The Feed the Future Ethiopia Land Governance Activity (LGA) is a five-year, $10.9 million Task Order under the Strengthening Tenure and Resource Rights II Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity Contract implemented by Tetra Tech. This fourth annual report summarizes implementation progress and results achieved during Fiscal Year 2023 (October 1, 2022– September 30, 2023). LGA’s purpose is to provide support to the Government of Ethiopia (GOE), its regions, and citizens to strengthen land governance, increase incomes, reduce conflict, and support well- planned urbanization, thereby contributing to the country’s socio-economic development plans.
In November 2020 violent conflict erupted in the Tigray National Regional State (NRS) resulting in fighting and creating security “hotspots” throughout the country, including the pastoral areas in Oromia and Afar NRS, where LGA planned to support interventions to register pastoral communities’ land rights. The conflict ceased in October 2022 and a peace agreement to cease hostilities permanently was signed at the beginning of November 2022. It took nearly one year before the security situation stabilized and reconstruction advanced sufficiently for LGA to re-establish collaboration with government stakeholders.
In May 2023, LGA and officials from the Afar regional Land Bureau agreed a plan to resume support for pastoralists’ rights registration, beginning with a field assessment in August 2023. Although Oromia NRS was not as directly impacted by the conflict, inter-community boundary conflicts prevented LGA from supporting registration of pastoralists’ rights in the Borana Zone. LGA moved its operations to East Bale Zone where communal land rights of 24 pastoral communities were certified in November 2022 and work is on-going to register rights of an additional six pastoral communities. Beginning in June 2023, LGA supported preparation of Tigray NRS’s Expropriation, Valuation, and Compensation Directive and discussions about additional support LGA could provide is ongoing.
Recent armed conflict in Amhara NRS has delayed field work under LGA’s research grants scheme and legislative support. It has also prevented LGA from scaling-up its pilot to improve urban land rights registration processes in Debre Berhan Town.