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Library The Transformation of the Afar Commons in Ethiopia: State Coercion, Diversification, and Property Rights Change among Pastoralists

The Transformation of the Afar Commons in Ethiopia: State Coercion, Diversification, and Property Rights Change among Pastoralists

The Transformation of the Afar Commons in Ethiopia: State Coercion, Diversification, and Property Rights Change among Pastoralists

Resource information

Date of publication
June 2008
Resource Language
ISBN / Resource ID
AGRIS:US2016217213

The major economic activity for pastoralists is animal husbandry. The harshenvironment in which herders raise their livestock requires constant mobility toregulate resource utilization via a common property regime. In contrast to themobile way of life characterizing pastoralism, agriculture as a sedentary activity isonly marginally present in the lowlands of the Afar regional state in Ethiopia.Nevertheless, this study reveals a situation where the traditional land–usearrangements in Afar are being transformed due to the introduction of farming. Inthe past, the Imperial and the Socialist governments introduced large–scaleagriculture in a coercive manner, thereby instigating massive resistance from thepastoralists. Currently, the recurrence of drought in the study areas has facilitatedthe subdivision of the communal land on a voluntary basis for the purpose offarming. Qualitative and quantitative analysis highlight the drivers, both coerciveand non–coercive, of the transformation of traditional property rights of Afarpastoralists.

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Authors and Publishers

Author(s), editor(s), contributor(s)

Hundie, Bekele
Padmanabhan, Martina Aruna

Data Provider
Geographical focus