at land titling in Africa were often unsuccessful, the need to secure land rights has kindled renewed interest, in view of increased demand for land, a range of individual and communal rights available under new laws, and reduced costs from combining information technology with participatory methods. We used a difference-in-difference approach to assess the effects of a low-cost land registration program in Ethiopia, which covered some 20 million plots over five years, on investment. Despite policy constraints, the program increased land-related investment and yielded benefits significantly above the cost of implementation.

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  • Deininger, Klaus & Ali, Daniel Ayalew & Alemu, Tekie, 2009. "Impacts of Land Certification on Tenure Security, Investment, and Land Markets: Evidence from Ethiopia," RFF Working Paper Series dp-09-11-efd, Resources for the Future.
    • Handle: RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-09-11-efd
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    Cited by:

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    2. De la O Campos, Ana Paula & Edouard, Fabrice & Salvago, Marta Ruiz, 2023. "Effects of land titling on household tenure security and investments: Evidence from Nicaragua," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    3. Kassie, Menale & Jaleta, Moti & Shiferaw, Bekele A. & Mmbando, Frank & Mekuria, Mulugetta, 2012. "Interdependence in Farmer Technology Adoption Decisions in Smallholder Systems: Joint Estimation of Investments in Sustainable Agricultural Practices in Rural Tanzania," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 126791, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    4. Chamberlin, Jordan & Schmidt, Emily, 2012. "Ethiopian Agriculture: A dynamic geographic perspective," IFPRI book chapters, in: Dorosh, Paul A. & Rashid, Shahidur (ed.), Food and agriculture in Ethiopia: Progress and policy challenges, chapter 2, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    5. 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.
    6. Shewakena Aytenfisu Abab & Feyera Senbeta Wakjira & Tamirat Tefera Negash, 2022. "Factors Influencing the Formalization of Rural Land Transactions in Ethiopia: A Theory of Planned Behavior Approach," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-26, April.
    7. Shewakena Aytenfisu Abab & Feyera Senbeta & Tamirat Tefera Negash, 2023. "The Effect of Land Tenure Institutional Factors on Small Landholders’ Sustainable Land Management Investment: Evidence from the Highlands of Ethiopia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-23, June.
    8. Muraoka, Rie & Jin, Songqing & Jayne, T.S., 2018. "Land access, land rental and food security: Evidence from Kenya," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 611-622.
    9. Tongwei Qiu & Xianlei Ma & Biliang Luo, 2022. "Are private property rights better? evidence from the marketization of land rentals in rural China," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 875-902, May.
    10. Senda, Trinity S. & Robinson, Lance W. & Gachene, Charles K.K. & Kironchi, Geoffrey & Doyo, Jaldesa, 2020. "An assessment of the implications of alternative scales of communal land tenure formalization in pastoral systems," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    11. Logan Cochrane & Sebsib Hadis, 2019. "Functionality of the Land Certification Program in Ethiopia: Exploratory Evaluation of the Processes of Updating Certificates," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-14, October.
    12. Addiswork Tilahun Teklemariam & Logan Cochrane, 2021. "The Rush to the Peripheries: Land Rights and Tenure Security in Peri-Urban Ethiopia," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-20, February.
    13. Kassie, Menale & Jaleta, Moti & Shiferaw, Bekele & Mmbando, Frank & Mekuria, Mulugetta, 2013. "Adoption of interrelated sustainable agricultural practices in smallholder systems: Evidence from rural Tanzania," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 80(3), pages 525-540.
    14. Bambio, Yiriyibin & Bouayad Agha, Salima, 2018. "Land tenure security and investment: Does strength of land right really matter in rural Burkina Faso?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 130-147.
    15. Séogo, Windinkonté & Zahonogo, Pam, 2023. "Do land property rights matter for stimulating agricultural productivity? Empirical evidence from Burkina Faso," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    16. Hans P. Binswanger-Mkhize & Camille Bourguignon & Rogier van den Brink, 2009. "Agricultural Land Redistribution : Toward Greater Consensus," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2653.
    17. Robin Biddulph, 2014. "Cambodia's Land Management and Administration Project," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-086, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    18. Alemu Mekonnen & Hosaena Ghebru & Stein T. Holden & Menale Kassie, 2013. "The Impact of Land Certification on Tree Growing on Private Plots of Rural Households: Evidence from Ethiopia," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Stein T. Holden & Keijiro Otsuka & Klaus Deininger (ed.), Land Tenure Reform in Asia and Africa, chapter 13, pages 308-330, Palgrave Macmillan.
    19. Biddulph, Robin, 2014. "Cambodia's land management and administration project," WIDER Working Paper Series 086, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    20. Juliet Katusiime & Brigitta Schütt, 2020. "Linking Land Tenure and Integrated Watershed Management—A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-11, February.
    21. Beyene, Abebe D. & Koch, Steven F., 2013. "Property rights, institutions and choice of fuelwood source in rural Ethiopia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 30-38.
    22. Bezabih, Mintewab & Kohlin, Gunnar & Mannberg, Andrea, 2011. "Trust, tenure insecurity, and land certification in rural Ethiopia," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 833-843.
    23. Wekesa, Bright Masakha, 2017. "Effect Of Climate Smart Agricultural Practices On Food Security Of Small Scale Farmers In Teso North Sub-County, Kenya," Research Theses 276427, Collaborative Masters Program in Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    24. Shewakena Aytenfisu Abab & Feyera Senbeta & Tamirat Tefera Negash, 2023. "The Effect of Policy and Technological Innovations of Land Tenure on Small Landholders’ Credit-Worthiness: Evidence from Ethiopia," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-19, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    land certification; land rights; tenure security; investment; Ethiopia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment

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