The political-economy of communal land distribution for rural youths in Amhara region, Ethiopia

Communal land is a vital resource for the livelihoods of agrarian communities in Ethiopia. However, communal lands were arbitrarily allocated for rural youths in cooperatives to address the pressing issue of unemployment in the Amhara region. The underlying motivations and impacts of the initiative on the livelihoods of agrarian communities and beneficiaries of the program remain understudied. Employing sustainable livelihood approach as a theoretical framework and mixed research method, this article aimed to examine the incentives and repercussions of communal land distribution for unemployed landless youths as a means of livelihood in Amhara region. A questionnaire was dispatched to 384 prior users of the distributed communal land and 150 organized youths who benefited from the job creation initiative. The data were analysed and interpreted using statistics-by-themes. The distribution of communal land was explicitly aimed at generating jobs for rural youths, but it was strategically employed by the ruling party to control youths politically, recruit party members and quell further questions. It was implemented through political decisions without legal frameworks, compensation and consent of prior users. This jeopardized the livelihoods of former users, impacting their cattle possession caused by fodder shortages and honey production over a decade. But the initiative relatively aided organized youths to bring positive changes on their livelihoods and enabling them to acquire capital assets and cattle ownership after becoming beneficiaries of the initiative. Hence, the distribution of communal lands to rural youths should respect the land use rights of prior user’s vis-a-vis emerging generations.