ABSTRACT
In the early 1990s, Ethiopia emerged from 20 years of social disruption due to Maoist Derg regime policies, many of which were taken up by succeeding regimes, particularly in the land sector. These policies included periodic resettlement of rural communities and a curtailment of land inheritance and other rights associated with pre-Derg customary systems. Post-1995 tenure reforms drew on principles of social inclusion typical of customary tenure that prevailed in the pre-Derg era, contributing to stabilization of rural social life. The Tigray region first implemented the program in 1998; Amhara followed in 2002 and Oromia and the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples (SNNP) regions in 2004. Several features of the certification process enhanced perceptions of tenure security. Implementation relied on inexpensive and accessible mapping technology, and the program was initially implemented with limited donor involvement and by working through existing local governance institutions using a transparent process for demarcation and rights adjudication. A striking positive outcome of the program has been an increase in land rented by female heads of household, typically widows, to male farmers who have access to drought power and other farming assets that women do not have.
