The Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources (MoANR), with the support of LAND, organized a national workshop that aimed to discuss the state of land utilization policy in Ethiopia and the way forward. Some 50 experts invited from 33 organizations participated in the workshop conducted on October 20-21, 2015 in Adama town.
Five peer-reviewed papers were presented at the workshop. The papers provided analysis on topics including landscape transformation in selected fast developing corridors in Ethiopia and consequent changes observed on natural resources; review of current Ethiopian policies and laws on land use; international experience in preparing and implementing national and regional land utilization policies and their impacts on socioeconomic development; the importance of a sound and robust land utilization policy; and past performance of land use planning in Ethiopia.
In his introductory remarks, Ato Tigistu Gebremeskel, Director of Rural Land Administration and Use Directorate at MoANR said, “It is high time for the country, which is rapidly growing, to revisit its utilization of land. Effective and efficient use of land is at the heart of sustainable development and failure.