Sustainability of the rural land registration system in Ethiopia : the case in Dugda Wereda
Abza, Tegistu et al.
Land registration is the official recording of legally recognized interests in land and the recording of changes in interests over time. The land registration system provides certainty regarding rights and the system is often a source of government revenue through the collection of fees and transfer taxes. In Ethiopia, the establishment of the rural land records through 1st Level Certification was launched in 1997/98 and presently the land holdings of about 85% of the total rural households of the four mainn regional states (Amhara, Oromiya, Southern Nation, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State (SNNPRS) and Tigray regional states) have been registered and 1st level certificates have been issued to these households. The land registers produced by the 1st level certification program, which was undertaken at great cost, have largely not been kept up to date, a situation which is pervasive in many African Countries, and this lack of updating has eroded the value and sustainability of the land registration systems. This lack of updating has been attributed to a range of factors including, a lack emphasis by officials on updating, inefficient and cumbersome records management systems and a lack of awareness by land holders of the process and benefits in keeping the records of their holdings updated. However there is little empirical evidence or research into the relative importance of these and other factors and this hinders efforts to improve the updating and maintenance of rural land records in Ethiopia.
Event: Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty 2013
Only personal, non-commercial use of this document is allowed.