ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY

MA Thesis

Urban Expansion, Tenure Rights and Informality in Ethiopia: The Case of Shashemene
City and Its Surrounding in West Arsii Zone

By: Tofik Mustefa

Advisor:Mamo Hebo(PhD)

Date, 3/10/ 2021

Addis Ababa

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 ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES
COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY

This is to certify that the thesis prepared by Tofik Mustefa, entitled: Urban Expansion, Tenure
Rights and Informality in Ethiopia: The Case of Shashemene City and Its Surrounding
inWest Arsii Zoneand submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts (Social Anthropology) complies with the regulations of the university and meets
the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality.

Approved by Board of Examiners

Advisor: ________________________________Signature___________

Internal Examiner: _______________________Signature___________

External Examiner: _______________________Signature __________

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I be indebted it all to Almighty Allah for everything he did to me throughout
my life. Second, completion of this thesis is the product of assistances from several individuals,
families and Friends. They all deserve my sincere appreciation. I am grateful to all of those who
supported me in my education .Above all, I am very grateful to my advisor Dr. Mamo Hebo, for
his relentless, sympathetic and continuous support from the beginning to the end of this research.
His guidance and encouragement from the beginning to the completion of the thesis was laudable.
His critical and constructive comments have significantly shaped this MA thesis. Moreover, His
teaching style and deep knowledge and wisdom attracted and led me to leave other program and
to stick on Social Anthropology. In this regard, most of my instructors in the department thank
you for your an indispensable impact that you created on me and enable me to get reasonable
degree of satisfaction for being of student of Social Anthropology .Thank you all !!!

I am grateful to my friends and colleagues in the same program: Fistum, Miki, and Solomon for
their friendship and constructive suggestions and academic help. Thank you all!! I am also very
indebted to my friend Abdulfetah who offered to me his laptop in a very crucial time. Shukreen
Abdi !!

I am greatly indebted to all my research informants of Shashemene .Thank you very much for
believing me in time of tragic crisis that the city had faced, warmest reception that you gave me
and make me to feel at home. Tesho, Jemal,Rahmeto, Instructor Jemal, Kedir,Obo Hirpeto,
Nega,Gobene and all of informants who played the lion share contribution without any incentives
.This thesis could not be accomplished without your support. Gallatomaa!!!.

Finally, I must thank my beloved family, who are always the real source of my happiness. Most
importantly, I owe my every success to my spouse, Rewdina, who has stood by my side at all
times by breaking all social barriers. Thank you for believing on me without any reservation. My
lovely kids, Ebtihal, Salhadin, Eman, and Mohammod, you are all the greatest source of my
happiness, achievement and inspiration.

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 Table of Content
Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..........................................................................................................................i
Table of Content........................................................................................................................................... ii
Abstract....................................................................................................................................................... vii
CHAPTER ONE ...........................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................................1
1.1. Background of the Study ...............................................................................................................1
1.2. Stating the Problem ........................................................................................................................3
1.3. Objective(s) of the Study................................................................................................................7
1.3.1. Specific objectives ........................................................................................................................7
1.5. The Significance of this Study .......................................................................................................8
1.7. Scope and Limitations......................................................................................................................9
1.8. Organization of the Thesis ................................................................................................................9
1.9 . General Methodological Underpinning ........................................................................................10
1.9.1. Research Philosophy, Approach and Design ..............................................................................10
1.9.2. Research Design..........................................................................................................................11
1.9.3. Sampling Methods and Research Participants ........................................................................12
1.9.4. Research Methods .......................................................................................................................14
1.9.4.1. Focus Group Discussion ..........................................................................................................14
1.9.4. 2. Structured and Semi -structured Interview ...........................................................................14
1.9.4.3. Direct Observation ...................................................................................................................15
1.9.4.5. Primary and Secondary Document Inspection .........................................................................15
1.10. Data analysis and Interpretation ...................................................................................................15
1.11. Ethical Issues ......................................................................................................................................16
ChapterTwo .................................................................................................................................................17
Review of Theoretical and Empirical Literature .....................................................................................17
2.1. Basic Concepts, Definitions, Causes, Characteristics, and Contested views on Urban Informal
Settlement......................................................................................................................................18
2.1.1. Concepts and Definitions on Informal Urban Settlement ...........................................................18
2.1.2. Causes of Urban House Informal Settlement ..............................................................................20
2.2.2. Poverty Culture Point of View ....................................................................................................26
2.2.3. The Marxist Urban Theory .........................................................................................................27

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 2.2.4. Liberal Theory of Informality .....................................................................................................27
2.3. Common Approaches to Handle Informal Settlement .................................................................28
2.3.1. Eviction-and-Demolition Schemes .............................................................................................28
2.3.2. Low-Cost Housing Provision Programs......................................................................................29
2.3.3. Sites-and-services schemes/land-and-utilities schemes ..............................................................29
2.3.4. Aided self-help/Mutual -help strategy ........................................................................................30
2.3.5. Slum/Squatter Upgrading Schemes ............................................................................................30
2.4. Turkey’s Experience on Informality ..............................................................................................30
2.5. Empirical Literature on Ethiopia’s urban Informality: Causes and Implications ..................32
2.6. Causes of Informality in Ethiopian Cities ......................................................................................33
2.6.1. Implications of Urbanization on Peri –Urban Farmers ...............................................................35
2.6.2. Implications of Legal, Policy and Administrative frameworks onInformality ...........................37
2.6.2.1. Legal Frameworks................................................................................................................37
2.6.2.2. National Policy Frameworks outcomes on Urban House Informality .................................39
2.6.2.3. Administrative Measures on Informality and their Outcomes ...........................................40
Chapter Three .............................................................................................................................................42
Description of the Study Area ....................................................................................................................42
3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................42
3.1.1. Geographic Location,Topography, Climate and Drainage system .............................................42
3.2. History of Shashemene Town ........................................................................................................43
3.3. Demography, Ethnic and Religious Composition ..........................................................................44
3.3.1. Demography ............................................................................................................................44
3.3.2. Ethnic Composition.....................................................................................................................44
3.3.3.Religious Composition.............................................................................................................45
3.4. Socio- Economic Institutions of the Town.....................................................................................45
Chapter Four ...............................................................................................................................................47
Land Tenure and Land Transaction Experience and the Rate of Urbanization in Shashemene ........47
4.1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................47
4.2. Modern Ethiopian State Formation and its Implication on Land Tenure .................................47
4.4. LandSale and Land Transaction Practice in the Study Area ......................................................52
4.5.Urbanization and the rate of Horizontal expansion of Shashemene City ....................................53
Chapter Five ................................................................................................................................................57
Factors for Informal Land Transactions and Informal House Construction and Its Outcomes ........57

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5.1.Factors that lead Informal Land Transaction ....................................................................................57
5.1.1.Arbitrary LandExpropriation and Unfair Compensation .............................................................58
5.1.2. Dwindling Land Size, Low Yield and High Agricultural Inputs Price .....................................59
5.1.3. Covering Expense: Marriage and Oversee Migration ................................................................60
5.1.4Neighborhood, Middle Men and Land Speculators Influence ......................................................61
5.2. The Process, Rate and Kind of Compensation in Shahsemene ....................................................62
5.3. The Process of Existing Informal Land Transaction and House Construction and Its
Participants ...................................................................................................................................64
5.3.1. Contents and Intents of land Transaction Agreement .................................................................65
5.3.2. The Current Informal Land Price in Shashemene City ...............................................................65
5.3.3. “untubaa” an Emerging Trend on Land Transaction..................................................................66
5.3.4. The Role of Local Officials in Urban House Informality ........... Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.4. Outcomes of Urban House Informality on Peasants.....................................................................68
5.5. Current Livelihood Engagement of Land Dispossessed Peasants ...............................................76
Chapter Six ..............................................................................................................................................79
Factorsfor Urban Dwellers Engagement in Informal Land,the State of Informal Settlements and
Its outcome on Shashemene City ................................................................................................79
6.1. Causes that Pushing Informal House Ownersto Participate in Informal Land Transaction and
Major Outcomes..........................................................................................................................................79
6.2. The State of InformalSettlements in Shashemene City ................................................................84
6.2.1. Quality of Houses ......................................................................................................................84
6.2.3. Infrastructure ............................................................................................................................86
6.3. Informality and Major Challenges of Informal Urban Dwellers ...............................................88
6.4.Informality and its Outcomes on the City Administration ...........................................................89
Chapter Seven .............................................................................................................................................91
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................91
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................96
Appendixes ................................................................................................................................................108

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LIST OF ACRONYMS

ADLI Agricultural Development Led Industrialization

CSA Central Statistical Agency
EIC Ethiopian Investment Commission
EPA Environmental Protection Authority
FDRE Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
EPRDF Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front
FAO Food and Agricultural Organization
GTP Growth and Transformation Plan
IHDP Integrated Housing Development Program
MoFED Ministry of Finance and Economic Development
MUDHCo Ministry of Urban Development, Housing and Construction
PASDEP Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty
Proc. Proclamation
SADC Swiss Aid for Development and Cooperation
SWFED Shashemene Woreda Finance and Economic Development
TPLF Tigry Peoples Liberation Front
UN United Nations
UNECA United Nation Economic Commission for Africa
UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
UNDP United Nations Development Programme

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 Abstract

This MA thesis deals with some major outcomes of urban expansion, existing tenure
arrangement, informal land transaction and house construction on the life of Former and
current farmers, informal urban dwellers and the city administration in two Kebeles of
Shashemene city of West Arssi Zone. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to
select research respondents from farmers, informal urban dwellers, middlemen and land
speculators. Mainly qualitative research methods were employed. Data were collected mainly
through FGD, in-depth interviews, informal interviews, document review, individual case studies
and extensive observation methods. Gathered data were, analyzed and interpreted in order to
answer research questions. The findings of this paper revealed that informal land transaction
and the subsequent horizontal expansion are becoming major features of Shashemene city. The
current land policy in contrast to its written goals and rhetoric has created large scale informal
land transaction and house construction that resulted in peasants’ displacement either willingly
or unwillingly in the study Kebeles. In this regard, first government expropriation of peasants’
land with a very low compensation rate and without facilitating alternative livelihood sources,
and other socio-cultural and economic factors are forcing peasants to proactively sell their land.
Secondly, urban residents were and are engaging in informal land transaction principally
because of the current lease policy, progressive hike of urban land value, residential house price
and preferential allocation of land based on political allegiance that sealed off their access to
formal residential house. On the other hand, informality is not only limited to the above
mentioned social groups but business men, land speculators, engineers, and government officials
too are actively engaging in informal land market to expand their fortune. In all these process,
peasants are the prime victims who lost and are losing their lifelong generational asset together
with their land and subsequently have been facing challenges like homelessness and joblessness
and their adverse outcomes. Though late informal land sellers are said to be in a better
livelihood condition compared to early sellers, by investing their money in income generating
business, the sustainability and success of their business can be difficult to predict. The outcome
of unplanned horizontal expansion has not only affecting peasants but also informal urban
dwellers by causing tenure insecurity and lack of access to services and infrastructures; and the
city administration by denying free space, land and property transaction tax; peasants of
neighboring weredas due to informality that created spillover effect on them. Thus, this study
recommended that, unless horizontal informal urban expansion of Shashemene is managed
properly, the outcome of informality will produce a series of socio-economic and political
unintended consequences on the above stated stakeholders.

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 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
1.1.Background of the Study

Urbanization both as a social phenomenon and a physical transformation of landscapes is one of

the most powerful, irreversible and visible anthropogenic forces on earth (Masakazu, 2003; UN-
HABITAT, 2008 in Tadesse 2008; Teshome 2014). Urban living has now become the overriding
human experience across the world (Spooner 2015). Figurative report evidently showed how this
change is accelerating over time at global scale. For example, in 1800 AD only 0.5% of global
population was urban dwellers. Two century latter, this figure dramatically jumped to 50.5
percent and in 2050 it will reach to 70 percent (Teshome 2014; Noorloos and Kloosterboer
2018; Spooner 2015; Smart and Smart2003). Unprecedented level of urban growth is becoming
the dominant feature of LDCs mainly Africa. According to Noorloos and Kloosterboer(2018)
African urban population will almost triple in the coming 35 years, with more than 1.3 billion
Africans living in cities by 2050 that will account 21% of the world’s urban population(UN
DESA 2014 in Noorloos and Kloosterboer2018). Both push factors (undesirable conditions),
and Pull factors (opportunities and favorable conditions) are causing urban population to increase
at alarming rate in either side of developed and developing nations(Ibd).

Urban expansion and development cannot be materialized in the absence of land. Hence, land
plays crucial role for the construction of various urban structures and infrastructures. Urban and
peri-urban land governance and management is one of the most challenging and the subject of
socio-economic and political controversy across the world mainly in developing nations. Due to
unfair and imperfect land tenure arrangements, around 940 million people, that is, 30 percent of
the world urban population is estimated to live in slums and under informal land tenure system
(ECA2004; UN-Habitat 2003; 2014;SADC2017).

Since land has greater socio-cultural, psycho-emotional, and politico-economic prominence,

land tenure needs to be inclusive, socially acceptable, and economically viable (Achamyeleh
2014; Sayeh2015). Secure land tenure and property rights enable people in urban and rural areas
to enjoya range of socio-economic benefits, to improve their social wellbeing, toinvest in
1
improved homes and livelihoods and to lead stable and peaceful life (Ibid; Muradu 2015; Sabita
2010 ;USAID2010;Mellese in Muradu2009).

Ethiopia is one of the least urbanized countries in the world. Only 20 percent of itstotal
population lived in urban areas, which is the lowest in both global and African scale (54 and 34
percent respectively. However, the country has been registering one of the fastest and ambivalent
urban developments at global scale at the rate of 5.4 percent annual growth (Teshome2014;
World Bank 2017).

Land issue became one of the most controversial and pressing topic for the country’s peasantry,
academicians and university students since 1960s onwards and one of the causes for the
downfall of the long stayed “Solomonic” dynasty rule in 1974(Bahru1991&2002; Bereket 2006;
Crewette and Korf 2008; Balsvic2005).The subsequent government change had brought radical
land reform in both rural and urban setting that aimed at freeing the country’s peasantry and
urban dwellers from extremely oppressive and exploitative feudal and semi capitalist system
(Bahru, 1991 &2002; Balsvic 2005). The 1991 government change did not bring radical land
reform that differs from the 1975 land tenure proclamation (Abebe and Melese in Muradu,2009:
Achamyeleh2014;Daniel2009).The framers of the 1995 Federal Democratic Republic of
Ethiopian Constitution, exactly divided in to pro and against private or state ownership of land
camps while they were drafting the constitution. But, those who advocate the idea of state
ownership of land succeeded in materializing their idea in the newly crafted supreme law of
Ethiopia in( art. 40:3 )of the1995 constitution ( Muradu 2009)1.

Since the promulgation of the 1995 FDRE constitution, different national and regional laws have
been adopted to cement the basic tenets of the country’s constitution. However, both legal and
policy frameworks on land are still continue to divide the country’s political and academic elites.
According to many studies, the existing laws and policies failed to achieve their stated goals.
Urban land issue is one part of this general debate that capture the attention of many researchers
and ordinary citizens (Getnet 2009; Muradu 2009; Tesfaye2010; Achamyeleh 2014; Muradu,
2015; Sayeh,2015; Mintiwab et al. 2015).The past two decades have witnessed unprecedented

1
. Surprisingly, most of the current academic and political land related debates, arguments and counter arguments
exhaustively debated between the pro-private versus public ownership camps among the framers of the current constitution. in
Muradu 2009 by citing the constitutional commission minutes has presented details of such debate. For further see PP65-68
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level of urbanization in Ethiopia in which urban land is becoming asource of fierce competition,
irregularities and corruption(Teshome2014;Achamyeleh2014;Muradu,2015;Sayeh2015).

Despite its socioeconomic benefits, rapid, unplanned and uncontrolled urbanization coupled with
the existing underdeveloped economic and service sector, high povertylevel and bad governance
system have posed multitude of socio-economic and ecological adverse impacts like
interweaving congestion of linear facility networks (water, electricity, and roads), poor sanitation
and degradation of the environment, the emergence of squatter settlements among others (FDRE,
1997; Achamyeleh 2014).Peri-urban areas face distinct land administration challenges because
of the complex and rapidly changing nature of land tenure arrangements (UN Habitat,2014).
Moreover, irregular horizontal urban expansion has been posing existential threat and
multifaceted challenge on peasants who lived adjacent to urban centers (Kelemu2016; Abebe et
al2019; Daniel 2011;Acahmyeleh2014;Muradu2014).

Shahsemene is one of the fastest growing cities of Ethiopia and it is the corridor and the trade
hub of southern Ethiopian provinces. It is expanding at alarming rate in to all directions at the
expense of peasants’ farm land that forced them to dispossess their valuable and irreversible
means of livelihood i.e. Land. Therefore, this study tries to explore the impact of irregular
horizontal expansion of urban settlement on the life of peasantry, peri-urban settlers and the town
administration itself. It also investigates paradoxes of existing legal frameworks and realities on
the ground as well as the cause and course of informal land transaction and its major players.

1.2.Stating the Problem

The twenty-first century has been called the urban century in which the world’s majority
population is gravitating towards urban centers. In 1975, there were three megacities in the
world: Tokyo, New York and Mexico City. In 2005, there were 20 such cities, of which 16 were
located in the developing world .Cities and towns are now recognized as pivotal for development
that offer greater life opportunities and create wealth. Cities contribute up to 55% of gross
national product in low-income countries, 73% in middle-income countries2 and 85% in high-

2
.According to (Keivani and Murphy. 2009,) the contribution of a single megacity, for example, Sao Paulo or Bangkok, can be
as high as 40% of the gross national product while comprising only 10% of the population of their respective countries.

3
income countries. However, urban centers in developing world are characterized by economic
inefficiency, lack of jobs, homelessness and large informal settlements, inadequate services and
infrastructure (for further see Keivani and Murphy. 2009)

Urbanization is unavoidable aspect of future human life that needs to be managed consciously
and scientifically. Well managed urban centers can act as engines and catalysts for growth and
development. Contrariwise, when cities poorly planned and governed they become centers of
poverty, inequality and social conflict. Informal settlement is becoming one of the common
problems of the third and developed world states. Since informal settlements usually established
on suburb urban areas at the expense of fertile peasants land, they pose real and existential threat
on peri-urban peasant livelihood status (Nssir D. and Elsayed H.2017;UN Habitat2011;
Abunyewaha2018;Fegue2007. Fernandes2011;James 2015 Giri 2018).

Throughout human history, land is one of the most important and valuable possession of
mankind. The rules according to which members of society shared and used on land evolved
over time with the changing socio-economic and politico-cultural dynamics. Tenure on land
vary across time and society depending on production system, the degree of population
pressure, technological advancement, change in way of life and governments’ development
policy preferences (Johnson 1972;Adams 1999;Tesfaye 2010). Since land is apolitical,
economic and socio-cultural asset, it is one of the most important sources of social cleavages
and controversies across the world (Tesfaye 2010;3Daniel 2013).

According to FAO and UN-HABITAT (2002 and 2003 in Muradu2009:55-58)“there is positive

correlation between inclusive land tenure right on one side and development, food security,
gender equality , adequate shelter and housing on the other dimension….” Extreme poverty,
high dependence, social instability ,mass rural out-migration, and many other negative
conditions that humans have been facing partly related to ill-defined and unjust property right

3
.Tesfaye Habiso (2010) by citing different comparative study reference materials gave detailed analysis on the negative
socio-economic even political consequences of unfair and inequitable land distribution across the world. In his analysis, he
elucidated how a few of land oligarchies managed to controlled global land resources elsewhere in the world. For example: one
percent of western European capitalists owned 57% of European land, 86% of South Africa land is still owned by the white -
minority population, 60% of El Salvador is owned by the richest 2% of the population, 80% of Pakistan is owned by the richest
3% of the population, 74% of Great Britain is owned by the richest 2% of the population. 3% of the population owns 95% of the
privately held land in the United States. ( For further see Tesfaye,2010)
4
 regime on land (Feder et al.1988 in Sylivester2013;Di Falco et al 2016). Thus, land issue is one
of the most sensitive topics that occupy the central apprehension of academicians, international
organization, business establishments, governments and mainly poor citizens.

The matter of land is one of the thorniest and points of dissection among major stakeholders
including academicians in Ethiopia. It is one of the topics that has extensively been investigated
by Ethiopian and foreign scholars. The current studies and controversies on land mainly evolved
in: the kind of tenure option; land size fragmentation; the EPRDF led government’s extremely
generous large scale land grant for domestic and foreign investors and its socio-economic and
environmental impact4; irregularities and informalities related to urban land management and its
implication on the life of peasantry; gender and land tenure; the issue of tenure insecurity in
both settled agricultural and pastoralist land and its impact(Desalegn 2011; Samuel 2006;
Birhanu et. al. 2003;Muradu2013;Witten2007;Alebel and Berihu 2016; Yigremew 2002; Girma
2011; Crewett & Korf2008;Solomon2015; Helland1999;Mintewab et al2014; Zemene2013;
Daniel2013;Achamyeleh2014,Sayeh2014 ;Elias2015;Workneh 2006).

With regards to settled agriculturalists tenure insecurity debate, most scholars argued that there
is clear and present tenure insecurity that hampered farmers’ effort to improve their living
status, long-term investment on the land and its conservation. However some scholars reject
these arguments and stated that this debate is mostly influenced by ideological and political
orientation rather than the real concern of major stakeholders i.e. farmers concern (for further
see Brhanu et al 2003 ; Crewett and Korf 2008).

All the above scholars in one way or another have vocally criticized the way the country’s land
is managed and governed. Even some of them are calling the need for land reform to tackle the
above stated problems and rip optimum benefit from the land sector. For example, Desalegn

4 . Since the launching of PASDEP development policy in 2005/6, Ethiopian government shifted its attention in to large-scale
commercial farms with the aim of increasing foreign currency sources, technology transfer, employment creation, infrastructural
development and agricultural modernization. To achieve these goals, Federal and state governments hand over or prepared to
hand over more than seven million hectares of land ( equated with 38% the current all small holders land size) in which some
scholars equated such land provision with the 19 th c colonial land grab with the lowest market price and a very generous
incentives. This government policy direction and action is being criticized by academic communities ,international humanitarian
organization for various reasons mainly its botched down in fulfilling desired outcomes and for causing a far reaching socio-
economic and environmental negative outcomes( for further see Desalegn2011 and 2013; Maru-Shete2011;Badasa2017;
Tamrat2010;Getnet 2012).

5
 Rahmeto proposed “associative land ownership” while Getnet (2006) and Solomon, (2015)
recommended hybrid type of ownership that allowed private holding with all of its benefits.

In relation to urban and per-urban land management and its implications, a number of studies
have been conducted by different scholars. All such studies questioned the legal aspects and
social acceptability of urban land policies and legal frameworks which led to the increasing
informal land transaction in urban and peri-urban areas and the subsequent mushrooming of
irregular, unplanned and unauthorized private house construction deep in to farmers land in
peri-urban areas(Zemene2013;Daniel2013; Sayeh2014 Teshome2014;Achamyeleh2015;Elias
2015;Begna2017).

Informality is becoming the typical manifestations of Ethiopian urban centers5 that could pose
easily unresolved socio-economic, politico-cultural and environmental challenges(SADC,2017;
Daniel, 2013; Achamyeleh 2014; Sayeh 2014; Abebe etal, 2019).Many scholars blamed
government ill-defined, un implementable and unrealistic urban land policy for the acceleration
of illegality across Ethiopian cities. According to Scholars(Daniel, 2013; Achamyeleh 2014;
Sayeh 2014)government constitutional prerogative power to overtake land from its holders with
insufficient compensation rate6 and lack of proper consultation in the name of development that
violates the constitutional provision of “commensurate compensation in time of expropriation”
forced peasants to take a pre-emptive measure to sale their holding for those who need land for
various goals (Muradu 2015; Achamyeleh 2014).In addition to these, the expansion of
urbanization and farmers increasing exposure to cash economy has its own impact on changing
farmers traditional value on land(Teshome2014).Whilst urban poor, middle class families, land
brokers and government officials have been using this institutional and legal imperfections as
opportunities to achieve their respective interests and vigorously participating in informal land
transaction (Daniel, 2013; Achamyeleh 2014; Sayeh 2014 Daniel, 2013).

5 . For example out of 43.000 houses that existed in Hawassa town only 23.000 of them had legal recognition (For further see
SADC2017). (Daniel2011) also indicated that 30 percent of Bahrdar city houses lacked legal document.(Abebe et al ,2019), study
further indicated that squatting urban settlement increased over the years from 29% in 1997 to 37% in 2007 and 41% in 2017.
6 . Studies by Achamyeleh2014; Sayeh2014 and Elias2015 show how far farmers were/are being victims of government

expropriation of their land .For example, government pays only 20 and 12 birr per square meter but sale it by more than 8000
and 4000 birr in A.A and Bahir Dar cities respectively. The money they (farmers) received according to Achamyeleh “cannot
feed their family in the face of increasing inflation and living standard.” Another study conducted by SADC2017 shows that Peri-
urban farmers have been pushed by government to extreme poverty corners in Ethiopia.
6
From the above scholars’ research result and realities on the ground, it is possible to argue that
the Ethiopian government, besides its imperfect legal and policy frameworks, has failed to
discharge its constitutional duties and powers such as regulatory, distributive and allocative
functions and becoming major players or spectator for the growing irregularities that urban
centers have been facing. The ever increasing irregularities and informalities can have wider
spillover socio-economic and political crisis and undermine government effort to realize its
ambitious urban development policies since most of peri-urban lands are already occupied by
informal residential houses.

As stated above, several scholars studied irregularity and informalities in Ethiopian urban
centers. These include Muradu(2015) focused on urban land laws; Danie (l2013) and
Achamyeleh (2014)on the insufficiency of expropriation compensation Sayeh (2015) ;
Begna(2017) and Abebe etal.(2019) on the expansion of squatting settlement in in different
towns and (Teshome2014) on the increasing comodiazation of land, the role of various
stakeholders on it and farmers changing value of land). These studies focused on the negative
implication of such policy directions. These studies did not give sufficient attention to what
towns are/will be losing due to informalities, and the life condition and tenure status of informal
urban dwellers. Hence, the current study attempts to comprehensively investigate both
challenges and opportunities that farmers, informal house owners and Shashemene city
administration have been experiencing. Furthermore, it attempts to investigate any city specific
peculiarity that existed in the study city. Based on the above research problems, this study
attempts to find answers for the following research questions.

1.3. Objective(s) of the Study

The major objective of this study is investigating effects of irregular urban expansion on the life
of peri-urban peasants, squatting settlers and Shashemene city administration.

1.3.1. Specific objectives

➢ To investigate the informal land transaction in the study area

➢ Investigating the life condition of peasants who lost their land and those who built
informal urban houses

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 ➢ Investigating major outcomes of unplanned urban expansion on Shashemene city
1.4.Research Questions
1. What are the major reasons that forced peasants to sell their land?
2. Why are urban dwellers engaging in informal land transaction channels?
3. How does the informal land transaction process operate and who are the major actors?
4. What are the major impacts of selling and buying land on farmers, the city and informal
settlers?

1.5.The Significance of this Study

Change for better or worse is inevitable. Experience in the 21st century show that world is
increasingly heading towards urban way of life. Urbanization has its own wide range of positive
and negative implications on human society. As stated in the introductory part informality and
slum life is one of undesirable impacts of it. Ethiopia is part of this development and has been
facing the negative pains of such experience. As stated by different scholars, development at the
expense of others cannot be sustainable. Many of research papers that referred for this thesis
reflect how Ethiopian urban centers are growing by pushing peasants to peripheral position and
threatening their livelihood existence. At the same time, urban poor and middle class families are
too have been pushed to such position as a result of imperfect tenure arrangement, inner cities
redevelopment and renovations program. Reducing expected negative outcomes of urbanization
need to be the concern of all stakeholders including graduate students.

Therefore, the presumed significance of the finding of this study could be: First, it can be an
input for Shashemene city administrators to internalize the extent of the problem, to carry out
further investigation and to take corrective measures in order to minimize the negative effects of
informality in the City. Secondly, those who got a chance to read the thesis might be encouraged
to carry out further investigation on the topic and can contribute their own input for the country’s
land tenure academic and political debate and come up with alternative policy direction in order
to reduce problems related to urban land management. Thirdly, it can be referred by students of
Anthropology or other disciplines who want to carry out their future research on property right
and urbanization.

8
1.7. Scope and Limitations

This study was limited to Shashemene city two urban and their adjacent two rural Kebeles that
are on the verge of losing their rural manifestations. With regards of time framework, the study
focused on changes and developments since 2005 GC but the thesis was try to connect past
historical impacts on current urban land tenure arrangement and urban informality. In relation to
limitations that this research had encountered: First this research was based on information
obtained from 3FGD, 12 in-depth interviews, intensive informal interviews with speculators and
land transaction middlemen, and affected farmers in the above mentioned two kebeles as well as
analysis, interpretation and review of primary data (Shshemene town socio-economic profile and
national and regional legal and policy documents), and secondary data (research results on the
topic and the city being studied).Thus ,I feel that was not representatives in terms of study
kebele and sample size in which the finding may not revealed facts and reality on the whole
Shashemene city due to acute financial and time constraints.

Second, I strongly believed that it was imperative to integrate the views, expertise and
experience of Kebel administrators, professional and city officials. But they were not available
for this study due to political crisis that the city had experienced at the time of data collection.
Thus, this research failed to integrate city administration future plan and program to contain
urban house informality, informal land transaction and the rehabilitation of disproportionately
affected peasants as a result of government expropriation and urban induced problems. Thirdly,
due to the sensitivity of the topic, getting the right person and the right answer for research
questions among disproportionally affected farmers was very difficult. Only a few of them were
willing to take part for individual interview. Finally, the current global COVID 19 pandemic also
had its own adverse impact on data collection process.

1.8. Organization of the Thesis

This thesis expected to be organized in to seven chapters. Chapter two attempts to review
empirical and theoretical literatures on basic concepts, ideas, and theories of urbanization and its
discontents like squatting and slum settlement will be discussed, analyzed and interpreted in
detail. Chapter three will give a brief description on the study area, the rationale behind for the
selection of the study area, the socio-economic and administrative profile of Shashemene city.

9
Chapter four will dedicate to give a brief overview on land tenure history of the study area. This
chapter also goes through evaluating past and current land tenure arrangement and its connection
and implication on existing land transaction and informal house construction. In this regard,
research documents that conducted by home based and expatriate scholars is carefully reviewed
and narrated .Chapter five and six were focused on discussing and interpreting the data gathered
through the above mentioned methods. The final chapter gives a brief conclusion.

1.9. General Methodological Underpinning

1.9.1. Research Philosophy, Approach and Design

The presumed research philosophy for this research is interpretivism. Advocators of this
philosophy argue that reality is dependent on people’s subjective experiences of the external
world and is socially constructed. According to (Willis 1995) interpretivists who are anti-
foundationalist, who believe there is no single correct route or particular method to acquire
knowledge. (Gephart1999) argues that interpretivists assume that knowledge and meaning are
acts of interpretation; hence there is no objective knowledge which is independent of humans
thinking and reasoning. The interpretive paradigm is concerned with understanding the world as
it is from subjective experiences of individuals. They use meaning (versus measurement) and
rely on a subjective relationship between the researcher and subjects (Ibid). Interpretive research
does not predefine dependent and independent variables, but focuses on the full complexity of
human sense making as the situation emerges (Kaplan and Maxwell 1994 in Alemayehu,2014).

Qualitative research approach will be employed for this research due to the following major
reasons: the first and foremost factor is my unfamiliarity with quantitative research method.
Secondly, when I consulted different research books, I realized that it is a convenient approach to
understand, interpret and examine social relationship and interaction, emerging issues and
contemporary phenomenon. This approach in the words of (Brannen 1995 in Degefa2005)
helps to ‘view the world through the wider lens’. In this reared (Berg 1989 in Mulugeta 2012:70)
also argue that qualitative approach used to “unreconstructed logic to get at what is really real,
the quality, meaning, context or images of reality in what communities actually do, not what they
say.” This study will apply case study strategies in order to investigate the outlined research
questions in detail by using multiple data collecting methods. Case study forms the bulk of

10
qualitative methods based research (Yin 2003; Alamayehu 2014) is useful for “generating
hypotheses, identifying key variables, building theories, and achieving high construct
validity”(O’Neill et all,2013 in Alamayehu, 2014). (Yin,2003) explain the term case as ‘ an
event, an entity, an individual, or a unit of analysis and social scientists in particular have made
much use of the qualitative research method to examine contemporary real-life situations and
provide the basis for the application of ideas and extension of methods(Ibid).

According to (Croswell,2008),Case studies are a strategy of inquiry in which the researcher

explores in depth a program, event, activity, process, or one or more individuals. Cases are
bounded by time and activity, and researchers collect detailed information using a variety of data
collection procedures over a sustained period of time. He and other writers also further explained
case study as a comprehensive understanding of complex instances obtained through
extensive description and analysis of a whole or a part of the problem by gathering and analysis
of rich information that comes from multiple data sources such as in- depth interview, FGD,
observation, and document analysis and survey method (Yin, 2003; Stake, 1995 in Croswell,
2008).

1.9.2. Research Design

According to John Creswell (2009) research design is a plan and the procedure for research that
span the decisions from broad assumptions to detailed methods of data collection and analysis. It
outlines and depicts the overall decision involves which design should be used to study a topic.
These include informing this decision should be the worldview assumptions the researcher brings
to the study; procedures of inquiry (called strategies); and specific methods of data collection,
analysis, and interpretation. The selection of a research design is also based on the nature of the
research problem or issue being addressed, the researchers’ personal experiences, and the
audiences for the study (Ibid;Kothari 2004).This study as stated in unit one is a qualitative
research design. The choice for this design is based on my educational background that is far
from quantitative approach and the nature of the topic being studied. In addition, qualitative
research is a means for exploring and understanding the meaning individuals or groups ascribe to
a social or human problem and deals with interpreting social realities (Ibid).

11
The process of qualitative research involves emerging questions and procedures, data typically
collected in the participant’s setting, data analysis inductively building from particulars to
general themes, and the researcher making interpretations of the meaning of the data (Creswell
2009;Degefa2005) .According to (Brannen 1995 in Degefa 2005) qualitative research asks how
the process works in a particular case or a small number of cases. The qualitative approach has
been regarded as viewing the world through a wider lens.

Qualitative researchers collect data themselves through examining documents, observing

behavior, or interviewing participants through multiple data sources such as interviews,
observations, and documents, rather than rely on a single data source. Then the researchers
review all of the data, make sense of it, and organize it into categories or themes that cut across
all of the data sources. It also considered as emergent design .This means that the initial plan for
research cannot be tightly prescribed, and all phases of the process may change or shift after the
researcher enters the field and begins to collect data. This design also gives a holistic account on
issue under study. This involves reporting multiple perspectives, identifying the many factors
involved in a situation, and generally sketching the larger picture that emerges. (Creswell &
Brown 1992 in Creswell2009 ).Thus, the current study explored, interpreted and described the
cause and effects of the expansion of urban informal settlement in the study area based actors
lenses and extensive desk review of both primary and secondary documents that related to the
topic being investigated.

1.9.3. Sampling Methods and Research Participants

This research used purposive sampling techniques for both study site and respondent selection.
Besides purposive sampling, snowball sampling techniques also was applied to identify
appropriate research question respondents. The primary attention in purposive sampling is the
researcher’s judgments as to who can provide the better evidence to achieve the objectives of the
study. (Kumar 2011 in Rahel 2018).Purposive sampling is used in cases where the specialty of
an authority can select a more representative sample that can bring more accurate results than by
using other probability sampling techniques (Kumar2011 in Ibid). Thus, research participants
and kebeles in Sheshemene were purposively selected to answer the research questions. Based on
this, as planned in the proposal, 16 individuals (who represent different social groups like

12
religious and community leaders, informal settlers, got leaders with the total of 16 individuals
(6,5,5) to carried out 3 FGD .

Participants were selected with the support of individuals who are working in the two kebeles.
Participants of FGD in turn gave me the names and addresses of 18 individuals (six affected
farmers due to informal land transaction; six well off farmers who sold their land and not
affected by informality, and six residents (owners of informal houses) to participate in the
interview. However, among six disproportionately affected former farmers only four of them
take part in the interview session. Likewise, among the remaining affected groups, only 5
informal house owners 7 and three individuals who have a success story by selling their land
participated in the interview and six individual case studies. Yet, I was persuaded that
information that obtained through FGD an in-depth and intensive informal interview and
extensive observation was sufficient to depict realities on the ground partly due to similarity of
responses obtained from the research participants with regards the two kebeles that this research
was based on. Thus, the discussion section of this study is based on three FGDs, 12 in-depth
interviews, six case studies, direct observation and review of primary data emerging from
Shahemene town socio-economic profile and national legal documents and secondary data.

In the interview and FGD sessions both Oromiffa and Amharic languages were used based on
respondents’ interview language preference. Since I have limitation in both writing and speaking
Afaan Oromo two of my research guides helped me to translate questions that were prepared in
Amharic in to Afaan Oromo and carried out the FGD and interview in Oromiffa as interview
language. The selection of research sites (the two kebeles) were also purposively wasr two
reasons. Kebele 01 (better known by locals as Awasho) was selected for the reason that most of
major social and administrative services provisioning institutions of the City are found in this
section of Shsehmene. These include city’s main bus station, the newly opened branch of
Medawolabu University, Farma-health College, West-Arsi zone and Shashemene Zuria woreda
administrative bureaus and offices. Kebele 04 (or Dida-boke kebele) was also purposively
selected because the Kebele is exhibiting fast rate of informal house expansion.

7
.Of the five informal house owners two of them are university instructors with MA status (one from Hawasa and the other from
Dilla University and one individual who himself is government employee with MA educational status working in Assela town
which is the seat of the neighboring Arsii zone.
13
1.9.4. Research Methods

Research methods involve the strategies of data collection, analysis, and interpretation that
researchers propose for their studies. It is useful to consider the full range of possibilities of data
collection and to organize these methods, for example, by their degree of predetermined nature,
their use of closed-ended versus open-ended questioning, and their focus on numeric versus
nonnumeric data analysis. This research employed both primary and secondary data in order to
answer the stated research questions. Primary data was gathered through FGD, both structured
and unstructured interview, policy and legal documents, Satellite image and direct observation.
Secondary data will be gathered from research journals and books.

Though this study employed a qualitative research approach, it is imperative to gather both
qualitative and quantitative data in order to answer research questions. Data for this research was
gathered from peasants, community leaders, officials from rural and urban Kebeles, illicit urban
dwellers, security personals (militias), land brokers and speculators by using different data
gathering tools.

1.9.4.1. Focus Group Discussion

Focus groups discussion is a commonly used qualitative data gathering tool that could provide
information about a range of ideas and feelings that individuals have about certain issues, as well
as elucidate the differences in perspective between groups of individuals (Alamayehu 2014). The
information and ideas that can potentially be generated through group discussion can provide the
researcher with important research questions to follow in other groups and/or with other methods
of data collection. Thus, the group interview can be an efficient means of helping the researcher
begin to focus on the more salient aspects of the phenomenon under study. It helps to bring
several different perspectives into contact through dynamic group interactions (Maykut and
Morehouse, 1994 in Alamayehu 2014).

1.9.4. 2. Structured and Semi -structured Interview

Structured and semi-structured interview was conducted with peasants who dispossessed their
land, local delalas, informal settlers and one speculator. These informants were selected based on
purposive and snowball sampling techniques.

14
 1.9.4.3. Direct Observation

I carried out direct observation as a tool to gather information pertinent to the topic under
investigation. Direct observation on the level of informal horizontal expansion of Shashemene
town, types of informal houses, availability or unavailability of urban related infrastructures
within informal houses and villages, the living conditions of those who are affected by
urbanization process and environmental effects of urbanization were major objectives of my
observation and I took some video and photographs in such sites.

1.9.4.4. Individual case study

According to (Benbasat et al. 1987:370 quoted in Turner, 2017),case study is necessary for
study the phenomenon in its natural setting by employing multiple methods of data collection
and the researcher can ask "how" and "why" questions, so as to understand the nature and
complexity of the problem or the topic raised (Ibid). A case study approach thus provides a
flexible environment to study complexity, details and context, and offers space to reflect upon
the research strategies in order to contextualize these to the case setting (Alemayehu
2014).Moreover, case study is the most relevant strategy to study a contemporary phenomenon
within its real-life context’ (Yin 2003 in Alamayehu 2014). It also allows to employs both
qualitative and quantitative data through various data collection procedures (Stake 1995 in
Croswell 2008). Thus, case study is an appropriate strategy for the selected research topic since it
intended to explore opportunities, challenges, and controversies related to urban land tenure and
its implication on various stakeholders.

1.9.4.5. Primary and Secondary Document Inspection

In this thesis, Federal land tenure proclamations, Satelite images, policy documents such as
PASDEP, GTP I and II, Ethiopian urban policy document were briefly reviewed and discussed
indifferent parts of the thesis. This thesis also extensively reviewed books, journal articles and
research results that related to the topic being investigated. Information that obtained from such
sources carefully assessed, analyzed and interpreted to substantiate arguments and
counterarguments in different parts of this thesis.

1.10. Data analysis and Interpretation

15
All data gathered through interviews, FGD, case studies, observations, and documentary sources,
including visual images, were systematically coded, classified, compared, interpreted,
synthesized, and thematically analyzed. The data analysis process also included manual
tabulation into logical categories and processes of data interpretation, analysis, verification, and
report writing. One source of information was used to substantiate and supplement evidence
from other sources to increase the soundness of the findings. Data generated through the above
different techniques from multiple sources had helped to triangulate the reliability of the
information gathered. Due to the nature of the issue under investigation, the researcher mainly
used narrative descriptions for qualitative data gathered from different sources. A few of
descriptive statistics method was employed for presenting quantitative data in a manageable
form.

1.11. Ethical Issues

Here due attempt was made to keep all research ethical guidelines. First, I got official permission
letter from the city administration to conduct my research and carried out data collection.
Second, I clearly and straightforwardly told my FGD and other informants about the objective of
the study, why the data was needed, why they were chosen as informant for this study, and as
their information only be used for the study purpose. I assured them to maintain their
confidentiality by not disclosing their name. Finally, all narrations here bellow is solely based on
information obtained from research participants, primary written sources and other scholarly
research findings that I gave due acknowledgment for the information that I take from such
research findings.

16
 Chapter Two

Review of Theoretical and Empirical Literature

Introduction

In the contemporary world, urbanization is moving ahead more powerfully than at any other time
in human history (Scott and Storper 2014). Cities are places of passion, hopes, dreams, and
engine houses of socio-economic and cultural growth (James2015). Cities occupy only 0.5% of
the world land mass but possess 70% of economic activity and 60% of energy consumption
(Avis 2016). Housing in cities has a substantial socio-economic, politico- cultural and
environmental role in the lives of individuals and society at large. However, due to socio-
political factors and an ever-increasing housing shortage in the formal housing market to meet
the demand of the growing urban residents have resulted in the proliferation of informal
settlements that became the shelter of billions of population across the globe8 (Opoko2015;
Nassir and Alsayed2017). Although informality has a global manifestation9 it is predominantly
the reality of developing nations of Africa, Latin America and Asia(Ibid).It becomes one of the
most formidable challenges of cities in the aforementioned regions (Banks etal. 2020;
Ghasempour 2015;Giri 2018;UN-Habitat2016; Amado2018 and Abraham et al2018).This
chapter attempts to review theoretical and conceptual perspectives and debates of urban house
informality, its causes and outcomes on socio-economic political and cultural life of human
society as well as its impact on per-urban farmers’ life. In addition, Turkish experience on urban
squatting and the cause, extent, impacts and policy responses on urban house informality in
Ethiopian will be discussed in detail.

8
.The problem is not limited to only LDCS rather is prevalent in countries like Eastern Europe, Turkey and even in more than 20
countries of the ECE region that affects the lives of over 50 million people in such region.For further see Tsenkova2008; Munk
2014
9
. Though figurative data differ from literature to literatures by 2020 more than 2 billion global urban population is expected to
dwell on informal settlements of which Africa, Latin-America and Asia will took the lion share of that figure. The problem of
informality is very serious in some countries. For instance, in Cairo 5.5 million and in India over 46 million people lived in such
settlements. For further see (Amado M.2018;Veisi 2015; Fegu,2007; James2015; Ghasempour 2015; Banks.etal2020). Abraham
et al2018).
17
2.1. Basic Concepts, Definitions, Causes, Characteristics, and Contested views on Urban
Informal Settlement

2.1.1. Concepts and Definitions of Informal Urban Settlement

Like many other social science concepts there is no commonly agreed single definition with
regards to urban informal settlement among various academic literatures. This difference might
emanate from the socio-economic, politico-cultural and geo-physical variations of each study is
concerned. In this regard, (Fernandes 2011: 4) remarked that “the definition of informality is
imprecise and multidimensional, covering physical, socio-economic, and legal aspects.” And
(Harris 2017:268) also stated that “the concept of informality has been much abused and
misunderstood. It has been defined narrowly, loosely, and in various ways”. The phrase itself
has many similar terminologies in different literatures. Suburbanization, shack, slums10, squatter
settlements11, unplanned towns, shantytowns and Peri-Urban settlements (Adel 1999; Turok and
Borel 2018; Matthew et al 2018). And it has different names in different countries.12

Before defining what urban informal settlement means, it is essential to give a brief description
of peri-urban settlement and its definition, which is the main focus of this MA thesis. According
to (Avis2016:2 )“Peri-urban areas are those that immediately border an urban area, between
the suburbs and the countryside.” (NarainandNischal2007 in Achamyeleh 2015:14) gives
detailed analysis on it .According to him, the word ‘peri-urban ’could be use to denote as a
place, concept or process. As a place: it can refer to rural agricultural areas located between
urban built-up areas in cities and predominantly rural agricultural areas. As a concept: peri-urban
could be seen as an interface between rural and urban activities and institutions where rural and
urban development processes meet, mix and interaction the edge of cities. As a process: it could

10
. Though the above terms are used interchangeably, different literatures give a slightly different meaning for each words and
phrases. For example according to (UN –Habitat2003:12) Slums are residential areas that characterized by “…a wide range of
low-income settlements and/or poor and unhealthy human living conditions, deprivation, marginalization, insecure housing
tenure, hazardous locations, overcrowding, poverty, and social exclusion "
11
.With regards of squatting Daniel 2006 noted that “squatting is the act of squat (setting on a piece of land without permission)
or the act of occupying a given piece of public land in order to acquire title to it”.
12
.Such settlements called moon light homes or ‘chereka houses’ in Ethiopia; ‘Gecekondus’ in Turkey; ‘Favelas and
Clandestine’ settlements in Brazil; ‘Barriadas’ in Peru;’Katchi abadis’ in Pakistan; ‘Bidonville’ in the French colonies; ‘Barong-
Barongs’ in Philippines;Callampas in Chile, Ranchos in Venezuela;’Colonias or Populares’ in Mexico ( Jemal 2019 in Peattie
and Haas 1981; Munk 2014;Rahel2018).

18
be thought of as the two-way flow of goods and services between rural and urban (Narain and
Nischal 2007; Roy2005in Achamyeleh2015).

Moreover, from the institutional point of view, it is difficult to establish clear and more or
lesspermanentinstitutionalarrangementsthatdealeffectivelywiththeperi-urban land. As a result,
peri-urban areas are often characterized by converging and over lapping institutions and there are
also some administrative activities which may fall outside the purview of rural and urban
jurisdictions. As a result, the peri-urban zone encompasses a range of activities lying between
strictly urban or rural jurisdictions, without falling clearly within the responsibility of either the
urban or the rural government ( Narain and Nischal 2007; Roy2005 in Achamyeleh2015).

In the Ethiopian context, “peri-urban land refers to agricultural rural land adjacent to municipal
boundaries and held by local peri-urban land holders/farmers with holding rights (usufruct rights)
for life”. However, there is of peri-urban agricultural land being converted in to urban built-up
property is very high, due to the growing demand for land. Peri- urban areas in Ethiopia can also
be described as incubation zones of new unauthorized/ informal settlement areas without basic
utilities (Adam 2014b in Achamyeleh 2015;Rahel 2018).

Peri-urban areas face distinct land administration challenges because of the complex and rapidly
changing nature of land tenure arrangements. Some of the basic land governance challenges in
the peri-urban areas include haphazard residential development within sufficient social services
and infrastructure; land acquisition for speculative purposes; illegal and extra-legall and sub
divisions and transactions; unauthorized land use change and transactions without the knowledge
of the land administration authorities (Home 2004;Nkwae2006 in Achmyeleh 2015).

When back to the definition of informal settlement, as noted earlier, it lacks a single definition
among many literatures. However, there are common yardsticks to explain it within such
literatures. Such as un-authorized settlements, subjected to tenure insecurity, lack of building
permission, settlement out of land use planning, absence of legal ownership of land, insufficient
provision of basic services, poor structural quality of houses, self- constructed shelters, lack of
official title deeds for residents, and unmapped residential areas. Based on its comprehensiveness

19
and that can suit to the Ethiopian cases, I choose the definition that found on. The Vienna
Declaration on National Regional Policy and Program on Informal Settlements in South Eastern
Europe. The declaration defined informal urban settlement as:

Human settlements, which for a variety of reasons do not meet requirements for
legal recognition (and have been constructed without respecting formal procedures
of legal ownership, transfer of ownership, as well as construction and urban
planning regulations), exist in their respective countries and hamper economic
development 13 . While there is significant regional diversity in terms of their
manifestation, these settlements are mainly characterized by informal or insecure
land tenure, inadequate access to basic services, both social and physical
infrastructure and housing finance (Vienna Declaration, 2004:1 cited in Bogdan and
Daniel 2013 and Tsenkova,2008).

The University of Witwatersrand and its Informal Settlement Policy Research Center also
define informal settlements with the following characteristics: 1.Land use is unauthorized; 2.
the settlement pattern is unauthorized or not approved often this involves a high residential
density14; 3. the construction is unauthorized and not to prescribed standards; 4. the occupation
15
originates from a land invasion (Fegue 2007:6).

2.1.2. Causes of Urban House Informal Settlement

As mentioned in other sections of this literature review, about 1 billion people currently lived in
informal settlements that represent almost a third of the world’s urban population and thisfigure
could increase to 3 billion by 2050. Access to urban land, housing and utilities are among the
most salient challenges facing the urban centers (UN DESA 2013 in Lucci 2015).Causes of
urban house informality are associated with many and multidimensional factors and all reasons
are directly or indirectly related to housing affordability (Da Mata2013). In some countries,
informal settlements are directly caused by European colonialism that pushed indigenous people
to live in marginal and hazardous places. In others’, it caused by multinational institutions policy

13
.The idea it hampers economic development is not accepted by other literatures that will be discussed in next sub topics.
14.The characterization of informal settlement in to overcrowded area may not be similar in all such kind of settlements. For
instant, in some part of Ethiopia, such settlements have different picture.This will be discussed under Ethiopian sub-topic.

20
prescriptions such as Structural Adjustment Program and Neo-Liberal market liberalization 16
economy for the third world nations that forced such nation to downscale their social and
welfare commitments to the bulk of their population that intensified and reproduce poverty,
high-rate of unemployment and socio-economic inequality across such nations(Ehebrecht 2014).

In most cases, informality is caused by internal developments such as industrialization 17 ,

urbanization, modernization of agriculture18 as well as mining sector and the subsequent labor
flock from rural areas to urban centers which caused an acute human shelter deficiency.
Moreover, ill-defined property right regimes and tenure insecurity19, state capture20, wide spread
of corruption21; absence of well -functioning land administration, legal response, transparency
and public participation; market imperfection; social networks 22 ; high cost of formal land in
urban centers and cheap land market in peri -urban areas; lack of affordable housing and credit
for low and middle income families; man- made and natural disasters are the most cited derivers
of informality (Thirkell1996;Tsenkova2008; Lindner 2014; Billig2011; Ayelu2018;
Ajanaw2019). Above all, absolute poverty and social exclusion are key drivers behind the
formation of illegal settlements in most countries. In support of this (Ehebrecht2014:27) rightly
stated that: “informal settlement are … not only result from but also represent and/or reproduce
socio-economic inequalities and exclusion…”

16
.Ehebrecht2014 .by citing Davis 2007; UN-Habitat 2003a and Gilbert 2009 explained how SAP affected African economies.
According to him SAP resulted in “capital flight, collapse of manufactures, marginal or negative increase in export incomes, and
drastic cutbacks in urban public services, soaring prices, and a steep decline in real and informal wages.

17. Uzuna B.etal.2009, associated Turkey’s agglomeration of informality with the emergence and expansion of Industrialization.
18. Coy et al 2018 and Da Mata 2013 Traced the emergence of Brazilian slums with the beginning of agricultural modernization.
19 . Fernando De Soto in this regard argues that the poor definition and enforcement of property rights among the urban poor acts
as a deterrent for them to invest in their dwellings (De Soto 2000 in Giri 2018).
20 . State capture refers to “a situation where powerful individuals, institutions, companies or groups within or outside the country

use corruption to shape a nation’s policies, legal environment and economy to benefit their own private interests”
(Transparency
International 2009 cited in Lindner2014 ).
21.(Lindner2014) gave an in-depth empirical evidence to what extent political clientism and corruption affected Ethiopia’s

urban land and housing sector and its management. This will be discussed in detail under Ethiopian sub topic.
22 .This is true in the Ethiopian case. For instance, in the country’s capital Addis Ababa, there are ethnic based housing enclaves

in different parts of the city and such informal settlement renamed by specific ethnic groups such as “Dorze Sefer”;Gurage Sefer”
and “Silte Sefer”
21
2.1.3. Characteristics of Urban Informal Settlements

From literatures that reviewed for this thesis, there is no big peculiarity in most of informal
settlements across the world but not slums. That it mean such settlements more or less share
similar features. It is possible to categorize the basic features of informality in relation to legal,
socio-economic, physical, political and geographic aspects. Legally speaking, all informal
settlements build in one way or another in violation of property right laws. In this regard, the
land in which the house is built can be either government, private, communal but either occupied
by illegal invasion or through illicit land transaction with-out legal formality. The house that
constructed by informal dwellers violates urban housing plans and not fulfill quality standards
.Thus, informal settlements built in contravene with many aspects of specific national laws and
regulatory frameworks and subjected to high tenure insecurity (Tsenkova 2008; Firew2010;
Berhanu2015; Beka 2016;Giri2018;Harris2017;Lemanski and Marx 2015;Opoko2015; Elias
2015; Avis 2016; Ehebrecht 2014 and UN Habitat 2011a).

Socio-economically, most literatures came in to consensus that informal settlements are

residential areas of most of the poorest of poor section of global south urban population. 23Due to
this fact, such settlements characterized by over crowdedness, lack of ventilation, lack of hygiene
and other basic services such as access to safe water, electricity, health and educational
institutions, and absence of viable employment opportunity as well as they are hubs of drug
trafficking, prostitutions and crime(Ibid).

Geographically speaking ,informal settlements found either at the peripheries of cities and towns
or physically sensitive and dangerous landscapes such as hillsides, coastal areas, river and lake
banks, water reservoirs, areas prone to landslides and flooding, protected forests, landfill and
industrial waste disposal areas, which lead residents of informal settlements to multitudes of
concomitant problems associated with such areas(Ibid).

Politically, residents of informal settlements basically marginalized and excluded from the
political sphere. They subjected to political manipulation and machination and became the

23
.Though it will be discussed in the next sub-topics by citing Ethiopian case, according to Giri 2018 informal settlement areas
are not only ghettos of poverty but also settlement areas of affluent groups.
22
concern of politicians in time of national or local elections to garner their political support and
vote. Physically and infrastructural wise , most of housing unit especially at the initial stage of
settlement, built by poor quality of building materials, with lack of the above mentioned social
infrastructure as well as very narrow roads, lack of transport facilities, lack of green and
entertainment spaces , shanty and hazardous conditions etc. In general, though there is little
variation on conjoint characteristics of across informal settlements at the global level24 , most of
informal settlements share all or some of the above common manifestations (Tsenkova 2008;
Firew 2010; Berhanu 2015; Beka 2016;Giri 2018;Harris 2017;Lemanski and Marx 2015;Opoko
2015; Elias 2015; Avis 2016; Ehebrecht 2014 and UN Habitat 2011a).

2.1.4. Contending Views on Merits, Demerits and Major Players on Informal

Settlements

There is no consensus in literature on the merits and demerits of informal settlements. For
example, some authors coined the following terms to express negative side of informal urban
settlements “Cancer or Malady”25, “fungus to the urban development”, “the evils of uncontrolled
capitalism”, “muddy city, “Dumping site” , “beggars zone”, “ghetto sites” , “poverty stricken
settlements”, “breeding spaces of crime” ,“ places of legal apartheid”, “urban hyper growth” are
commonly found derogatory phrases and terminologies which categorically attaché to urban
informality (Ibid). In general, informal settlements or “physical and unbalanced development of
urban, have followed by far reaching undesirable economic, social and physical consequences
(Naghdi & Sadeghi 2006 in Veisi 2015:233).

In the contrary to the above pessimistic views of informal settlements, other scholars consider
them as spring board for expansion of cities in developing world; one of easily available
opportunities for poorer urban population to break-up legal apartheid; the easiest and fastest
solution to housing problems; a path to prosperity through affordable access to urban
opportunities; sites of remarkable aspiration, resourcefulness and self-sacrifice; the masses of

24
. For instance, Turkish informal settlements have multi-store buildings (see Biling 2011). Some of informal settlements in west
of Addis Ababa are relatively well-planned by residents themselves, built by quality construction materials with vast compounds
compared to formal houses and have access to electricity, water and roads infrastructure, as well as health, education and
religious institutions.(personal observation and see also Minwuyelet2005).
25 . For instance, the current Turkish President ones remarked that “our biggest ideal was to eradicate the ‘gecekondus’ that have

surrounded our cities like a tumour…” (Munk 2014 in Kuyucu2013: 15).However, the same leader in contrast to this stand, in
his local election campaigns in 1994, when asked whether he would demolish ‘gecekondus’, he said “no, I myself live in a
‘gecekondu’ ” This is a clear indication how informal settlements used as political manipulation. For further see Özdemirli 2018.
23
impoverished people's ‘heroic entrepreneurship’ and their spontaneous as well as creative
response to the state incapacity to satisfy housing need( Roy 2005: 14 in De Soto2000); shoddier
people heroic resistance and response not to be excluded from urban housing; areas of induction
for rural migrants to be familiar with urban environment and menses of survival for billions of
urban economically disadvantaged people (Ibid).To strength the above arguments (Turok
Budlender, and Visagie 2017:24) remarked that:

“… such settlements may foster human progress by linking rural-urban migrants to

the services, contacts and livelihoods concentrated in cities”. Turok and Bore2018
also stated that informal houses “lift households out of rural poverty and onto a path
to prosperity through affordable access to urban opportunities.”
Furthermore (Abrhams,1966 in Fegue 2007: 450) indicated that:

“The poor are just rational as the middle and upper-income classes in terms of their
response to a situation… the squatter shack is a rational step on the way to self-
improvement… Shelter is the prime step and the foundation toward empowering the
poor to live up to sound ecological and anti-poverty solutions….”
With regards to major players and residents of informal settlements, most of literatures
associated such sites with poorer and disadvantaged sections of global urban population 26 .
However, there are many players who take part in such settlements to achieve their respective
diverse goals that emanates from a mere satisfaction of basic needs i.e. shelter to amassing huge
economic gains and attaining political ambitions (Teshome 2014).In respect to this idea, (Roy
and Alsayed2004 in Roy 2005:149) stated that: “In recent years, it has become obvious that
informal housing and land markets are not just the domain of the poor but that they are also …
the middle class, even the elite, of Second World and Third World cities.”

(UN-Habitat 2016:134) also stipulated that “the poor, the middle class and even some wealthy
individuals benefit from construction and commerce that skirts formal legal requirements.”
Moreover, by citing the Turkish case (Sadikoglu etal. 2018:78) gave detailed description on the
active involvement of the ruling class and its apparatus in the informal housing sector. They
rightly mentioned that “…‘officials’ are both rule-makers and rule-breakers of urban informal

26
.The issue of urban informal settlement in Ethiopia is complex and players are many and not limited to the poorer section of
social group. For instance, in Hawasa theseat of Ethiopian southern region ,there is a place called “Dato” that I personally
familiar with it .The lion share of the city informal settlement existed there. In that settlement site, university teachers,
government employees and officials too have taken part on informal land transaction either for resource accumulation or securing
their shelter.
24
housing sector s…” emphasis is mine. Further (Harris 2017: 276 by citing Ren 2017 and Roy
2011 and others) indicated that:

…one or more government agencies might allow squatters, builders, developers,

landlords, or other property owners to act illegally …developers and corrupt drug
networks visibly and “effectively employ[ed] the authorities… together with such
groups politicians wants to build “elite informalities” or recognize settlements
whose residents are powerful …wants to embrace those whose leaders can mobilize
the vote….” emphasis are mine.
To sum up this section, though there are different benefits of informal settlements for the poorer
urban society as stated earlier, according to UN Habitat “informal settlements continue to be
geographically, economically, socially and politically disengaged from wider urban systems
and excluded from urban opportunities and decision-making” (UN-Habitat 2015 in
Elias2015) .

2.2. Theories of Informal Settlement

Various theories have had been developed on urbanization, causes and management of urban
informal settlements by different scholars since 1930s on wards. All the above theories have
forwarded multiple and sometimes contradictory views on informal settlements in particular
urbanization in general. 27 In support of this (Leitner and Sheppard, 2015 in Veisi 2015:25)
argued that: “… no single theory suffices to account for the variegated nature of urbanization
and cities across the world, without asserting the necessity of different distinct theories for
different contexts.”For relevance to the topic that this MA thesis dedicated only the central
themes of the following theories

2.2.1. The Chicago School Theory

The Chicago school theory was the first in its kind that dealt with urbanization and population
settlements in urban enclaves. This theory first appeared in 1920s and 1930s, based on the work
of the Chicago School of Urban Sociology. Scholars like (Park et al. 1925; Wirth 1938and
Zorbaugh 1929) who contributed for the emergence of this theory. These scholars linked the
pattern of urban settlements according to socio-economic and racial variations. Those groups

27
.For instance post –Colonial theory rejected all other theories for their relevance to colonized third world nations due to
western model views and suffers from intellectual parochialism. Thus, itreject such theories universal applicability. For further
seeMaboodi M,2016.
25
made a fierce competition to get valuable and more proper land in urban centers. Thus, socially
bordered urban neighborhood with more or less similar socio-economic and ethno-racial
background together with associated mentalities and behaviors have been created by such
groups. However, this school of thought begun to be challenged and dismissed by critics like
Castells (1968).Hence, by the early 1970s, the main traces of the Chicago School were being
swept away by a powerful stream of Marxist and Marxisant approaches (Ayelu2018; Maboodi
2016 and Scott and Stopper 2014).

2.2.2. Poverty Culture Point of View

This theory first presented by Oscar Lewis in 1959. Lewis argued that poor people have decadent
and backward values in which they share it to their children. As a result, they insist the
perseverance on living in slums and shantytowns and do not accept their socio-economic and
political development and upward mobility. Poor people are resistant of change and their life
improvement. According to him suburbanization associated with the culture of poverty and most
residents often are immigrants, poor and came from the more or less the same cultural
background and also are different from other resident of urban area. In general, the view supports
the idea that poor people are poor because they are poor and the food and education of the poor
kids is bad and in appropriate and thus, they learn their culture from their families and elders to
accept poverty as their destiny (Amiri and Ghanbari 2016 in Lewis 1982 and 1998).

This theory is basically ethno and Euro-centric plus hegemonic and biased discourses like
modernization theory that viewed traditional society as poor, irrational and rural. According to
(Norman Long, 1992 in Lewis and Gardner1996)“people in poor countries are open to change
and ‘life improvement’ if they perceive it is to their best interest”. For Sen poverty is not the
sole production of culture that transmitted from generation to generation rather is the product of
lack of entitlement and deprivation of basic entitlement (Sen1976).In fact , poverty, no doubt
hurts, degrades and drives people into desperation. But it is neither transmitted nor inherited
through good will of thepoorer section of human society.28

28
. In this regard, Herando de Soto 2003 inPan and Sobotova,2015 ) argues that the poor in low- and middle-income countries
do not lack capital to change their miserable situation, but their poverty is primarily rooted in the lack of opportunities to benefit
from what they ‘possess’ informally and to transform the ‘dead capital’ to an active one.
26
 2.2.3. The Marxist Urban Theory

As stated earlier the Chicago school of thought begun to be challenged by scholars like Castells
that gave way for the development of Marxist approaches in 1970s with regards of urban
informality. Besides to Castells (1972) other scholars like Lefebvre (1970) and Harvey (1973)
contributed for the development of Marxist urban theory. These scholars viewed cities as a
theater of class struggle, centered on land markets as machines for distributing wealth upward
and associated political claims from below about citizenship rights to urban space and resources
(Banks,2020).Marxist academics saw the informal sector (both in terms of labor and shelter) as
integral to capitalist dynamics. Over the subsequent decades, three divergent schools of thought
have emerged in which informality being positioned within a dualist (that is marginal economic
activities for low-income households distinct from modern capitalism), ‘legalist’ (that is
excluded from the modern economy due to adverse bureaucracy), or ‘structuralist’ framework
(that is subordinated economic units adversely related to formal enterprises within a capitalist
economy(Banks,2020 in Chen, Vanek, & Heintz2006; Rakowski 1994; Burgess1978; Moser,
1978;Ghasempour ,2015).

2.2.4. Liberal Theory of Informality

This theory associated rural-urban migration and economic marginalization with that of capitalist
economic system as a cause of informal settlement. According to (Todaro 1987: 381 in Amiri
and Ghanbari 2016), “rural to urban migration as aggravating factors of urban unemployment
that in fact, shift rural poverty to urban poverty with all its deprivations.” Thus, this theory
considered urban poverty that caused by marginalization and massive rural migration to urban
centers as the principal factors for the emergence of informal settlement. The theory also does
not regard both rural –urban migration and informal settlement as a problem rather as essential
for desirable economic development that supply labor force for industries as well as the ways
and solutions to optimize living conditions for marginalized section of society (Veisi 2015;
Amiri and Ghanbari 2016 in Sheikhi, 2001; Sarrafi & Mohammadi 2005).

27
2.3. Common Approaches to Handle Informal Settlement

Policies, strategies, and approaches to manage and respond to informal settlements varied from
state to state29, regimes to regime30,time to time31 and begun to evolve through multi- national
institutions intervention and policy prescription mainly by world Bank and UN(Lemanski and
Marx2015;Jemal2019).Socio-economic, political and environmental considerations have greater
impact on governments’ measures on urban informality. For stance, (Giri 2018) outlined
measures to handle informal urban settlements as: negligence, self-help policies, site and
services, enabling policies and participatory upgrading approaches. On the other hand (Mensah
2010 in Jemal 2019) presented: laissez faire, site and service, slum upgrading, enabling and
security of tenure policies across time.(Fegue2007) also identified: eviction-and-demolition, low-
cost housing, sites-and-services, aided self-help and slum upgrading schemes. Based on my
preference, the latter approach will be discussed in brief as follow:

2.3.1. Eviction-and-Demolition Schemes

According to Fegu 2007, the first kind of governments’ action on informal settlements across the
world was and still in some counties including Ethiopia is eviction and demolition of shelters and
other informally erected structures. This government direction can also be divided in to hard and
soft eviction-and-demolition schemes. The hard scheme does not contain compensation plan for
the occupants. The occupants perceived as undesired criminals and need to be getting rid off.
The soft scheme slightly differs from the hard one in the sense that it is accompanied by
resettlement plan (in the city outskirts mostly) or includes a modest compensation package. Both
alternatives of the eviction-and-demolition measures understand the slum dwellers and the
squatters as the problem and not as the solution. This policy direction was and is justified by
governments according to (Berner 2001: 295 in Billing,2011) “on the grounds of
improvement and beautification of the city, removal of centers of crime and health

29
.There is big differences among nations based on their governments’ policy orientation to protect and promote their citizens
basic rights, social welfare and security. For instance, while some counties haveadopted more or less an accommodative
policy, China and India followed the policy of intolerance towards informal settlements and used bulldozers to demolish such
settlements. For further see Jemes,2015
30
.See Turkish and Brazilian cases in the next sub-topic
31
. There are five chronological time frames with regard to government respond to informal settlements. Thus, the 1950s and
1960s witnessed laissez –faire policy, 1970s, manifest site and service programs, slum upgrading program was the fashion of
1980s, 1990s exhibited era of empowerment and tenure security and Cities without slums action plan begun to introduced since
2000s.For more seeMensah 2010 in Jemal, 2019.
28
hazards, and more intensive and lucrative use of land in strategic locations.” However, the
eviction and demolition policy is consistently opposed by many human right organizations and
scholars due to the negative effects of trauma it creates and the tearing down of social networks
that residents build over years(Ibid).In this regard (Fernandes2011:22), critically opposed such
policy direction for “humanitarian ethical, religious, socio-political, economic, and
environmental grounds.”

2.3.2. Low-Cost Housing Provision Programs

This strategy was launched with the aim of solving acute housing scarcity as well as eliminating
informality across Asia, Africa and Latin America by constructing and making available low-
cost houses to low income families in urban areas as it has been implemented in Ethiopia. The
program according to (Fegu 2007)come up with some success story in Singapore and Hong-
Kong but failed a promising result in African state except in countries like Senegal, Tanzania and
Ivory-cost as a result of financial constraints, corruption and bureaucratic red tapes(Ibid).

2.3.3. Sites-and-services schemes/land-and-utilities schemes

This approach was emerged in the 70s, and promoted until 1990s as a result of the increasing
recognition of informal settlements as a durable and structural phenomenon (UN 2003; Benton,
1994 in Giri 2018). The sites and services approach consisted basically in the provision of
serviced plots of land for the families relocated from informal settlements, so they could build
their homes progressively (Brakarz & Jaitman2013). The WB was its main promoter, influenced
by Turner’s idea that, if the right incentives were given, slum dwellers would be more efficient
than the state in providing housing for themselves (Ehebrecht 2015; Ward 2012; Abbott 2002 in
Giri, 2018).

This Approach according to Fegu,2007, had four major goals:First, residential building plots (so
that individual households may build their own dwellings); Second, public utilities such as water,
sanitation, electric lighting, sidewalks, paved roads;Thirdly, neighborhood facilities (schools,
markets, police, fire protection, parks, community centers, religious and cultural centers,
etc.);And lastly, contractual arrangements (legal relationships between the government and the
residents: land tenure, responsibility for basic services, land use regulations).Thus it was more
comprehensive and efficient policy measure than the previous ones (ibid).
29
 2.3.4. Aided self-help/Mutual -help strategy

According to Fegu 2007 this policy was influenced by the work of Abrams and Turner and the
1970s-1980s leftist ideology in Africa that opposed ‘pseudo-Western middle-class standards of
housing and environmental plan. It advocated the use of local products, materials and traditional
techniques to build houses (Ibid).

2.3.5. Slum/Squatter Upgrading Schemes

This program consists of urban physical, social, economic, and environmental improvements
with active involvement of informal residents and other stakeholders. Like Sites-and-services
schemes, it has multi- pronged objectives which include basic services provision, mitigating
environmental hazards, regularizing security of tenure, providing incentives for community
management and maintenance, and improving access to health care and education. These basic
services can involve water and sanitation, garbage collection and disposal, surface drainage,
roads, foot paths, electricity supply. To sum up, the program success is dependent up on good
governance, grassroots democratic participation and community driven development (Fegu,
2007).

2.4. Turkey’s Experience on Informality

Informality is the typical manifestations of different countries in the world. It is a more prevalent
problem for cities and towns of countries like India 32 and Kenya 33 whose sizeable urban
population lived in slams and informal settlements. This sub-part attempts to discuss Turkish
case in brief because its experience to handle informal settlement is applauded by different
literatures and could be the lesson to Ethiopia in management of its growing urban informality.

32 . India’s mega cities like Mumbai and Delhi are the two of the worst urban places for living specially for urban poor.
Informality and slum life are the typical manifestations of Indian urban centers. According to the 2011 census, there are 13
million slum houses which are the home of 65 million people(For further see Chandan 2019;Adhikari and Deb undated;Satpati
2019 and James 2015;Prakash 2011 in Satpati 2019 .
33 . Informality is one of the frequently pronounced and serious urban problems in Kenya. More than 12 million of Kenyan

societies have no houses and nowhere to live rather than residing in country’s slam areas. Some 70% of the total urban population
lived in informal settlements. The problem is more acute in capital Nairobi in which around 1.5 million its residents confined
only on 5 percent of the city Kibara is the largest slum site in Nairobi that hosts 700000 to one million residents in which
politicians or government officials own over half the land (Fox , 2014 in Chandan,2019 see also the above authors; and Alde,
1995;UN-HABITA 2007).
30
Turkey is one of the better urbanized states in which some of its cities like Istanbul are assumed
a mega city status that hosted above 14 million residents. Informality 34 is the typical
characteristics of Turkish cities. Industrialization, mass rural to urban migration between 1945
and 1985 and poverty became the principal causes of informality in Turkey and squatting
become serious urban problem in which cities like Istanbul i.e. a global city, half of its
residential homes categorized in to informal houses(Türker-Devecigil 2006;Veisi2015;Amiri and
Ghanbari 2016; Billig2011).

Turkish squatter settlements are unique among other parts of the world informal settlements
because they are integrated into the pattern and fabric of the city and have had provided with
infrastructure and other social facilities. The squatter areas have become very populous over time
and formed a political power. Such areas are centers of battle grounds among political parties
during election in which the nationalist and leftist attempts to gain the support of informal
residents and there is shifting political sympathy and allegiance among its political figures with
regards to it (Ibid).

There have been innovative measures to solve squatting problems in Turkey in which series of
laws and policy measures adopted and most of informal homes gradually accorded legal status
and owners allowed to build more than one store buildings that enable informal areas
incrementally to be improved by resident themselves. Thus, Turkish squatter settlements are
often seen as an evolution in the formalization process that producing something more livable
situations in terms of sanitation, building materials, government representation, infrastructure
and open space. Because of these, Turkish handling of informality is often seen as a model for
other nations dealing with informality (Ibid). In this regard in the world UN-Habitat conference
in 2005, the head of the UN agency Anna Tibaijuka remarked that:

“…Turkey, since the mid-1960s, has adopted a comprehensive legislative and policy
framework regarding slums. This has enabled Turkey to accomplish many successful
initiatives in slum upgrading and low-cost housing. … There is much to learn from
the experience of Turkey that is relevant to many developing countries … (Tibaijuka,
2005 in Billing 2011:2).

34
There is identical naming between Ethiopian and Turkish informal housing. According to all the above reference materials
,Turkish informal houses are named as “Gecekondu” that derived from two words i.e Gece means ‘the night’ and kondu
‘landed’, hence gecekondu translates as ‘landed at night’ or homes that built overnight like Ethiopian ‘Chereka’ or Moon light
houses.
31
From the above literatures, it is possible to conclude that Turkish model on handling informality
and its policy and legal measures to integrate residents in to cities political, economic and social
life as well as the incremental improvement of informal homes by residents themselves can be
one of the best experiments that developing nations can draw a lesson on managing their
informality problems.

2.5. Empirical Literature on Ethiopia’s urban Informality: Causes and Implications

Ethiopia is one of the most predominantly rural states in Africa even by sub-Saharan standard in
which only 20 percent of its current population is urban dwellers. However, the country has been
registering one of the fastest urban growth rates on in the world which is currently estimated at
5.4 percent per year. Its cities are growing and expanding both in size and in numbers 35(Endalew
2013; Jemal 2019;Dejene 2020).Fast rate of urbanization in Ethiopia is largely accompanied by
unplanned and informal housing across the country’s cities and towns. Empirical data from
different research finding shows that informality is a critical problem for Ethiopian cities that
hosted the third highest informal house residents in Africa next to Tanzania and Mozambique
36
(Ibid).

According to (Achamyeleh 2014) the urban growth strategy of Ethiopia is quite backward and
lacking adherence to good international practices. Thus, informality becomes one of critical
socio-economic, demographic and environmental planning and management challenges
(Berhanu 2015;Abraham et al. 2018; Abebe et al.2019;Berhanu et al.2019; Takele 2019). This
section attempts to review empirical, policy and legal literatures as well as documents on the
cause and implications of urban informality in Ethiopia in brief.

2.5.2. Urban Land Policy Since 1991

Lease as a mode of urban land holding system was introduced in Ethiopia for the 1st time in
1993. The proclamation classified urban land in to those lands allotted before the issuance of the

35
. In 1970 there were 171 towns with population of 2,000 to 20,000 this total had grown to 229 by 1980. For example the urban
growth of Adama city increased by 293% from 1984 to 2015 and Fresenbet town expanded from 354 hectare to 774 hectare
between 2009 to 2016.Moreover, the coming years will show greater increment of urban population. For instance, Hawassa’s
2010 population will grow more than 6-fold by 2040, Mekeles’ will almost 5-fold of its 2010 population, and Adama and Bahir
Dar will almost 4-fold their population within the specified period. For further see also Abebe 2007; Berhanu et al., 2019;
Achamyeleh, 2014 and Ajanaw K.,2019.
36 . For instance, 80% of the country’s capital population is living in informally developed housing units and informality in

Jima city also increased from 29% in 1997 to 37% in 2007 and 41% in 2017.Study conducted by Daniel revealed that 30% of
Bahirdar city lacks legal document.(For further see Yewoineshet2007;Daniel,2011; Mathewos et al.,2011 and Abebe et al.2019).
32
proclamation for the construction of dwelling houses, land allotted before the proclamation for
the purpose of other than dwelling houses and land to be allotted for any purposes after the
issuance of the proclamation. Based on this, the 2nd and 3rd categories of land were to be
governed by the provisions of the new lease proclamation while 1st category was out of the
scope of the lease system and governed by permits system adopted by the military regime. The
proclamation laid the framework for the grant of urban land through auction, negotiation, and
lots. And the allocation of lease land determined for fixed period on the bases of grade of the
place and purposes. i.e. 99 years for dwelling houses and 50 years for industries, dwelling
houses for rent ,education, science and technology(for further see proc. no 80/1993).This
proclamation amended in 2002 and 2011.

2.6. Causes of Informality in Ethiopian Cities

It is possible to classified causes of informality in to social, economic, political, cultural and

institutional. To start with politics, modern Ethiopian regimes had have adopted wrong and
unfriendly policy directions that exacerbated housing problems across the country’s towns and
cities. For example, the imperial period characterized by the monopoly of the Ethiopia’s rural
and urban land by small group of political, military and religious groups37 and relegated the vast
majority of Ethiopian society from acquiring the right to ownership (Assefa 2010;Beka
2016;Bahru1991; Balsvic 2005).On the other hand, though the military government had taken
radical measures to promote both historical and egalitarian justice in both urban and rural areas,
its command and control policy had created an acute shortage of homes in urban areas. The
EPRDF led government unclear 38 , corrupt 39 , ineffective, elite based preferential policy
directions40 became a breeding ground for unprecedented proliferation of inform houses across in
Ethiopia in the past 27 years (Ibid).

37
. As frequently mentioned in most of scholarly works, in feudal Ethiopia more than seventy percent of the fertile land was
owned by only one percent of entire population. See also the above scholars
38. See Lindner, 2014.
39 .Corruption is becoming endemic in Ethiopia. For instance, sustained corruption is one of many factors that have caused

widespread unrest in Ethiopia since 2015 that put the country on the brink of collapse. Some studies show that it is nearly
impossible to get a plot of land without bribing city administration officials. See World Bank 2012a in Lindner, 2014 and
Misganu, 2019.
40 . Present land delivery system excludes 96% of the population (Yewoineshet, 2007) and Linder, 2014 by quoting freedom

House report indicated that in the aftermath of the 2005 election, a substantial amount of land in Addis Ababa was allocated
based on political allegiances and officials from the ruling party tend to receive preferential access to land leases and credit and
the private sector also resort corruption as a means of getting land. For further see Yewoineshet, 2007; Linder 2014.
33
The second most prominent cause related to informal expansion of housing among Ethiopian
cities is associated with social factors such as rural to urban migration 41 caused by natural,
political and economic factors 42 , the prevalence of high unemployment rate, population
increment within cities and town, extreme poverty, displacement 43 as a result of war and natural
causes like famine and social networks44 are among others. In relation to the level of poverty in
Ethiopia (Assefa Jaleta 2010:68 by citing CSA 1997 and WHO 1998) report rightly narrated that:

…Ethiopia is one of the three poorest countries in the world, and its per capita
income was only 116 USA. dollars in 1997. Life expectancy is only 45 years. The
mortality rate for children less than five years is 177 per 1,000 live births. The infant
mortality rate is 113 per 1,000 live births. The maternal mortality rate is 1, 400 per
100,000 births. Millions of people die of a simple disease because of lack of medical
treatment. Less than half of the population has access to basic sanitation, and only
25 percent of the population has access to clean water (WHO 1998).
The third critical cause that cited by many literatures is the existence of ineffective, inefficient,
unstable and fragile urban institutions. This is the typical manifestation of Ethiopian state
institutions that characterized by inefficiency, preferential treatment, corruption and lack of
implementation capacity.

In this regard, (Linder 2014:15)by citing the World Economic Forums’ 2013/2014 report and
World Bank 2012b reports stipulated that:

… the assessment of Ethiopia’s institutions has been falling over recent years across
almost all indicators, including property rights, ethics and corruption, undue
influence and government efficiency…. the Ethiopian land administration system is
troubled with a high degree of informality. One of the main causes of this is the
absence of clear legislation as well as confusion about the applicability of
legislation…
The above argument supported by Misganu2019 and Jemal2019 in which both argued that the
post-1991 urban land governance, policy and legal regimes open fertile grounds for corruption
due to its contents lacking clarity and non-transparent implementations that appeal many in

41 .For instance the majority (81.7 %) of informal house holds on Jemal’s,2019 study in A.A. are migrants.
42 .Ethiopia has been experiencing one of the highest rural to urban migrations. For example, the capital city forced to accept
more
than 120.000 rural migrants annually. For further see Yewoineshet, 2007
43 . For instance in Addis Ababa’s north eastern part in the place called Kotobe large number of Eritrean evictee have occupied

informal land and houses. Recently, nearly millions of displaced people from Somali regional state have settled in different towns
of Oromia region including Burayu town (term paper that done by me and my classmate on evictees in Burayu town). See also
Abrham et al.2018 .
44 .See the foot note of page 5

34
political and administrative circle exercise malpractices such as partiality, favoritism, working
with illegal brokers and corrupt officials. Thus, issuance of laws and proclamation failed to
contain the expansion of informality. For example in Kolfe-Keranyo sub-city in Addis Ababa,
there was 40% or 30,000 increment of informal houses after the promulgation of regulation to
stop informality. Furthermore, only 0.5 GDP is allocated to the housing sector (Abrham et al.
2018). Finally, the last but not the least factor is associated with culture in which some
individuals wants to have big compounds which cannot be accessed in the formal market
(Jemal2019; Gondo Undated;Yewoineshet2007; Gebre 2008; Tamirat 2016).

2.6.1. Implications of Urbanization on Peri –Urban Farmers

It is a conventional wisdom that most of urban centers in Ethiopia including the capital Addis
Ababa founded by displacing local farmers(Assefa 2010).More recently, the fast rate of
urbanization coupled with the above mentioned factors has posing real and existential threats that
greatly impacting peasants’ livelihood status all over the county’s Peri-urban areas. Especially,
towns and cities which have political and economic significance have been expanded at the
expense of surrounding farmers land. Peasants in such centers forced to lose their primary
physical, cultural, social, and economic assets 45 either forcefully 46or willingly due to several
factors. Some scholars accused mainly the current government constitutional prerogative power
on the ownership of land and then its unjust expropriation of farmers land with meager or no
compensation in the name of promoting common public good without creating alternative
livelihood opportunities for them(Tamirat 2016;Fekadu2014;Efa and Gutema 2017; Abebe et
al.2019;Beka 2016;Ajanaw 2019).

According to Crewett, Ayalneh and Korf 2008, the EPRDF government used such constitutional
power on land as an arm to advance and maintain its political goals. In this regard, they argued
that “coercive actions of state organs against local peasants at the dawn of the 2000 elections

45
. Loosing property mainly land for predominantly agricultural society has a great repercussion on those who lose it. Since
property related to wealth, power, identity and values that affecting each of them and social, political, economic organization,
command over wealth, and governance. Especially land embodied relationships pertaining to food, water, and modes of
production, culture, religion, gender, succession and conflict. (Benda-Beckmann et al, 2006: Macpherson,1978: 4 in UN-Habitat,
2015). For further see UN-Habitat,2015
46.For example, majority of farmers in Mekele city forced to handover their agricultural land without compensation. For detail
see Sisha, 2011).
35
whereby peasants were threatened that their land would be taken away if they voted for
opposition parties” (Crewett, Ayalneh and Korf 2008).

Though, the country’s supreme and subsidiary laws theoretically granted the right to
proportionate compensation for farmers in time of expropriation of their land by government for
various purposes, such laws practically failed to address farmers’ interest. This is attested by
various research literatures carried out in major cities indicate the majority of farmers have
grieving their dissatisfaction and resentment in many cities 47 .The compensation process too
characterized by partiality, favourism, corruption and protracted bureaucratic red tape48(Beka
2016 ;Abebe et al.2019; Efa and Gutema 2017; Tamirat 2016; Ayelu 2018; Ajanaw 2019).

Furthermore, the country’s legal and policy guidelines failed to address the post compensation
scenario and simply let peasants to led precarious life situations. Due to these factors, peasants’
age long livelihood assets ruined, their social capital has been destroyed, forced to be vulnerable
for food insecurity, abject poverty and other associated social crisis. Even some of them and their
families became street beggars, homeless and at the worst case committed suicide(Ibid).In this
regard, Gebre Yentiso(2008) criticized the way the county’s urban development process went on
and remarked that “It would be against development philosophy to create a new poverty regime
while proclaiming to abolish/ curtail it” ( see also Endalew 2013; Fekadu 2014;Zenebe 2010;
Muradu2013;Girma 2011; Achamyeleh2014; Elias2015; Daniel2013;Sayeh2014;Mathewos et
al.2011;Ayelu 2018;Kebede 2019; Ajanaw 2019).

Due to the above mentioned existing realities on the ground, the rest of farmers who are living in
many of peri-urban areas increasingly have felt tenure insecurity and then they have been taking
a preemptive measure by selling their valuable land for whomever who need it despite there is
legal and constitutional sanction to do so in Ethiopia. Hence, according to the above studies, this

47 . For example, 97.2% farmers who lost their land in Fresenbet town by government expropriation appealed to court by
opposing compensation rate. In addition, Bahir Dar City administration paid for farmers only 12 birr per square meter but
transfer the same amount of land by 4000 birr on average. The money farmers received according to Achamyeleh “cannot feed
their family in the face of increasing inflation and living standard” for further see also Ajanaw ,2019. Elias,2015 and
Achamyeleh,2014.
48
.Tamirat ,2016 discussed detailed of such issues in his study on Jimma city. According to him some farmers with the same
background received only 9000-12000 ET. Birr, while others 50000-500000ET. Birr. This preferential compensation payment
disturbed existing social relationship among farmers. For detail seeTamirat ,2016:322.
36
precipitated both informality and the sufferings of farmers in such study sites. Informality based
on the above studies, progressively growing over-time49(Ibid;Assefa2010).

2.6.2. Implications of Legal, Policy and Administrative frameworks onInformality

2.6.2.1. Legal Frameworks

The EPRDF led government introduced series of proclamations in 1993, 2002, 2005 and 2011 to
govern urban land and urban houses. Lease as one kind of urban land tenurearrangement was
formally introduced in to the Ethiopian legal system in 1993, by proclamation. Number 80/1993
and was revised in 2002 by Proc.272/2002. However, these two proclamations were not as such
centers of controversy like proclamation no 721/2011. This section will review Proc. no721/2011
in detail because of its far reaching implications on mushrooming of informal houses,
skyrocketing of urban land price and consequently exacerbating the suffering of per-urban
communities in different urban centers of Ethiopia.

Proc. no721/2011 has attracted the attention of many Ethiopians ranging from ordinary urban
dwellers to politicians and academic community. Many research works criticize the proclamation
in terms of its compatibility to the country’s constitution, social acceptability, equity, tenure
security and economic viability (Achamyeleh 2014; Elias 2015; Muradu 2013; Araya 2013). For
instance, study conducted by Araya, revealed that the proclamation did not follow the formal law
making procedure. It was present neither for public discussion nor genuine parliamentary
members’ debate. It was ratified even without thorough discussion of the concerned standing
committee of the House of people’s representatives (Araya 2013).

Many observers argued that this legal document and its application practically sealed off the
possibility of getting urban land for low and middle class groups. Based on my own assessment
and understanding Article 6, 19, 20 and 22 of the proclamation are the most controversial

49
.I got a chance to watch Amhara TV on March 21/2020 and Ethiopian Television on Au.2/2020 which broadcasted the issue of
urban house informality that focused on Bahirdar and Addis Ababa cities respectively by inviting different stakeholders like
farmers, government officials, scholars and informal house owners. In such cities Land according to panelist is
becoming“yematnetif lam” which means milking cow for land speculators, government officials, and brokers. They boldly
claimed that the involvement of such groups mainly government officials make the problem more uncontrollable and the law
became toothless. Due to this, informal houses are dominating Ethiopian cities. For example, according to one official, recently
in Addis Ababa city only in one site more than one hundred informal houses were built within one night. In all these process,
mainly farmers and urban poor who look their shelter are major losers in which no one has concern for their life.
37
articles. The central tenets of this proclamation are equity, efficiency, effectiveness,
accountability and responsiveness in the management and administration of urban land and
landed property based on free market principles which ensure the rights and obligations of the
lessees and the lesser. However, some scholarly works and realities on the ground indicate that
such ideal principles of the proclamation unable to achieve its intended objectives beyond
helping the government to collect a large sum of lease revenue (Elias 2015).

One of the visible impacts of the proclamation and its implementation is the soaring of the land
price from time to time in most of Ethiopian cities. For example, for one land presented to lease
auction by the Addis Ababa City, on Oct.31, 2012, presented 355,550 ET Birr for one m2land.
This figure indicates that how far the land price is progressively soaring from year to year and
making the city land one of the most expensive in the world even compared to world
metropolitan cities like London, Hong Kong, New York, Geneva, Singapore and Paris (Elias
2015).

The sky rocketing of land price in the country’s towns and cities is showing a clear indication for
unreachable polarization of wealth gap between and among Ethiopian society. It is clear that the
current land policy is effectively eliminating the middle and the lower class from formal urban
house and land markets. Thus, such classes forced to turn their focus in to the informal land
market to build their residential house in the face of the ever increasing urban house rent and the
impossibility of accessing land from formal market. Study conducted by (Abebe et al. 2019)
indicated that since the application of this law informality has increased by 33% in Jima town
and 88% of their study respondents also believed that the law is more aggravating informality
in the town(for further see, Ibid,2019).In due course, Peri-urban peasants have been seriously
affected by the outcome of this unjust law in which it allowed the state to expropriate their land
and fetch the lion share of benefit by auctioning it50( Asfaw2018;Achamyeleh2014;Elias2015).
In support of this, Dejene and Bhangoo 2018: by citing SADC 2017 stated that:

50
.The law paved the way for the state and its apparatus to become more beneficiaries. For instance, Farmers in Addis Ababa
and Bhirdar compensated only 20 and 12 ET birr permeter2 but, Municipalities of such cities transfer the same size land on
average 8000 and 4000 respectively. For Further see Achamyeleh, 2014;Elias, 2015.

38
 …the compensation policy lacks other alternative packages, for instance
entrepreneurial skills development which helps affected households to integrate with
urban setting as expropriation leads to destruction of existing property system and
agricultural livelihoods and many farmers who were previously displaced from
agriculture are getting poorer than before…

2.6.2.2. National Policy Frameworks outcomes on Urban House Informality

Ethiopia has launched series of development policy programs such as SDPRP2002-2005/6;

PASDEP 2005/6-2010;GTPI,2010/11-2015 and GTP II,2015-2020) with the aim of achieving
UN sponsored MDG2000-2015 and SDG 2015-2030 programs and enabling the country to join
Lower middle income states club. These policies gave greater attention for agricultural Led
Industrial and Service Sector Developments. Within these broad development policy
frameworks, different urban related policies and strategies have been adopted. For example, in
2005 Integrated Housing Development Program was introduced. The scope of this MA thesis is
not evaluating such policy documents rather giving a snap reflection on them in relation to
urbanization and urban informality. Thus, this section attempts to review mainly the three
(IHDP; GTP I and II) by integrating progress reports and reflections of some scholarly
documents.

To start with the IHDP, it was launched in 2005 within the second development policy PASDEP
program period. IHDP set the following objectives: Increase housing supply for the low-income
population; Mitigate the expansion of slums; Increase job opportunities and Improve wealth
creation and wealth distribution for the nation. Thus condominium houses construction begun
across different towns of the country. GTP I (2010/11-2014-15) an ambitious national
development plan to achieve structural transformation in different sectors was launched in
2010/11 fiscal year. GTP I set a target to construct 500,000 housing units ,Create 400,000 jobs
in the housing sector and reduction of the number of slum dwellers by half (60% to 30%).

GTP II which launched in 2015 also in its urban sector goals aimed at proactively manage the
on-going rapid urbanization to unlock its potential for sustained rapid growth and structural
transformation of the economy. It also gives due emphasis for urban sustainability and green
development. Moreover, on GTP II, focus has been given to increase the supply of low cost
houses to address urban housing demand for low and middle class communities by enhancing
39
their saving capacities to provide affordable houses by long-term payments and sets to construct
750 thousand new houses (GTP II policy document and Tegegn, undated).

Impacts of such housing programs have been studies and evaluated by scholars, government
institutions and multi-national organizations. Accordingly, results revealed that programs are
too far either to meet their intended targets or satisfying the growing housing demand that
required the construction of 290,000 houses per annum. Particularly the program has failed to
address low and middle class families’ interest due the rise of housing cost and its interest rate
which became unaffordable to pay the required monthly saving .Even those poor section of
society 70 % of them who got a chance condominium houses rent out their homes and forced to
live in other areas due to the growing inflation. The program also is not financially feasible that
requires huge investment i.e. 247 billion ETB(Tegegn undated;Resom2010; Gebre 2008;
Mathewos et al. 2011; Keller and Mukudi-Omwamib 2017;World Bank2017; Ayelu 2018;
Dagnachew 2015;World Bank2017).

2.6.2.3. Administrative Measures on Informality and their Outcomes

This section attempts to give a brief highlight on what kind of measures that have been taken by
municipal authorities to deal with informal settlements in some of Ethiopian cities and towns.
According to literatures and realities on the ground, mixed measures such as preventive,
curative, tolerated and bulldozing are usually taken by different cities. The first concept related
to strong application of law and order to prevent the construction of informal houses, the
second indicates regularization and formalization measures, the third refers to deliberate
ignorance and non-action and the final concept designates to the destruction of informal
houses and the eviction of informal settlers under Ethiopian context. Some cities and towns
like Addis Ababa adopted series of directives and regulations to manage the problem of
informality.

To start with bulldozing measure, demolition and forceful eviction has had been a common
measure taken by major city administrators since 1990s. For instance, Addis Ababa city
administration in Yeka sub-city alone smashed 13440 informal houses in 1994 E.C (Gondo
undated). Eviction also carried out by respective town administration according the same
author, in Jmma, Ambo, Masha and Adama (Ibid). In 2012 fiscal year alone, more than 9,000

40
 homes were removed by Addis Ababa city administration (Officials on ETV on 3 Aug. 2020).
However, this trend has failed to contain the proliferation of informal due to reasons that
mentioned above. In most cases the demolished homes immediately replaced by new ones
(Yewoinshet 2018; Achamyeeh2014 and Gondo Undated).Moreover, measures and directive
taken by Addis Ababa administration proved to be ineffective (Jemal 2019)51.Thus, informality
has had been one of the most unresolved state, societal and environmental problems of Ethiopia
that might await the first urban revolution in the country’s history if it is not properly managed.

51
.For instance, there was 59.1 and 30% informal houses increment after regulation 1/2000 and (Minwuyelet 2005:23 in
Jema2019.
41
 Chapter Three

Description of the Study Area

3.1 Introduction

As it is clearly indicated in chapter one, Shashemene is an intersecting city and the trade hub of
southern Ethiopia regions. The town also lies on the Addis-Moyale-Kenya Highway about 150
miles (250 km) south of Addis Ababa. It became the administrative capital of West Arsi zone
since 2006, which has scaled -up its economic and political importance. This part of the thesis
attempt to elucidate a brief historic, geographic, socio-economic and demographic description
of Shashemene city. To compile this chapter, primary (the city socio-economic profile and CSA
Document), and secondary (research document supplemented by satellite images) data were
principally utilized and carefully reviewed.

3.1.1. Geographic Location, Topography, Climate and Drainage system

Shashamane is a town and a separate woreda in West Arsi Zone, Oromia National Regional State
of Ethiopia. It has latitude of 7° 12' north and a longitude of 38° 36' east. Shashamane extends to
the south-eastern escarpment of the Rift Valley. The town is located on a plateau with an
elevation ranging from 1,826 to 2,107 meters above mean sea level.The mountain ridge in the
south-east of the town is called Abaro. The urbanized area of the town is slightly dissected by
numerous valleys formed by the four major river systems crossing the city from south-east to
north-west(Shashemene City Socio-economic data,2010).
Figure 1. Relative Location of Shashemene City.
Source: - 1995-2012 Information Technology Associates in (Tarekegn and Yitbarek,2018)

42
The climate of Shashamanne is characterized by the average maximum and minimum
temperature of 24.3°C in May and 7.5°C in December, respectively. The average annual rainfall
in Shashamanne amounts to 1200mm. The main wet season takes place from June to September,
causing about 70% of annual rainfall with the highest peak in August. Another small peak of
rainfall is observed in April (OUPI 2010).According to OUPI (2010), geologically, the largest
part of Shashamanne Town is covered with volcanic materials (Ibid).

3.2. History of Shashemene Town

The name Shashamene derived from a women called Shashe and her house (Mene) who had
engaged in local alcohol trading in which local communities gave the name by merging her
name and her house as Shashe-and Mene (the house of Shashe) gave the birth of its current
naming. Historical evidences attested that two market centers (Harufa and Alelu) became the
nucleus for its formation. The market center called Alelu was served as market for long distance
trade .The town was established in 1903 E.C. The construction of roads to and through the town
to different areas in the south made the town a major commercial and distribution center for both
agricultural and industrial products (Bjeren, 1985). Since then the town became the center of
southern Ethiopian trade linking the south, south east and south west and went through series of
socio-economic and political transformation (Shashemene City Socio-Economic profile 2010).

Moreover, the establishment of west Arsi zone by integrating woredas previously administered
by Bale, East Shoa and Arsi zones that made its political center in Shashemene added city’s
political significance which led the mushrooming of different socio-economic and
administrative institutions that have been greatly contributing for its fast growth and
development. According to Proclamation No.195/2008, Shashemene City has accorded the
Principal City Administration status. The city has eight urban kebeles administration units
namely; Awasho (Kebele 01), Abosto (Kebele 02 & 03), DidaBoqe (Kebele 04), Bulchana
(Kebele 05), Burka Gudina (Kebele 06 & 07), Arada (Kebele 08 & 09), Alelu (Kebele 10), and
Kuyera kebele. In addition to this, there are about 11 rural kebeles which incorporated by
structural plan. The city covers total surface area of about 129,946,244m2 or about 12,994
hectare of land. The distance ground from North to South extreme points of the city is about
22km and from East to West is about 8km. The shape of the city has an elongated shape toward
along Hawassa to Addis Ababa road (Ibid).
43
3.3. Demography, Ethnic and Religious Composition

3.3.1. Demography

Evidences from the available literature show that the fast growth of Shashamanne’s population
has been observed since 1990s, with an annual growth rate of 6%. This can partly be attributed to
higher migration from rural areas to the town rather than the natural increase of (2.9%). The total
population of the town was 102,062, 51,477 male and 50,585 female (CSA 2007 in Ibid).
Because of demographic uncertainties, such as high net migration, and natural population
increment, currently, the exact number of inhabitants is not known. However, when projected
using 6% annual growth rate, the town’s total population in the structural plan was 240,540 in
2011. This figure encompasses 13,946 residents from the former Kuyera Town, the current sub-
city of Shashamanne, and 85,693 residents from peasant administrations (PA) adjacent to the
urban periphery that were incorporated into the town during planning. According to the
projection by OUPI Shashamanne hosts 295,898 inhabitants in 2020 (OUPI, 2010). Moreover,
the establishment of West Arsi zone with its zonal capital at Shashemenehas resulted in the
City’s fast expansion. The following table clearly depicts the progressive increment of the town
populationacross time.

Table 1: The trend of population Growth of Shashemene Citry

Growth
Year Male Female Total Sex Ratio
rate
1959 7,860 8,550 16,410 91.9
1962 10,501 10,108 20,609 103.9 7.89
1964 11,108 10,585 21,293 104.9 2.6
1976 15,194 16,690 31,884 91 3.26
1979 17,187 18,880 36,067 91 4.19
1986 25,426 26,654 52,080 95.4 5.39
1999 51,062 50,585 101,647 100.9 5.28
2001 96,877 97,107 193,984 99.8 4
2004 111,732 112,274 224,006 99.5 4.5
2010 138956 139336 278292 101.8 4.5
Source:- Shshemene city socio-economic profile2010 EC
3.3.2. Ethnic Composition

Shashemene has been the home and melting pot for diverse ethno -cultural groups mainly for
northern and southern regions.Shashemene’s location at the cross road of south-east, south and

44
south-west of Ethiopian regions and its proximity to some of the most densely populous zones
like Wolita, Sidama,Silte,Gurage,Kembata,Hadiya and Gamo, has made the town of high
commercial significance and a destination for large scale migration from the above mentioned
zones. The recent establishment of West Arsi zone, presence of different private financial and
higher education institutions, and the opening of Medawolabu University branch in the town
have also increased in migration of employees, residents and students from different regions in to
the town (Shashemene city socio-economic profile 2010).

More than 83 percent of people in Shashemene town claimed that they were born out of
Shashemene (RANS, 2005 in Yisak et al.,2006). The same study on Aerada sub-city in which
most of the city’s trade activity is carried out elucidated the percentage of each ethnic group
within the sub-town. Accordingly Amharas constitute19%;Wolaytas 16%;Gurages 35%;Oromos
20% and others 10 %. For years the city has been characterized by tolerance and peaceful co-
existence throughout its history that became one of the main pull factors for diverse socio-
cultural groups to immigrate in to the city and engaged in different livelihood activities.

3.3.3. Religious Composition

There is conflicting data between ( CSA 2007) and the town socio-economic profile with
regards to religious composition52.Based on the city’s socio-economic profile(2009-2010 E.C)
indicated that Orthodox and Muslim religion followers constituted about 44.0% and 43.9% of
the total population of the city respectively. Protestant, Catholic, and other religion followers
constitute 10.1%, 1.4% and 0.6% respectively. There are also Jobah witness and Rasteferian
53
religion followers within the city (Shashemene town socio-economic profile 2010).

3.4. Socio- Economic Institutions of the Town

As stated earlier its political, commercial and strategic significance, Shashemene has been
registering fast rate of urban growth that has both positive and negative implication which will

52
.the town is inhabited by diverse religious groups mainly Muslims who account 23.53% and Christians (Orthodox, protestant,
Catholics) constitute 43.44%, 23.53% and 1.3% inhabitants respectively
53 .Ras -Teferian faith followers are predominantly Jamaicans who settled in Shashemene town under emperor Hileselase’s rule

in what they call it promises land in 1950s at specific place called Melka Oda which lies in northern part of the town. These
groups viewed Shashemene as their promised spiritual land .For further see Yisak et al.,2006.

45
be discussed in next chapter. There are all social institutions from health center to Hospitals 54,
from elementary level to tertiary level educational institutions55, industries56, banks, insurance
companies and microfinance institutions 57 , Hotels from small to luxuries hotels, electricity,
telecom and water provision institutions etc. are found in the city. In general, the town almost
has all modern city socio-economic institutions.

54 . There are 133 health institutions in the town .Of which 125 are privately owned. There are 3 hospitals of which one is
Comprehensive referral hospital.
55 . There are 2 special need schools, 73 kindergartens, 18 primary first cycle school (1-4), 65 full primary schools (1-8), 10

secondary schools (9-10), 9 preparatory (11-12) Schools and 12 college as well as Medawolabu University branch found
within the city.
56 .There are 17 different banks, 10 insurance companies and 6 micro finance institutions with in the city. Some of banks have

more than one branch. For example Commercial bank of Ethiopia that run by government has more than 20 branches within the
city
57 .There are 24 privately owned manufacturing industries including one tractor assemblage factory in the city.

46
 Chapter Four

Land Tenure and Land Transaction Experience and the Rate of Urbanization in Shashemene

4.1. Introduction

This chapter attempts to discuss past and current land tenure arrangement and the trend of urban
expansion in Shahemene City. The first part of this chapter provides a brief highlight on land
tenure system that existed since the incorporation of Arsii in to Ethiopian empire. The second
section deals with the beginning of land transaction, mainly land sale and factors that led to the
practice to emerge in in a society that used to view selling ancestral land as a taboo .The final
section give a brief highlight on rapid growth of Shahshemene across time. The data in this part
of discussion have mainly been obtained from secondary research sources, which included
researches on neighboring woresdas (Arsii-Negele,Kofele and Kokosa and Shahsemene) by
Hussein Jemma2010, Mamao Hebo2005 , Lavers 2018 and Satellite based research conducted by
Amha,2007;Genemo,2012;Tarekegn and Mollamaru,2018;Bedane ,Berhanu, Girma and
Cirella,2020as well as primary sources like national and regional policy and legal documents
and information obtained from the 90 year old local renewed community leader through
informal discussion.

The aim of discussing these themes in this thesis work is to connect past land tenure
arrangement and its impact on present situation of on land tenure and informal land transaction
trends in the study area. As Hussein (2010:2) remarked, “Historical studies are of paramount
importance to draw lessons from the past, understand the background to the current
circumstances, and predict the possible effects of changes in property rights regime in land in
the country.”

4.2. Modern Ethiopian State Formation and its Implication on Land Tenure

Much has been studied and said on past and current land tenure arrangements of Ethiopia mainly
in the southern provinces .The aim of this section is not presenting a very wide discussions,
discourses and controversies rather giving a brief highlight on land tenure arrangements and the
historic emergence of land transaction practices in the study area. The formation of the modern
Ethiopian state at the closing decades of 19th century by the application of both diplomacy and
force has had a far reaching socio-economic and political implications on Ethiopian society in
47
general and southerners 58 in particular. Regions and areas that fiercely resisted the marching
imperial army in to their jurisdiction had faced land alienation and cultural suppression by the
invading army. In this regard Arsii in 1886,Harrar in 1887,Wollaita in 1894,Keffa in 1897 are
among other regions that fell under imperial army one by one and lost their political, cultural
and social autonomy and then became a tributary regions of the newly structured Ethiopian
empire (Bahru1991 and2002;Merera2003;Solomon 2006;Vanguan2003).

In general, the above regions (southerners) had faced series of feudal system related exploitation
and right violation where majority of them alienated from their ancestral land and subjugated as
tenants59 and a mere servants of the state plus state appointed land lords until the 1974 Ethiopia’s
popular revolution. This historical event well narrated by Markakis as:

…the expropriation and distribution of a very large portion of land in the south among the
victors [from the North] had a dramatic effect on the native population. The relationship of
persons to land was radically transformed practically over-night by force …. The southern
peasantry which found itself on land claimed by the state lost whatever rights it had held
traditionally over the land. The people were transformed into gabbars of the state and of the
privileged group to whom the state [government] granted rights over such land. … the
peasantry cultivating land expropriated by the state [government] lost whatever rights it had
enjoyed over such land, and was reduced to the status of tenant “quartered on the land of
another” (Markakis 1974: 112 in Hussein2010).

The above Ethiopian peasantry situation had dramatically changed on March 31, 1975 when the
military government had declared an unprecedented land to the tiller proclamation and taken
radical land redistribution measure to achieve both egalitarian and historic justice objectives

58
.The north -south dichotomy in many literatures is to indicate regions under the old Abyssinian core i.e. northern provinces
like Tigray, part of Wollo, Gonder, Gojam and north Shoa that directly or indirectly governed by the centuries of old Christian
highland kingdom rule since the period of Axumite empire that had different land tenure arrangement .Whereas Southern
Ethiopia implies areas and regions that became part of Ethiopian empire since emperor Menelik II(1889-1913).These areas had
different land tenure arrangement compared to northern provinces in which the southern provinces characterized by extremely
oppressive and exploitative landlord-tenancy system. Southern regions in this regard include the current Oromia and southern
Ethiopian provinces that experienced exploitative landlord tenancy system until 1974. For further see (Bahru, 1991;2002;
Merera,2003;Solomon,2006;Vanguan,2003).
59
. Tenancy was the typical manifestation of Ethiopia’s feudal system in which the vast majority of the people of south lost
their ancestral land .According Zenebe Feleke(1997) who was the member of the Derg and Land reform committee and the
Author of Neber Amharic book that narrated the reminisce of the military government from insider point of view , “ tenancy
was as high as 75% in Illibabora,67% in Shoa , 62% in Keffa , 59% in Wollega,54% in Harerge ,52% in Arsii,47% in
Gamogoffa 42% in Wollo and 39 % in Sidamo provinces .In his book page 146,he boldly stated that before 1974 “ Ethiopia
was the property of a very few individuals who controlled all menses and instruments of production mainly land” the
emphasis is mine. Daniel Woldegebriel Ambaye(2015) also gave evidence on the unique suffering of southern peasants as: “most
land of the southern people was confiscated and alienated to northerners while leaving the natives landless. People from the north
were encouraged to settle in these new areas and became benficiaries of land grant or land purchase. This was done for two
reasons: First, to re-compensate for their service in the war, and second, in order to create “effective occupation” of the newly
annexed territories.

48
which enabled the masses of Ethiopian peasantry free from the yoke of one of the most
exploitative and oppressive feudal land tenure arrangement(Ibid and Crewitt 2008)60.Needless to
say, the military government fundamentally altered the centuries old exceptionally unjust and
unequal land lord tenancy system and effectively earthen it’s socio-economic, politico-cultural
foundations forever. Thus, heralded new epoch for the masses of Ethiopian peasantry mainly for
southerners and returned back not only their ancestral land but also their human dignity, graved
in their socio-economic and cultural subordination.

4.3. Land Tenure History in the study Area

Back specific to the study area, in 1886 emperor Menelik’s imperial army succeeded in crushing
local heroic resistance that closely costing his life at the battle of Azule. This military campaign
against Arsii people is one of the most controversial issues among historians and politicians due
to inhuman and a very cruel measures that taken by the invading army. After the conquest, Arsii
became under direct imperial rule administration as it was similar to other regions which resisted
imperial military campaign. The imperial government destroyed the traditional Oromo’s Socio-
economic and political administrative system i.e. Geda system (Bahru 2002; Hussein 2010).
Before Arsii came under imperial control, land tenure system in the study area was based on
communal ownership in which clans’ have had controlled specific territory for clan members
who enjoyed equal right over land use ( Mamo 2005;Hussien 2010;Lavers2018).

The incorporation of Arsii society in to Ethiopian empire had its own far-reaching impacts
among peasantries in the area. Commonly Arsii and Bale provinces known as the brad baskets of
Ethiopia due to their high agricultural potential .Secondly, the province’s nearness to the center
and its modest weather condition seems to be another factor that attracts royal
families61landlords and private individuals to scramble for land in Arsii. Third, the flatness of
the majority of Arsii province landscape make easy for mechanized farming and encouraged
investors to rush to the area which increased the value of land in the province. Thus, the

60
.In this regard ,Hussein(2010) by referring (Ottaway & Ottaway 1978: 67) hailed the reform as “the Ethiopian Land Reform
Proclamation of 1975 was drastic by any standard, ‘even in Soviet and Chinese terms’ It swiftly and totally uprooted private
property rights regime in land without any compensation to the landlords”
61
.For instance emperor Hilseslase I(1930-1974) gave the entire land of Arsii_Negele Woreda for one land lord (Ras Birru) and
his wife. (For further see Hussin, 2010).
49
cumulative of the above factors had their own adverse impacts on the suffering of peasants
economically, socially and politically (Ibid)

Furthermore, since 1941 government land policy towards privatization had accelerated tenancy
and peasant eviction due to as stated by (Bahru1919and Hussin 2010) first, the northern settlers
who had a tributary right on southern peasant expanded their holding either by forceful seizure or
purchases from distressed gabar. Second, madeira land given to those in government service
converted it in to free holding. Third, Hileselas’s government generous land grant mainly after
independence (since 1941) for patriots, exiles, soldiers and civil servants to garner political
support and the introduction of mechanized farming in 1960s resulted in peasants mass
eviction62and then locals migration and acceleration of land sale and the rise of its commercial
value(Hussien2010 and Bahiru1991).In this respect Hussein 2010 viewed the conquest of Arsii
and the subsequent land alienations and its implications on local people as:

With regard to property rights regime, the government appropriated the land and
converted it to state property. As a result, the Arsi Ormo lost all rights of free access
to and control over their land. Furthermore, through land privatization under the
reign of Emperor Haile Sellassie, the gabbar became landless tenants which led to a
remarkable inequality in land allocation, which itself was a result of power relations
between the victors and the vanquished
Based on Hussiens PhD thesis work and my older informants, the people of Arsii had suffered
enormous challenges to the extent of unable to get burial sites for the dead people in the land that
was in the hand of their fathers and forefathers. My local elderly informant who is above the
age of 90 years and experienced the three Ethiopian modern regimes land tenure arrangement
remembered the kind of inhuman treatment by the land lords who called them as ‘Hamassenes’
to refer Eritreans who were beneficiaries of emperor Hileselases generous land grant for veteran
soldiers, government, employees and loyal to imperial government .

62.Hussien (2010) by citing Henock(1972: 34) presented the evidence in which how far the introduction of mechanized farming
led mass eviction and had increased the suffering of local peasantry. According to him in the period between 1968 and 1970,
mechanized farming increased nearly fourfold …[and thus] in the early 1970, representatives of the royal family, backed by
woreda government officials and traditional militia (netch lebash), forced the tenants of the whole kebele of forty gasha (1,600
hectares) to evacuate at once by demolishing or burning their houses. For further see Hussein’s desertaton,2010

50
To quote his statement:

…during the imperial period our ancestral land was taken over by land lords
through the force of the gun and we became serfs with untold inhuman and
degrading treatments. Even we were begging land lords for graveyards for our dead
people on the land which was belong to us before the coming of those land lords.
The 1975 land to the tiller proclamation pulled out us from deepest gorge and
returns back not only our land but also our human and social dignity…63
As stated earlier, many who have rational and human mind agreed and up lauded the far-
reaching outcomes of the 1974 Ethiopian people’s popular revolution not only interims of
egalitarian64 land distribution and the eradication the harsh and inhuman feudal duties imposed
on tenants but also its socio-cultural and political contributions be in Ethiopia in general and
study area in particular 65 (see Merera 2003; Balsivic2005; Hussein2010). In this regard,
(Bahru1991:240-1) stipulated that“… the Dergue took considerable pride …that the land reform
proclamation represented a positive response to the long standing demand of all Ethiopians’
progressives …[ which] was radical reform…that any other governments has ever issued
before…”

However, many also criticized the military government land tenure arrangement on the basis of
frequent redistribution of land that had created serous of tenure insecurity among farmers, its
ineffective villegization, resettlement ,Sigsega(integrated settlement),grain cotta and aggressive
forestry programs that forcibly taken away peasants land against their will which led people
(peasants) to deprived their popular support for the regime as it was at the time of Land to the
tiller proclamation launched .Such faulty policy direction became one of the contributor factors
for the fall of the military regime in 1991.(for further Desalegn 2016; Hussein 2010;
Melaku2009).In relation to this, (Mamo20050 clearly articulated that “Land issues… have
played key roles in the survival or demise of political regimes in [Ethiopia].”

63. Hirpato Jiro90 years elderly individual who is the resident and respected community leader in DidaBoke Kebele

64
. According to Bereket 2006, land distribution in rural Ethiopia is highly equitable, for example compared to other African
countries where private ownership exists.
65
. Hussein Jimma 2010 who conducted his PhD dissertation on neighboring Arsi-Negele woreda and Hetossa stated that “the
proclamation … drastically altered power relations in the rural areas. It transferred local political power, along with property
rights, from the landlords to the landless tenants and poor peasants. It empowered tenants and poor peasants, through their PAs,
to administer land in their localities, among other things, by replacing the landlords… Teshale1995 also claimed that “ one of the
most important outcomes of the Ethiopian revolution was the rise of the people of the south to public visibility…see also
Balsivic2005;Merera2003 )

51
The 1991 government change and the subsequent policy and legal documents continued to
embrace the basic tenets of the 1975 rural land proclamation but added some amendments like
the transfer of land through inheritance for family members, the issuance of use right for both
male and female as well as the right to contract out a portion of land for specific period of time
which were absent under the 1975 land to the tiller law. However, the policy continued to
outlawed land transaction through sale and gift out of family members(see FDRE Constitution
art.40 and Proclamation 456/2005. In this regard, Oromia regional state series of land
proclamations considered as more liberal compared to other three core Ethiopian
regions(Amhara, Tigray and SNNPR)66 with regards to tenure insecurity because it outlawed
the possibility of future land redistribution except for irrigable land(RGO 2002 Article 14 in
Crewitt,2008).

4.4. Land Sale and Land Transaction Practice in the Study Area

Though land sale is a culturally unacceptable phenomenon among farmers in the study area,
several historical, socio-economic and political factors have contributed for the emergence of
open and illicit land transactions that have caused paramount effects on the lives and traditional
values of the people vis-à-vis land. As stated earlier, state sponsored arbitrary eviction of farmers
from their ancestral land in pre-revolutionary Ethiopia, frequent land redistribution under
military government, and farmers eviction with the nominal compensation rate under the guise of
urban development since 2005 have been putting pressure on local farmers. In addition to these,
the flourishing of market-oriented economy that created wealth for a few urban based economic
elites who scrambled for land in order to expand their business environment in both urban and
rural areas have had created tenure insecurity and cash and commodity oriented mentality
among farmers in the study area. Therefore, the current large scale informal land transaction is
not caused by single factor rather an intertwined historic, socio-economic and politico-cultural
developments (see Hussein 2010;Mamo and Shigeta 2014; Mamo2005; Pender and Fafchamps
2002 ).

66.Here core regions to refer those regions that inhabited by the lion share of Ethiopia’s total population (Amhara, Oromia,
Tigray and SNNRS). NB. the population of Somali region is slightly greater than that of Tigray regional state but the former
region is politically marginalized in the EPRDF political system until the current political arrangement. For further See (Merera
2003)
52
Open and underground land sell practice has had been active during the imperial period as well
as Derg and in the current government respectively 67 . In this regard, Pender and
Fafchamps2002 argued that “In Arsi there was an active land market before the Marxist Derg
regime…since then, land leasing and informal transfers have again become common(Pender
and Fafchamps (2002).However, based on my research informants and research carried out by
9Mamo2007), people in the study and surrounding woredas have strong socio-cultural, psycho-
emotional attachment on their land and its sell is ‘Saffuu’ which means culturally immoral and
unacceptable. In contrast to their culture, people are engaged in it due to exogenous and
endogenous factors that mentioned earlier. With respect to the social unacceptability and cultural
immorality of land sell among Arsii community Mamo 2007: underlined it as :

Traditionally, according Oromo customs, land is not a commodity for sale or

transfer to non kin… selling one’s ancestral land…[land sale]is considered [as]
immoral, and if it occurs, it is a sign of ‘disorder’ in the family concerned. The sale
of land could occur, however, in the case of extreme poverty when there is no other
option available to sustain a family. Otherwise, a land seller is perceived as an
extravagant and lazy person without a vision for his descendants’ future, lacking
respect for his ancestors(Mamo 2007: 354).
In sum, though land sale is a socially and culturally discouraged practice among Arsii
community, now there is an active land sale as confirmed by of this research participants
conducted thesis. Factors that are pushing farmers to engaged in illicit land transaction and
implications on peasants’ livelihood will be discussed in detail in the next chapter.

4.5. Urbanization and the rate of Horizontal expansion of Shashemene City

The foundation of Shahsemene goes back to nearly a century ago. The town quickly became one
of the most important trading centers due to: (1)its location being strategically situated at
crossroad to Southern, South Western and south Eastern Ethiopian regions; (2)the fact that it is
surrounded by rural Woredas with huge population and high agricultural potential; (3) its
moderate climatic condition together with the existence of relative peace throughout its history68;
(4)the hospitality of the Arsii community have created a very conducive environment to attract

67 . In contrast to the imperial regime of Ethiopia, both the current and the military governments outlawed any land sale or
transaction .Thus, in both regimes land sale was/is largely carried out illicitly without legal recognition or administrative
approval.
68 .According to my informants Shashemen city has been well known by ispeace, tolerance and peaceful co-existence of its

diverse communities who came from different parts of Ethiopia and occupied the lion share of the City’s demography for longer
period with the exception of the current politically motivated crisis. For further see also (Bjeren 1985;Alula etal2005).
,
53
large number of immigrants from across the country mainly from the neighboring densely
populated SNNPR Zones such as Wolyta, Hadiya,Gurage,Kembata and Silte; (5) the existence
of different tourist attraction sites (Langano, Abjata-Shalla, Wondogenet and Hawassa) added its
value to be one of best favorite cities. Finally, the establishment of West Arsii Zone in 2005/6
by making its political seat in the city and the subsequent mushrooming of different government
and private institutions (Banks, Educational institutions)69 has highly contributed for the current
growth and status of Shshemene city. Thus, this section attempts to present the rate of physical
enlargement of the city across time with the support of satellite images that collected from 5 MA
thesis’ and Journal articles. First let’s look at( Genemo’s 2012) satellite based image analysis.

Map 2: Source: Genemo 2012

As the above map clearly indicates, in 1986 Shashemene constituted a tiny settlement and
limited to what is now the city center that surrounded by agricultural land. In 2000, 14 years
later, more land was occupied by urban settlement mainly inthe twostudy kebeles and around

69
.See Chapter three
54
Kuyera. Then, 11 years later agricultural lands in the study kebeles were dominated by
unplanned urban settlements due to developments that took place since 2005/2006. Construction
of residential, mixed use and commercial structures has led the urban growth mainly towards
Awasho kebel and to some extent in to Didaboke kebele. According to Genemo2011in 1986 only
1977 hectares of land was occupied by urban settlement. This figure dramatically shot up in to
2677 hectares of land in 2000 and 4329 hectares of land in 2011.Hear,the rate of urban
settlement in the city increased by 700 hundreds hectare of land between 1986 and 2000, and
then1652 hectares between 2000-2011periodswhich is more than double to the previous period
growth. The same source revealed that the built-up area of the town increased by 73% in 2011
compared to the figure in 1986(Genemo 2012:38-66).

On the other hand, research carried out by (Tarekegn and Molla Maru 2018) also attempted
to assess the Land Use Land Cover trend and the rate of Shashemene city urban
expansion from 1973 – 2016. They also divided their study in to two periods, that is,
from1973-2000 and 2000-2016. They concluded that:

…crop land and grass land had dominated the land use in 1973 with very few built
up areas, plantation and forestland. In 2000 plantation was tremendously expanded
and crop land was considerably reduced. In 2016 built up area was extremely
enlarged, crop land was almost disappeared (Ibid 2018:750)
As depicted in the map on page 56 hear below, in 1973 there was a very shallow settlement area
in the city where, according to some of my elderly informants, all residents of Shashemene knew
one another. The next 27 years (up to year 2000) had shown drastic expansion of the city as
indicated by Genemo’s research. There was significant increment in the built up areas at the
expense of crop and forest lands. But between 2000 and 2016, the city’s built up area growth has
been absolutely incomparable to the previous period due to the factors that mentioned earlier. In
this period the city has been expanding in all directions mainly to Shashemene- Kofele and
Shashemene- Hwassa and Sashemene- Wondo directions.

To conclude this chapter ,as discussed earlier Shashemene has been exhibiting an alarming rate
of horizontal unplanned urban expansion at the expense of suburb farmlands that has incurring
huge implication on farmers’ way of life, the city administration and its informal dwellers.
Farmers have engaged in seemingly unstoppable illicit land sell because they are forced to do so
bypast and present defective land tenure arrangement and weak law enforcement experiences.
55
N.B. there is a slight data difference between Genemo’s and the above two researchers
Data on the rate of land conversion especiallyafter 2000

Map 3 -5. Land use Land Cover in 1973,2000 and 2016 in Shahsemene
Source: Tarekegn and Mollamaru (2018)

56
 Chapter Five
Factors for Informal Land Transactions and Informal House Construction and Its Outcomes
Introduction

This chapter attempts to present results of FGD, informal interview and individual case studies
on factors that have been leading to illicit land transaction and unplanned urban settlement and
their results on farmers life in Shashemene city. Thus, the chapter is divided in to three major
sub-topics in which the first section discusses causes that have been pushing farmers to engage in
legally unauthorized land transaction in detail. The second part attempts to give a brief overview
on the process of land transaction actors in such process. The final part presents major outcomes
of informal land transaction and house construction on the peri-urban peasants’ life.

5.1. Factors that lead Informal Land Transaction

Based on information obtained from FGD, individual case studies, my own close observation of
the study area five years ago and currently for data gathering70, there is not only active but also
large scale informal land transaction. This has been leading farmers in the study Kebeles to sell
their farm land and gradually to switch agricultural as a way of life. Thus, here after attempt will
be made to depict the root causes which are leading local farmers to rush in losing not only their
very essential asset but also an asset that has far reaching socio-cultural and emotional
attachment in the study area. Informal settlement seems to have gone out of control. According
to one of my informants 71 , the unplanned section of Shashemene city covered the largest
proportion of the city’s total built up area.

Factors for the framers selling their farm land in the study area are many and very complex. The
root cause for it mainly related to government defective policy and administrative directives that
pushed farmers to feel high tenure insecurity. Other deriving factors include: small land holding
size and its economic unavailability, the ever increasing price of agricultural inputs that mak it
difficult for farmers to engage in agriculture, family, friend and middle men pressure on the land

70
.I was the resident of Shahsemne city at suburb but formally planned part of Didaboke Kebele. At that time when I started
living there, my immediate neighborhood was agricultural land with only a few numbers of informal houses. However, on day by
day basis, I witnessed mass conversion of such agricultural land through informal land transaction and house construction in to
all direction. Now, the informal settlement has stretched deep in to the neighboring rural kebeles’ and former agricultural lands
have been converted in to informal urban settlement sites.
71 .He is a lecture at Hawassa University who built his own informal home at Awasho-Subcity .

57
holder to sell their land, and desire to change livelihood sources. I discuss these factors in detail
in the subsequent sub-sections.

5.1.1. Arbitrary Land Expropriation and Unfair Compensation

Sheshemene has entered in to an important historic juncture in 2005/6 fiscal year due to some
important events that have dramatically changed the status of the city. Since then, Shashemene
has been exhibiting historic spatial expansion which created huge pressure on its suburb
peasants’ farmland and their livelihood status. The first development was the establishment of
West-Arsi zonal administration by making the city its zonal capital. Subsequently, the city
administration had expropriated large tracts of farmers land and allocated it to residential,
commercial and other purposes. This development was followed by the introduction of
nationwide Integrated Housing Development Program in 2005/6which also led to the
expropriation of peasants land (FGD Discussants).

Thirdly, the above events were accompanied by the 2005 highly controversial national election
in which the ruling party generously granted urban land for its loyal members and supporters to
garner political allegiance in the course and in the aftermath of that election. Accordingly, these
developments have had their own enormous implications in evicting peasants from their land
either by government with meager compensation rate or by their free will for fear of the takeover
of their land as their fellow farmers who lost their land by government expropriation (FGD
Participants).

According to research participants, the city administration had carried out symbolic public
participation and consultation. However, there were subversions, intimidations and mischiefs in
the process. Peasants who were called for consultation out rightly rejected the dispossession of
their land for the sake of presumed development that has no direct positive impact on their life.
After failure of repeated attempt to persuade farmers, officials changed their tactic in which they
convinced the public to elect their representative that could negotiate with the government on
their behalf on how to proceed. Then the public agreed and selected their representative to
negotiate on behalf of them. However, the town administration reached consensus with farmers’
representatives by providing false promises, which have never been fulfilled, that the
government has different projects to employ farmers and their children who will lose their land

58
due to urban expansion and development projects. It should be noted that initially some of
farmers who were lost their land got temporary employment opportunity in Integrated Housing
Development Program as guards and daily laborer, which cannot compensate the value of their
land . In this regard a participant among FGD members remarked that:

…we were told that there will be better employment opportunities in the near
future that can compensate the loss of our farmland .But in the past 14 years there
was no single project, program or incentives that we have seen. They took our land
with such false promises and gave us the price that cannot buy [soggidaa] or salt
and dropped us as [Kossii] or garbage and gave our land for the haves, government
officials and employees. We have been witnessing the construction of very luxuries
villas and buildings on our land in which we even unable to be employed as a guard...
5.1.2. Dwindling Land Size, Low Yield and High Agricultural Inputs Price

Despite government expropriation is the main deriving factor for increasing illicit land sale in the
study area, other factors like the prevalence of minuscule land holding size according to
informants is another factor that forcing peasants to sale their land. West Arsii’s population is
well above regional average density. The Zone has the highest population density among other
zones of Oromia region (74 persons per km).According to the 2007 census, zonal population
density is 152.8 persons per km2, ranging from 44.2 persons per km2 in Nensabo district to
257.8 persons per km2 for Kofale district (West Arsii Socio-economic profile, 2008E.C).
Polygamy is a common cultural practice and there is large family size among farmers
surrounding Shashemene city72 which leads the sub-division of land for sons and in a rare cases
for daughters73 which has been causing land fragmentation74 , landlessness, and dispute over
existing plot of land. Subsequently land is becoming economically unviable in the context of
farming based livelihood. Thus selling of existing small plots of land is becoming a growing
trend for the surrounding farmers.

Moreover, low yield due to repeated plowing of land and high cost of agricultural inputs are
other factors that lead /is leading peasants to switch agriculture and then sale of their land.

72. One participant of FGD forthis thesis is the father of 36 children with polygamous marriage
73
. For furtherSee Mamo,2005 and Hussein,2010
74. Many argued that the ever increasing land fragmentation is becoming one of contributing factor that scaling back Ethiopia’s
economic transformation. Figurative data in this regard has revealed the existence of far below subsistent farm land size across
the country.About 55.7 percent of the farming households in the country cultivate less than 0.5 hectares and about 80 percent of
the farmers cultivate less than 1 hectare. Only 4.1 percent of the farmers own more than 2 hectares of land. The average size of
holding is 0.81 hectare. (See CSA, 2003 Part I, Page 91-93 in Getnet and Mhreteab2010 ;Daniel2012;Desaleng2016 ).
59
According to informants in FGD and individual interview session agricultural inputs such as
seeds, chemical fertilizer, insecticide and pesticide plus labor cost are sky rocketing on annual
basis. For example, in the FGD and individual interview, discussants disclosed that 12kg of
maize is sold by 750ETB from government improved seed supplying agency and the same
amount of maize by 1200 from private individuals. Moreover, informants claimed that they have
been experiencing production failure when they re-sow improved seeds. If theirclaim is
scientifically proven, practically, it could pose greater danger for the nation and its predominant
economic sector that support the life of more than its 80 percent of population. In general, the
price of fertilizer, pesticides, labor and “improved seed ” is going up and becoming one of the
discouraging factors for farmers to distance themselves from agriculture as livelihood source.

5.1.3. Covering Expense: Marriage and Oversea Migration

Marriage is a highly valued and respected socio-cultural practice among the Arsii Oromo. There
are different types of marriage within Arsii communities such as Gabbara, Walgara, Buta,
Bimbeto, Hawata and Adda Baan (Hirut, 2002).Of which the first one is economically highly
demanding in that it involves the transfer of different assets such as cattle, honey, money and
traditional and modern clothes and blankets. In such process, according to FGD discussants,
marriage is not only the matter of the two marrying individuals and their parents but also closest
families and in some extent the clan too. According to Hirut(2002), Gabarais a marriage through
the transfer of wealth in the form of cash and in kind. In kind asset payment includes cattle in
which the number of cattle varied from few heads to hundred heads of cattle depending on the
capacity and wealth of the intermarrying group.

The amount of a gbara (bride wealth) has been increasing over time. Nowadays, cattle exchange
has been replaced by other kind of assets such as motorbike nearer to the town areas and giving a
share of urban land in the form of bride wealth.FGD discussants reported that Gabara (bride
wealth) and the marriage ceremony are now demanding more than 100 thousand ETB. FGD
participants claimed that when the land was abundant and people usually owned many heads of
cattle, it was easy for people to cover a bride wealth because there was strong tradition of support
in time of marriage among family and clan members. They complained that their culture of
mutual support has been affected by urban induced problems and demographic pressure that

60
forcing some farmers to sale their land to cover marriage expenditures. One FGD participant
rightly stated how Gabara is becoming unaffordable for sub-urban communities as:

…when I married 20 years ago, I got cattle gift from my family and clan members to
transfer the gabara to my wife’s family. At that time the price of cattle was cheap
that you could buy a cow for not to more than 1000 ETB. Now, it is unthinkable to
get an equivalent size of cattle by same amount. The price now is 10 -15 times higher
compared to when I married. Thus, it is becoming one of the reasons that forcing
some families to sale their land to cover Gabara-related expenses …
Secondly, Shashemene city and its surrounding areas have been experiencing high
unemployment rate that is above the national average (CSA2012;Shashemene City socio-
economic profile2010). Migration to oversee has a sword edge out come in exacerbating
informal land transaction in the city. First, youths in the study area actively looking for migrating
in to Middle Eastern states and elsewhere in search of their fortune. Sending daughters abroad is
viewed by parents as an exit mechanism and way out from poverty. Thus, sending young girls to
Middle Eastern states, similar to other part of Ethiopia, is becoming a growing trend in the
community. Therefore, according to my informants covering costs for sending daughters
overseas is another reason that encourages some parents to sell a portion of their portion land.
Secondly, those migrant to Middle Eastern state sent remittance for their families and families in
turn invest the money by buying informal land to build unplanned homes in sub-urban areas of
Shashemene. In this regard, migrants of neighboring Wored as have actively been involving in
informal land transaction and house construction to secure their urban home within the city.

5.1.4. Neighborhood, Middle Men and Land Speculators Influence

According to informants some individuals are encouraged or pushed to sell their land by seeing
and hearing the amount of money earned by their neighbors by selling their land. They also
witness some wise individuals re-investing the money they earned by selling land on income
generating business activities such as Bajaj, minibuses, building house for renting and their
participation on other business transactions. As stated earlier, their small and fragmented land
size is far from accommodating the diverse needs and expenditures awaiting them. Moreover, the
skyrocketing prices of agricultural inputs as well as the current relatively attractive land price
offered by speculators and informal home seekers who visit the doors of farmers through local
“Delalas” are encouraging peasants to sell their lands. For instant though the price of land

61
differ from one location to another based on locational advantage to roads, market centers,
mosques etc ,1m2 land is being sold on average from 800 minimum to 3000 maximum ETB in
Shashemene city.

Overall, there is an active land sell in Shashemene. As the price of land is going up across time
in and around the city, farmers, land speculators, low and middle class families are buying and
re-selling land and informal houses without the reach of legal and administrative institutions.
Thus, land in Shashemene and its suburb as well as neighboring woredas is increasingly
subjected for sell without any regulation from governing institutions.

5.2. The Process, Rate and Kind of Compensation in Shahsemene

Though the country’s supreme law (FDRE 1995: art.40) and expropriation proclamation (proc.
455/2005:art.7) guaranteed corresponding amount of compensation for those who lose their
property for public purposes, research works cited in this thesis revealed that farmers were not
treated as per the country’s constitutional and legal provisions(see Jemal2019;Gondo Undated;
Yewoineshet2007;Tamirat2016;Beka 2016;Achamyeleh 2015) Farmers in different cities were
either compensated with lowest market price or totally unpaid for the property they were
dispossessed of (see Sisha 2011 and Ajanaw 2019 Mekele and Fresenbet cities respectively).
Though the compensation experience of Shashemene city was seems better compared to some of
towns and cities mentioned above (Sisha 2011and Ajanaw 2019) the amount of compensation
has been affecting farmers disproportionately.

According to FGD participants the city’s municipality provided 500m2 and 140m2-200m275land
to house hold heads and their 18 and above years old children respectively. In terms of cash
payments, the town also had followed basic tenets of the proclamation but was extremely below
market price. The cash payment was calculated based on the amount of products that farmers
obtained from land per a year and multiplied by the price of 10 years production plus land
compensation per m2. To make it clear, the process worked as follows:

75
.The size of land which was given to Children who reached legal age varied from kebele to kebeles and time to
time.Forinstance, in Didaboke kebele children were given200m2whreas in Bulchana and kebel 10 the land sizegivento children
was140m2.
62
1. For instance, one hectare of land is assumed to produce 10 quintal of wheat in a year
2. The law says peasants should get compensation rate equals to 10 consecutive years of the
same amount of production
3. If current price of 1 quintal of wheat is equals to 500 ETB, therefore, the farmer is expected
to be compensated in cash 10*10*500 equals to 50,000 ETB for one hectare of land
4. The municipality offered land compensation payment of 4.5 ETB /per 1m2 land i.e.
If the land is one hectare it is calculated 10000m2 multiplied by 4.5,7,12 ETB m2 land in 2005,
2006 and 2007 a / respectively.

Thus, hypothetically if Mr. Kebede‘s one hectare land was expropriated ,he was given 500m2
to build his residential house, plus if he had children who reached legal age he/she/they too had
received 140m2 land to build his/her/their dwelling house and the head of the household was
compensated in cash 50000 (fifty thousand ETB)for production cost and additional
45,000(Forty five thousand ETB) for land compensation that he is going to lose minus tax
deduction. However, his/her children who are bellow legal age were not entitled to land grant or
cash payment. The FGD participants complained that the compensation process was unfair and
full of fraud. They quoted their land was expropriated from them arbitrarily and were given the
money that was neither sufficient to cover their food expenditure nor to build their residential
homes.

FGD participants claimed that most farmers who were subjected to government expropriation in
Shashemene had disproportionally affected by the compensation process thereby failed to cope
up with many of life challenges after the loss of their land and forced to resell the land that they
received to build a home. Though there was a covert land sale in Shashemene and surrounding
areas as explained earlier, the above mentioned chain of recent events, the subsequent large scale
land expropriation with insufficient compensation, and challenges that farmers had faced after
the loss of their land served as an excellent lessons for other peasants whose lands is not yet
expropriated. Thus, they encouraged to take anticipatory measure in order to minimize risks they
could face due to the future loss of their farm land by government expropriation. Thus, they
engaged in selling their farmland to anyone who offered a better price compared to what they
would get if their land is expropriated by government.

63
Farmers’ decision is based on the conviction that their land would eventually be expropriated by
the government with the lowest compensation price. Thus, they viewed selling their land would
help them from facing the same socio-economic and psychological challenges that their fellow
farmers whose land was unfairly expropriated. It is in this context that large tracts of farmland,
within the city and in adjoining areas have been converted in to unplanned urban settlement area.
According to FGD participants, government policy and land expropriation is one of the most root
cause that leading to informal sale of peasant land and the mushrooming of informal houses in
Shashemene city.

5.3. The Process of Existing Informal Land Transaction and House Construction and Its
Participants
Although informal land transaction and house construction is not a recent phenomenon76, it is
more intensified following chains of developments in Shashemene as mentioned earlier. Since
then, several thousands of hectares of agricultural land have been converted in to residential
houses and the practice is still continuing at alarming rate. For example, in 2000 the total
settlement area based on Genemo’s (2011) satellite based data was 2677 hectares of land
However, urban settlement area grew to 4329 hectares of land in 2011. The city registered nearly
double horizontal expansion in its 100 years history within eleven years.

With regards to major players of informal land transaction and house construction ,Teachers (for
example three of research respondents were teachers of which two are University lecturers one
from Hawassa university the other from Dilla university and one is female private school
teacher),government employees, officials, individuals who engaged in small scale trade, land
speculators, diaspora groups mainly those who came from Gulf States, residents of the
neighboring woredas who are looking for urban house for the sake of their children education or
other objectives as well as residents of Hawassa who unable to afford to pay the soaring
residential home price there are major groups who involved in the informal land transaction in
Shashemene. These groups come to the doors of farmers in search of land with the help of local
‘delalas’, who served as middle men between the buyer and the sellers and help the two sides to
renegotiate based on the current land price.

76
.see Hussein 2010
64
 5.3.1. Contents and Intents of land Transaction Agreement

With the help of local delalas both buyers and sellers have to negotiate on the amount of money
and the sustainability of the agreement on written document what is called locally (yemender
wul) meaning local agreement that has no legal backing on the land sale.In this process, Land
buyers and sellerspretending as if they are not buying or selling land rather a home in which
land sale clause is deliberately omitted in written agreementbecause there is a wider
understanding between land transacting parties as land sale has no legal ground in both national
and regional legal provisions. They consciously omitland sale clause instead inserted house sale
phrase in the written document. Thus, transacting parties prepared written document that must be
signed by the head of the household77and his wife/wives and his children if they are above 18
years old plus witnesses who represent both buyers and sellers. This is because the buyer wants
to avoid legal claim or dispute by the wife/wives and his children.

5.3.2. The Current Informal Land Price in Shashemene City

As stated earlier, land price is soaring from time to time as a result of the above listed
occurrences in Shshemene and due to urban land lease proclimation721/2011 which effectively
sealed off lower and middle class families access to urban land and residential houses like many
of Ethiopian cities. Competing for lease auction for land is becoming difficult for the above
groups who are forced to search informal peasant land in urban neighborhoods which is by far
cheaper than that of formal lease price auctioned by urban municipality to build their residential
homes 78 and others like land speculators ,officials and business men with the aim of expanding
their profit fortune by actively engaging in informal land transaction .

With regards to the rate of peasantsinformal land price per 1m2 currently,buyers of land expected
to pay on average from lowest 800ETB to highest 3000ETB. Then, they are expected to
negotiate with local officials often the chairperson of Kebele, Got 79leaders and security guards
to build their home on the land they bought. These groups usually requested 6000 to 20 thousand

77 .According to Mamo, 2014; Qashu, 2016, most of house hold decisions are made by male in the study area.
78
.According to my informants who is an active land speculator in the city, initially the lease price was cheaper in Shashemene
but across years it became too unaffordable for lower and middle class families. The price in recent years floated for lease
auctions on average wa 5000-10000ETB/1m2.
79
.Got is the lowest (village) level of government structure which lack sconstitutional basis but introduced by the EPRDF led
government for effective control and mobilization of grass root communities to achieve its political and other goals.
65
ETB. Buyers may not be successful by doing so. They could face additional cost in the places
where the urban administration has de-facto jurisdiction i.e. they are expected to pay the same or
more amount of money for urban kebele chair-person and his subordinate officials.

5.3.3. “Untubaa” an Emerging Trend on Land Transaction

The word untubaa’, is a word and a metaphor in ‘Oromifaa’ to explain many social aspects or
realities. For instance, when an individual says ‘untubaa’koo Jiiggee’ to mean my, ‘bread
winner, source of hope, security or protection died, disappeared or vanished.’ The word ‘
untubaa’ literarily means ‘umbilical cord’, ‘pillar’, ‘foundation’ or basement. In relation to land
sale in the study area, it means payment for the land on which individuals or social life depend
on or the payment for the land in which one’s own placenta is buried that has great historical,
socio- cultural and economic value for individual who is going to sale or lose it. This is a newly
emerging trend and is becoming a culture in which sellers of land often demanding extra money
that is not included in written agreement but explicitly well-known by buyers and sellers before
the former build a house on the land that he/she bought from the latter.

The amount of payment in cash and the request for ‘untubaa’ payment are not uniform and
varied from one individual seller to another. Some religiously and culturally conservative
individuals may not demand the payment on the ground that it considered as “breaking
agreement or promise which is “Haram” for them. However, across time and due to the problem
that farmer has been facing, “untubaa’ payment is becoming a well-established tradition and
mandatory practice in order to give for buyer of the land a green light land to build his residential
houses. Unless informal land buyer fulfills that payment in advance, it is difficult and even
impossible for him/her to build a house. This is because: first land transaction is null and void on
both national and regional legal provision which placed exactly the buyer under the mercy of the
farmer who sold the land. Second, the written and signed transaction agreement usually
concluded on the house which is not found on the ground. Thirdly, failure to pay that ‘untubaa’
payment means breaking local norms and rules which could eliminate the possibility of the new

66
comer to establish good social relation not only with the seller but also his associates, family and
clan members80 .

The amount of payment for ‘untubaa’ varied from place to place and individual to individual due
to sellers and their associates good will and locational advantage. But according to informants, it
ranges from 5000 ETB minimum to 20,000ETB maximum. Though, some of the buyers are not
happy on ‘untubaa’ payment in which existing practice forced them to buy the land twice,
according FG discussants, “untubaa” has its own positive aspects for the buyer of land. First, if
the buyer pay willingly without displeasing the farmer and his associates, it would be easy for
the buyer to build his houses with no of obstacles. The owner of the land becomes a defacto
home builder and facilitates the quick construction of buyer’s home by negotiating with farmers
association officials who have no legal right to restrict the farmer not to build a house in his own
land. Secondly, “untubaa” payment served as a test for the newcomer to be part of the
community, good neighbor and a man who respect local societal rules and values. Those who
fulfill this commitment, they have a chance to live in peace and harmony and become part of the
society but not member of the clan. Failure to do so for the buyer of informal land will leads him
in to socio-legal challenges .
5.3.4. The Role of Local Officials in Urban House Informality
Widespread corruption and irregularities is the typical manifestation of Ethiopia’s political
economy under EPRDF administration. Of the various sectors, land is one of the most vulnerable
areas for corruption. It has become a short cut path and quick means of prosperity for officials,
municipal engineers, ruling party cadres, military officials and land speculators 81 .Cities and
towns in Oromia region around the capital which is the backbone of the country’s economy and
investment activities are not indifferent position with regards to corruption. Due to corruption
and deliberate eviction82 of peasants in cities around Addis Ababa or ‘Finfine Zuria’, there were

80
.In Arsiis’ settlement pattern is based on family and clan lines in which members of the same family or clan live together in
defined territory. For further see Hussein,2010;Mamo,2005
81
. Professor Merera who is one of the Ethiopia’s renewed political scientist and leader of opposition party in the 2010 political
parties’ debate accused the ruling EPRDF party leadership for deliberately creating its own wealthy class by mismanaging
Ethiopia’s scarce resources. Many of research finding in this regard consistent with his bold claims in which the ruling party has
had favored its circles and affiliates to prosper themselves but dragging the nation in to unreachable social and income gaps and
then in to socio-economic crisis. For further see Solomon Niguse,2005;Paulos Chane,2007;Linda Synder,2014; Elias, 2014;
Achamyeleh,2014;Daniel,2012 etc .
82
.In series of interview episodes that broadcasted by FANA Television at the closing months of 2012 E.C focused on the
EPRDF era mismanagement, corruption, subversion and divide and rule policies, one of the former TPLF Intelligence
67
series of mass demonstrations, widespread public anger, and discontent that became one of the
causes for the downfall of TPLF dictated EPRDF83 coalition government two years ago.

Similar to other Ethiopian cities and towns, there has been active corruption case in Shashemene
too. The above stakeholders (kebele officials, municipality engineers, land middle and
speculators) were and are major beneficiaries of urban development process in the city. Though
Kebele officials have no direct role during informal land transaction process, they are major
agents for the expansion of informal house construction in the city. A single house cannot be
built in the absence of their consent. When the informal land buyer started to build a house, his
plot is immediately surrounded by the above groups with the help of local informer who passes
information. Then, they instructed informal land owner to stop building his house. However,
seller of land, the middle men and others intervene to negotiate informal land owner with local
officials.

The negotiation process is called ‘Gaddii Qabaa or Gaddii Ta’aa’ which literarily means please
sit down and let discuss and take your own share. Thus, the buyer expected to give money for
kebele officials like chairperson of farmers association, his cabinet members, and local militias
and got leaders. As stated earlier, bribing the above officials may not be sufficient for the plot
that the city administration has a de facto claim in which informal land owner expected to do the
same for sub-city officials.

5.4. Outcomes of Urban House Informality on Peasants

Shashemene is growing dramatically beyond many peoples’ expectation. Prior to the

establishment of West Arsii zone, the implementation of IHDP in Shshemene and the subsequent
controversial lease policy proclamation (proc.721/2011), a large section of the town currently
occupied by the town’s urban settlement and business centers were agricultural fields where
such crops as maize, Teff, bean and potato were grown by local farmers. There were /are other
contributing factors that led /leading an alarming rate of planned and unplanned horizontal

officer(Laelay Reda) claimed that since 2005 controversial national election, the TPLF lead government had adopted’ killing
two birds in one stone,’ to refer depopulating old settlement areas of Addis Ababa in the name of urban renewal program and
then re-settling such areas by party affiliates by building luxuries apartments ,business centers and condominium houses as well
as evicting Oromo peasants who surrounding Addis-Ababa by launching an integrated master plan that connecting Addis
Ababa with Finfiine Zuria towns and cities of Oromia region. See also Gebre,2008
83 .See the above foot note

68
expansion of the town in all directions that discussed in chapter three and four plus the
availability of cheap land, renting house and livelihood accommodations in Shashemene
compared to Hawasaa that make the city to be favored by diverse groups including government
employees who are working in Hawassa but dwelling in Shashemene.

Now, it is rare to find free space or agricultural fields in all directions of the city except along
Shshemene to Addis Ababa main road. Now the city is stretching in the south to Toga
(Approximately 11 km where the military camp is found), in the NE east up to the mouth of Sole
river and SE to the nearby areas of Abaro Mountain and Bambaa (the place where communal
pipe water point for rural society is found) along Shshemene Wondo road. In SW informal
houses went deep in to Agricultural fields along Shahsemene –Halaba –Arbamicnch road.

When look data presented (e.g, Genemo 2012, and Tarekegn and Molla 2018)84 urban built up
area in 1986 was 1977 ha that account to 15 percent of the town total land .This figure jumped to
2677 ha in 2000 and 4329ha in 2011, which means that Shashemene’s built up area grew by
nearly double between 2000-2011 or in percentage +34% and +117 percent between 1986-2000
and 2000-2011 respectively. In the study Kebeles of Idola Burka and Awasho-Dhanku, based on
the 2007 census, there were 362 and 890 households with the total population of 2,075 and 4450
respectively. Based on the 2011 population projection of the same two kebeles there were 449
and 1,104 households with the total population of 2,573 and 5,518 respectively. Thus, horizontal
expansion of the city has brought either positive or negative impact on the life of more than8091
farming families.

Urban expansion and the subsequent sale of land in Peri- urban area has an enormous and
multifaceted unintended negative outcomes on farmers life. In both FGD and affected individual
interview, discussants raised that selling land was/is not in their best interest rather they have
been forced to sell their land as a result of the combination of factors which listed above. Whilst
there are some success stories among farmers who sold their land and engaged in business with
all of its risks, losing their generational reproductive asset is very painful and regrettable for most
of discussants. The level of negative implication that farmers have been facing varied from
individual to individuals. Those individuals whose lands are expropriated by government and

84
.There is slight variations on data presented by the above research works. For instance
69
were given 500m2 to build their houses with a very low financial compensation payment are the
most who have had been experiencing multitude of challenges and are forced to detached from
farming.

The above categories of farmers were given neither agricultural land nor sufficient financial
compensation to engage in another livelihood alternatives. The received financial compensation,
according to research informants was not sufficient to build “rural hats” let alone urban houses.
Thus, most of them forced to re-sell their formally granted land and buy informal land from
nearby peasants for shelter. Then, they forced repeatedly to sell their informally bought land
and home and retreated deep in to rural areas when they failed to withstand livelihood
challenges. In such process, some of ex- farmers unable to adopt difficulties and then became
homeless by selling their last belongings and shelters.

The second category of affected farmers were those who reside immediately with formally urban
planned areas and were careful observers of what was happening on their immediate neighbors
who lost their land by government expropriation. These categories of peasants rushed to sell their
land before government taking the same measure on theme. Thus, they sold their land based on
their free will as a result of increasing tenure insecurity awaiting them but they did that with the
lowest market price (80 -120ETB/perm2). These groups too faced similar livelihood challenges
with the above groups but retain at least their shelter within unplanned parts of the city.

The last groups of farmers are those who got a good lesson from the above groups and became
late sellers of their land in a faraway part of formally planned urban areas. They sold/ have been
selling the land at higher market price. Some of these groups of farmers got a chance to sell their
land on good current price ranging from 800 to 3000 ETB per m2, in based on locational
advantages, and became capable of investing their money in productive assets such as buying
farm land in the nearby PAs kebeles, Bajaj, business generating cars, building renting houses and
opening shops, coffee and tea houses. In this regard, those farmers found along main roads are
successful in both selling their land in relatively higher price and starting the above kinds of
businesses.

The sale of land has produced enormous socio-cultural, economic and environmental
implications in the study area. Economically, former farmers detached from farming related
70
engagement and all of its benefits. Now, those farmers who completely dispossessed and sold
their land obliged to fulfill most of their diverse needs (from food items to fire wood ) through
purchasing from market and have nothing to sell in return as they did before. The steady growth
and increment of food and other commodities price has been putting greater pressure and
difficulties on them to fulfill their families’ basic needs. Only few have been successful in
converting their money in to productive assets and the majority spent the money for consumable
goods and services. In relation to existing realities of peasants’ life, one FGD participant clearly
remarked that:

…Our land was one of the most fertile and productive in which we were farming and
harvesting three times annually. We sowed maize or potato on spring (belg) season,
Wheat or Teff on summer (meher) season and then we were sowing potatoes or
Boloqee after harvesting meher products. We were harvesting abundant of products
that fulfill our need for food consumption at home and sold surplus products on
markets. While our land was in our hand, we only bought salt, sugar, cloth and
agricultural tools and we never had experienced hunger or poverty but only heard
about it. Thanks to God who gave us fertile land and good climate. Now, all of these
have gone forever and we are forced to buy all our consumable foods, factory goods
and fuel wood as well as other necessities from market in which their price is
becoming too unaffordable for us. Thus, we have been facing the myriad of poverty,
hunger even starvation and homelessness of which were not known before in our
time.

Selling land also has a great cultural implication on farmers. First, land in Arsii society is
equated with human mother, naturally who gives and sacrifice for her children everything at
her disposal. They have a proverb to explain this reality which read as “Laftii waan
nuulaattuu haati keenyaalee nuuf hin laattu” meaning what mother land gives for humans
cannot be even provided by own real mother. Secondly, land is equated with a wife to
denote its productive and reproductive role. So, selling land culturally is a very bitter fact for
the majority farmers who sold their ancestral plot in which their placenta was buried.In this
regard, one of discussants in FGD mentioned or equated land sale with the sale of one’s own
wife and said “Lafa gururuu jechuun haadhaa manaa ofii gurguruudha.” This indicates
how communities give bigger value for land but are forced to sale it despite their culture does
not encourage them doing so. In relation to this (Hebo 2006: 37; Tolera 1997: 638 in
Mamo2007:354) claimed that:

71
 …Land sale is discouraged by Oromo customs as well. Traditionally, according
Oromo customs, land is not a commodity for sale or transfer to non kin. .. Arsii
elders claim that selling one’s ancestral land—kosii abba ufii gurguru—is
considered immoral, and if it occurs, it is a sign of ‘disorder’ in the family
concerned.

Thus, the commoditization of land and the subsequent loss of one’s own ancestral inheritance is
culturally immoral and unacceptable. Secondly, when an individual has lost his land either based
on his free will or government expropriation, he is not only losing land but also some of
culturally and economically valuable assets like cattle, trees and medicinal plants. For instance,
ownership of livestock among Arsii community is not only the matter of economic asset but it
has also a socio-cultural values. Ownership of cattle, mainly cows, has enormous cultural value.
Throughout my stay in the sub-urban part of Shashemene,I have never seen farming
communities drinking a black coffee without mixing it with milk. In addition, in time of
difficulties they used to sell livestock as an exit strategy from their difficulties. And selling milk
and its byproducts is the source of income for majority of women in the study area as it is in
other parts of Ethiopia. Moreover, cattle constitute major items of Gabara (bride wealth) in
marriage ceremony. Thus, all these socio- cultural and economic values are lost whenever
farmers lose their land. In connection to this ( Mamo 2014) explained it as:

… Arsii Oromo in this region accord livestock, particularly cattle, with special
value. This is expressed in their saying,’ horii malee hormaani hinjiru’("there is no
life without the possession of livestock"), which signifies the importance of livestock
for both the livelihood and social status of individuals. Indeed, possession of
livestock is an indicator of wealth and social prestige. Livestock are also used as
objects of exchange to create social ties via marriage and mutual assistance and to
resolve conflicts; they also serve key roles in rituals of various types. These functions
render possession of and decisions regarding livestock vital in power relations
between men and women…

Here, loss of land for peasant family means loss of socio-cultural benefits that are attached to it.
When the land is gone as a result of sell or expropriation, the diverse livelihood sources
associated with the land also evaporate together.

Socially, Arsiis’ settlement pattern is based on kinship or clan in which the same clans
occupied a defined territory and lived together in that specific settlement area85. The expansion

85 .See also Hussein,2010 and Mamo,2007

72
of Shashemene city and the subsequent land sell by peasants has led the displacement of some
clan members from their previous settlement areas. Thus, they are forced to live in different
sites which deprived members of clans to get immediate support from one another and led the
distortion of traditional sense of security, belongingness and psychological support systems
among clan members.

Hear,mong Arsii Oromos’ exchange and reciprocity are the typical manifestations of social life
in which people lend what they have upon different socio-cultural occasions such as marriage,
loss of family members or in times of personally difficulties. For example, as explained earlier,
marriage is a highly valued socio-cultural practice and its occasion in the study area demands
huge resources in which the concerned families alone cannot afford to cover all expenditure
without the support of broader kinship network and clan members. For today’s poor and
landless ex-peasants, it is difficult to engage in such social exchanges, thus leading them to be
dropped out of their socio-cultural economic supporting system .One discussant in this regard
strengthened this argument by articulating:

…when our land was in our hand, we used to helping each other in many of the life
aspects. For instance, when I got married 20 years ago, many of my relatives and
different individuals contributed for bide wealth and wedding expenditures by
offering cattle, money, honey, butter and different crop items. I retuned back for
some of them what I received when my land was in my hand. But now, I have nothing
either to give for such events or to return back gifts that I received for relatives and
friends in the past. Failing to do so is painful, immoral and Saffuu!![moral and
ethical codes not to be broken] ….
Furthermore, land sale has been creating a spillover effect on both peri-urban and neighboring
woreda farming communities of Shashemene. Those peri-urban farmers who sell their land on
comparably better price in the urban fringe turned their focus to the neighboring communities to
buy farmlands with the lesser cost to ensure their subsistence. Thus the effect of informal land
transaction is continue not only affecting peri-urban farming communities but also other nearby
farmers who are relatively far away from urban settings. In sum, Shashemene is expanding on
daily basis at the expense of nearby farming lands and no government institution is attempting to
control this unplanned and informal expansion in to all directions. In the process of large scale
horizontal expansion of the city, farmers are the prime victims who are ultimately lost their

73
physical, cultural, symbolic and economic asset which is land, due to the above complex
factors.

Fig.1. Informal houses deeper in peasants’ agricultural land

74
Case Stud One on Affected Farmer

Mr. F. the father of four children who lived in Didaboke kebele.He had six Golcha or
one and half of hectare land in the place where the current 04 kebele
Condominium House is found .He had no other skill or employment exposure rather
than farming. He had received 67.000(sixty seven thousand ETB as a compensation
for his expropriated land with 500m2 in the outskirt of the same kebele. As of other
farmer he did not get additional land for his children because none of his children
were not reached legal age at the time of when his land was expropriated. He
spend the money that he got as a compensation to construct home in the land that
he was received to build his residential home and consumable goods and food items.
However, the money that he received did not endure more than one year and then
forced to sale half of his legally allocated land for house by 50000(fifty thousand
ETB).Again he spend the money to cover home expenditures and his children
educational expenditure. When the money was vanished in such expenditures he
also again forced to sale the remaining land and house. Then he decided to buy
informal land from farmers to construct his residential home out of planned area. As
of previous trends ,he was also forced to sell his formally built house and became
homeless and totally landless .Now ,he and his families obliged to became ‘Tebaki”
or keepers newly constructed homes of others individuals until the owners come
and occupy them. Mr. F. regrettably remembered his previous life situation as a
farmer and remarked that

“If I were aware of this could happened to me and my family ‘,I would prefer to die
than letting my land to be the home of the haves by making me and my family
landless and homeless. Now as you can see, I and my families are becoming
homeless, jobless, landless and hopeless. When home owners finished their home, we
are forced to search another newly constructed home and beg the owner to let us to
keep his home. We are wondering from one home to another to get our shelter. It is
sad to live such kind of life. I have nothing to inherit my children and they too have
no bright future!!!”

75
Case Study on Success Story
Mr.E. was one of peri-urban peasants who had one hectare of land in Didaboke
Kebele. He has completed 12 grade but failed to continue his territory education.
He is married and the father of four. According to him, he was a close observant of
what has been going on in Shashemene city at the end of 1990s and early 2000s
E.C. in relation to land and peasants life. He got a very good lesson from those ex-
peasants who were dispossessed of their land by the government paying them
meager compensation, and those who rushed to sell their land for fear of
impending expropriation. Since his land is situated a little bit far away from
formally planned urban sites, he got a chance to evaluate and analyze existing
situation and did not take immediate decision whether or not to sell his land. But,
on the eve of 2007 E.C. national election, he began feeling that the government
might engage in land expropriation as it did during the previous two elections in
order to mobilize political support by giving land to its potential supporters. Then,
he decided to sell his land to escape the worst possible scenario he might face
similar to what his fellow farmers experienced. In the meantime he promised for
himself that he would not to spend the money on consumable good but on
productive assets that could generate income sustainably for his future life. In his
own words
…. I had afirm conviction not to fell into the same problems that many of peasants
have had been facing. You know what! There is newly emerging saying in our
society i.e. ‘land money is spent (consumed) like wind and straw fire’ that cannot be
deposited or converted in to wealth. But I want to change that societal view.
Whenever, I sold 200 or 300m2 lands, I build a house that can be rent for different
purposes. For instance I built 12classes on 1000m2 land which is now rented for
private school. There are also other houses which I rent out. In general, I am leading
better life compared to the life that I was leading as a farmer….

5.5. Current Livelihood Engagement of Land Dispossessed Peasants

76
5.5. Current Livelihood Engagement of Land Dispossessed Peasants

As noted in different section of this thesis, ex-farmers are becoming vulnerable to multitude of
socio-economic and cultural problems. The service and industrial sectors in the town are not well
developed and existing infant manufacturing industries provided employment opportunity only
for small number of individuals86. Though financial institutions are booming in the town, it is
difficult for affected peasants to compete for employment even as a guard in such institutions. To
sustain and fulfill their and their families’ basic needs ex- farmers resort to various options and
coping strategies.

The traditional division of labor in which male engaged in the field work and women in home
related activities now being changed and women too came out of their home and started small
business in market day, going to the nearby forest to collect fire wood for both market and home
consumption, even some of them engaged in as daily laborer. Adult men and youngsters and
children forced to take part in different income acquisition activities that range from daily
laborer, guard, shoe shining, illegal forest logging etc. Some youngsters both male and female
have been route to migration to Middle East countries including to neighboring Sudan. Some
have been engaged in Bajaj and horse cart driving.

One FGD participant explains how the city’s expansion and the subsequent land dispossession
have affected communities’ livelihood status, culture and social wellbeing as:

…In the past, it was a taboo and never known for both Arsii women and men to work
as a menial laborer, begging and theft, which were viewed as by majority as socially
undesirable, antisocial norm and actions. But now go to semania-and, Abosto or
Zeroand 87 where hundreds of our youngsters and adults, both men and women,
standby looking for anyone who employ them as daily laborer in order to ensure
their and their families daily subsistence needs. Beyond this, many of our teenage
children are engaging in shoe shining to support their poverty stricken families…
theft was unknown and was considered as socially immoral act among our Arsii
community. But, today poverty and lack of means of livelihood existence forced some
of our youngsters and even adults to engage in this act.

86
. According to the 2010 EC Shashemene city socio economic profile report, unemployment problem is one of city’s greatest
development challenges in which the growing population is continue to be by far outpacing job creation. For instance in the
2009 and 2010 EC there were 44,692 and 41,695 unemployed people respectively.
87 . Such sites are where large number of daily laborers stands by to look for daily job.

77
The existed traditional stable life and being proud of not to engage in menial laborer among the
Arsii Oromos’ in peri- urban area of Shashemene city’s now has been evaporated. The loss of
land and the subsequent loss of livelihood assets forced them to deal with such works as a means
of sustaining life. Overall, those affected individuals because of land dispossession have been
engaged in in different activities which are neither sufficient nor substitute different benefits and
incomes that they lost together with their land. Consequently ex-farmers have very little or
nothing to sell but have to pay for all their consumable food items, manufacturing products and
other services. Thus, they have been facing enormous and multitude of challenges in the era of
growing inflation in Ethiopia.

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 Chapter Six

Factors for Urban Dwellers Engagement in Informal Land Transaction, the State of
Informal Settlements and Its outcome on Shashemene City

6.1. Causes that Push Informal House Owners to Participate in Informal Land Transaction
and Major Outcomes
Ethiopia is increasingly heading towards urbanized way of life in which the country has been
registering one of the fastest urban growths at global scale. Rapid population growth in the
country’s urban center is becoming a great burden for cities and towns administrations to satisfy
the diverse needs of their residents. Housing is one of the most acute problems that many of
Ethiopian urban centers have failed to provide for residents. Demand for residential houses is
progressively growing but existing legal, policy and administrative directions have become
prime bottlenecks in resolving existing high formal housing backlogs 88 in all over Ethiopia’s
urban centers.

It is fair to say, Shashemene’s case is similar with other urban centers of Ethiopia that have been
experiencing high population growth and the mushrooming of unplanned houses on daily basis.
There are several factors that led poor people and government employees in desperate search of
cherqa (informal) houses in the city. The first cause is related to the current urban land lease
policy that not only narrowed but also sealed off lower and middle class families’ chance access
to formal land and residential houses. Secondly, Government sponsored housing program too is
becoming unaffordable, and inaccessible for the large segment of Shashemen’s urban population.

Thirdly, the price of existing smaller number of formal land and houses are beyond the capacity
for participants of informal land and housing market. Hear there are several factors for the
dramatic rise of formal housing price in the city. Of which, as stated in chapter three,
Shashemene has been becoming the hub of financial institutions. Such institutions contributed
for the skyrocketing of formal house when they buy houses for their employees by higher price
.Fourthly, an extremely tolerant trend by the city’s administration has been encouraging people
to buy informal land and constructCherqa houses freely .In general, the government’s ill

88
.According to Professor Tegegne Gebre-Egziabher (Undated), there are more than 600,000 homeless children in the country’s
major cities of which 100000 of them lived in A.A. He further articulated that the country needs to build 290,000 houses per
annum to keep up with the urban growth. Due to the existence of huge housing backlog in the years 2007/8-2013/14, 1,235,543
urban residents were registered for kebele house, condominium and plots.
79
articulated policy direction towards urban housing coupled with poverty, high rate of inflation,
corruption, land speculation and weak regulatory measures have contributed for the expansion of
informal houses in Shashemene and the city is becoming among one of the most frontline cities
and towns of Ethiopia for informal land and housing transaction over the past decade. The
following section discuss four individual case studies who are owners of informal house and
land speculators in the study kebels.
Individual case studies on Informal House owners, Land speculators and Middleman

Case study 1

Mr.J is a lecturer at Hawassa University and was living there which is 25 Kilometers away from
Shashemene with his 7 family members by renting a house. According to him, he was frustrated not
only by the frequent rent increment but also house owners nagging of him and his family on daily
basis that deprived his freedom, comfort and peace of mind to live under such condition. One of his
sister in-law who served as house maid in one of Arab states sent him money to be kept in his hand
until she returns to Ethiopia .Then, he and his wife decided to buy land and build their own house
with the hope that they will return the money when she arrive. He then began contacting local
‘land delalas’ (middle men) to search land to build house in Hawassa. However, City’s land price at
that time was beyond the money he had in his hand .One of his friends advised him to search land
in Shashemene and gave him the contact number of middle men there and he begun the process.
According to him, initially he was planning to buy land which has formal documents but the price
of 200m2 was approached to one million in Awasho sub-city of Shashemene. Hence, he changed
his mind to buy informal land in the same kebel. He found and bought 500m2 land by the price of
150.000ETB and built the house by following all the processes mentioned above and made a
payment. He then started small scale dairy farm by buying additional land from peasants and has
return back the money that he used to buy the land for his sister in law. Now, he has access to clean
water, solar powered electric services that he bought it from Ethio-telecom. When I asked him
about the issue of tenure insecurity on his home, though he is well aware of his homes is illegal
under Ethiopia’s current urbane tenure regimes, but he has a hope that his home could be
regularize by the city administration because, according to him :

…You know what? Only 13 percent of Shashemene city homeshave legal document and plan.
Government cannot dare to evict 87 percent of the city’s population which is not visible by any
criteria. Look what would happen if the government tries to evict “chereka” houses as other
cities of Ethiopia in Shashemene? My house is located 2.5.Km away from the formal settlement
area and the informal settlement extends to one km away beyond my home. Imagine how
many households are living in this 3.5.km radius? How many families are living in such houses? It
could be tens of thousands! This is true throughout the four directions of the city. So, bulldozing
informal houses in Shshesmene could have enormous socio-economic and politically
repercussions…

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Case Study two
Mr. J.S. is the nearby neighbor of the above case study. He had graduated from Addis Ababa
University Department of Sociology in the 2018/19 academic calendar with MA degree. He has
been working in the neighboring Arsii Zone Socio-economic office as a planner. He is the father
of three kids and the sole bread winner of his family because his wife has no any income sources.
According to him, he made all kind of efforts to get formal residential land including
participation in lease auctions that floated by the city administration in different times but failed
due to its high price and inaccessibility of formal land for individuals like him. Across time, the
growing prices of all consumable goods and services plus house rent became too difficult to be
covered by his subsistent salary. Thus, he told his brother, who is better off than him, about his
living condition and asked him to do something in order to reduce at least burden of renting
house by helping him to buy land informally. He succeeded in securing his brother’s support to
buy 250m2 land with 150,000 ETB and build 45 iron sheet house. In contrast to the experience of
Case One, he did not face such transaction costs as paying for ‘ Untubaa’ and corruption
payment for kebel officials. This was due to the reason that he has lineage ties with the peasant
who sold the land to him. Unlike Case One, his house has neither water supply nor electric
services. Moreover, he feels insecurity on his home because it could be demolished if the city
administration applied its master plan on the ground but not for the case of his house’s
informality. But for the time being he is relived from house rent and its associated problems. For
tomorrow, according to him ‘Sew endehonew ehonalew’’ meaning he will accept (face) what
would happen to other people who are living like him in informal homes. He, in one way or
another is worried about the pace of Shashemene’s expansion and the loss of surrounding fertile
agricultural land. But he and the participant of the above case study agreed that informal land
sale for farmers (who wisely and properly used the money) good to change their livelihood. He
shows me one agricultural land that belongs to farmer in his neighboring and he told me how
the farmer refused to sale 25000m2 or a quarter of one hectare land by 1 million ETB.

NB. Ethiopian government employees have been receiving one of the lowest salaries which cannot go beyond
subsistent expenditure. For example the above lecturer informally told me the amount of salary that he and other
university lecturers have been receiving i.e. 11400 ETB that is equivalent to 308USD/month minus tax and pension
deduction. This is equivalent to 3 days wage payment for advanced countries.

81
Case Study three

Mr.T is the father of eight from a monogamous marriage. He was a farmer and came to peri
-Urban area of Shashemene around 1990s by buying 700m2informal land from a farmer
by 8000 ETB in kebele 04 behind Teklehaymanot Orthodox Church. In 1998 EC his land was
expropriated by the city municipality and allocated to wealthy individual. Then, he was given
some amount of money with 200m2 land as a compensation in the periphery of Shshemene
.He gradually entered in to brokering business and became more popular due to his familiarity
with the area and being the member of nearby clan. He is also a member of the ruling party.
Ten years ago, according to him, he had one hectare of land near Abaro Mountain. Gradually,
he became a famous broker of land and house sale, facilitator for the construction of houses by
mediating the informal land buyer and PAs officials (Chairperson and his subordinates),
construction material suppliers and construction professionals. In all these processes, he
demanded commission for the service he has been delivering. Thus, brokering has become
lucrative business and way of life for him. He opened small shop and bought motorbike that
served as a meeting point for those who want to sell and buy land and to transport his clients
to land site respectively. Since then, he has bought informal lands from peasants by distress
price and build houses in more than six areas for speculation,2 hectares of farm land in another
kebele and lend money for farmers in their difficult time in return of some benefit .He showed
me all lands and houses that he bought while I was in the field for data collection. During our
informal conversation, he was an ardent advocator of land sell by farmers by citing
government’s arbitrary overtake of farmers’ land on absolutely lowest market price and some
farmers success in improving their livelihood status after they sold their land. He informed me,
like others during FGD and Individual case interview, the town administration has scale-up
the amount of compensation per 1m2 land from 5 to 12 and then 36 ETB in 1998,2002 and
currently respectively. However, farmers are now selling 1m2of land between 800 to 1200 ETB
based on locational advantages.

He asked me a question: have you seen the difference that the government could pay as
compensation and the market actually offering to them? No reason or logic or force can stop
farmers not to sell their land as long as the current government’s unfair and unpopular practice
continues to exist!!.

With regards to farmers who are affected by selling land, according to him, most farmers
livelihood status is improving through engagement in none farming activities but some farmers’
improper and unwise utilization of the money is the main reason that led to their
impoverishment.

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 Case four

Mr. N. joined one of the universities in the southern Ethiopia as student in the mid-1990s but
couldn’t complete his education. He was employed by the same university as student
inspector in university’s library and worked there for some years. Then, he came to
Shashemene as resident. His good communication skill enabled him to establish a cordial
relation with town officials, engineers, and business men in the town. He became a middle
man to connect land speculators with town officials in charge of land allocation. Within a
short period of time his life dramatically changed and entered in to ‘land businesses. Since
he came from central Oromia region, he has no social basis like the former individual case
study but actively working with local ‘Delalas’ to facilitate land transaction. In addition to
land, the implementation of IHDP led construction of condominium houses in Shashemene
widened his horizon of speculative business to include condominium houses with the help of
his relation with those working in IHDP. All his relations and involvements in patron-client
relationship helped him to short cut path for wealth creation. Now, he has become a
successful business man in which he managed to be the owner of different vast lands
waiting for sale, Hotel and other businesses.

Pic.3. Informal House that built by Land speculator in Didaboke Kebele

83
The first two case studies clearly revealed how government employee have been forced to
enter in to illegal land transactions and thereby build their informal dwelling in unplanned areas
due to impossibility of either accessing or buying formal land because of its unreachable price to
them and others who are low and middle class groups.

The next two cases are the typical examples of how land brokers, speculators and their
associates in government structure become the prime groups who have been reaping
substantial benefit from land allocation and informal land transaction process in Shahsemene
mainly due to the EPRDF government defective and paper value policy and legal directions
that pushing, encouraging and forcing: First farmers to lose their lifelong and irreversible
generational assets and then to face enormous socio-economic and cultural challenges with
their family members. Second, urban poor and middleclass families in to informal land
transactions and unsecured informal house and third, land speculators, brokers and officials to be
rent seekers and illegal wealth accumulators.

6.2. The State of Informal Settlements in Shashemene City

This part of discussion attempts to describe the general characteristics of informal houses,
existence of infrastructures, social service institutions and land size occupied by informal house
owners. The description is entirely based on personal observation and filed note taken during
observations not only in the two of Kebels that identified as research sites but also homes that
found in all direction with the except of NE part of Shashemene i.e. Alelu and Kuyera sub cities

6.2.1. Quality of Houses

Informal settlements in Ethiopia in most cases don’t look like slums of Mumbai, Nairobi or Rio-
dejenero as discussed in the review literature part as many studies on Ethiopian cities indicated
(Jemal,2019).The same is true in Shashemene, though there is a great variation with regards of
status of informal homes and business institution based on nearness to the main-road, planned
housing sites and services as well as the capacity of informal house owners. Homes along and
nearer to major rods like Shashmene –Kofelle, Shashemene-Hawassa, Shashemene-Halaba-
Arbaminch and Shahsemene-Addis Ababa are mostly occupied by business institutions and in
most cases built by using quality construction materials. In this regard, buildings along
84
Shashemene -Hawasa and Kofele roads are occupied by grain stores, business shops, factories,
rich individual villa houses with a very vast compound, fuel stations and coffee and tea houses
with no of passing roads up to hundreds of meters and most of them in such areas are categorized
in to quality homes and business centers. See the following pictures

Fig.4.An example of informal house type at main road along Shashemene Kofele Road

Fig.5.Flour factory along Shashemene-Kofele Main road outside planned area of Shshemene city

85
On the other hand, behind such houses and business institutions there are mixed type of houses
in which some of them are built using standard construction materials while majority are not.
These residential houses commonly are characterized by relatively large compounds when
compared to planned areas.

6.2.3. Infrastructure

There is a wide infrastructural gap among Shashemene unplanned settlement areas. Access to
standardized roads with sewerage services, electricity, water pipe and telephone line are not yet
developed. Inter-neighborhood passageways are very narrow and muddy in the rainy season
which poses greater challenge for peoples, back animal carts and automobile movements’. Like
the quality of houses, there is variation in this regard too. For instance, inter-neighborhood and
villages passage roadsin Awasho Kebele along kofele road, where the price of land is very high
as stated earlier, are very narrow and don’t fulfill formal village road standard. According to
FGD and informal settler discussants, it is the duty of the farmers to grant land for roads. Thus, it
appears that in places where the land price is high, there are very narrow inter villages and inter
home passing roads. On other Kebles like Dida Boke and Bulchana, there are wider and standard
roads that linking villages and informal settlers’ homes. However, this is not the case for all
informal settlement areas but all informal settlement areas lack sewerage infrastructures.

Electricity and telephone lines are unthinkable not only for informal houses of the town but also
planned homes in newly formed villages in the past 10-12 years. This is the typical fact of all
peripheral kebeles .In such villages only better off individuals and their associates have access to
electric services and the rest both formal and informal households share electric service from
those individuals. This is true for water service but water service is better than that of electricity
because most of planned formal houses and some of informal settlement areas have access to at
least pipeline. Pack animals mainly donkey cart which is popular means of transportation in the
rift valley region for rural residents have played greater role in transporting water by Jar cans
from water available central urban areas to informal settlement homes through payment. The
following two pictures shows unplanned construction of informal houses behind main road in
Awash sub-city.

86
Fig.4&5.Over crowded houses that are not suitable for urban infrastructure (Awasho kebele Near
Medhanealem Church)

87
6.3. Informality and Major Challenges of Informal Urban Dwellers

Shashemene has no history of eviction and displacement of its informal urban dwellers. The
numerical dominance of informal homes over formal houses in the city seems to have given
some sense of security and encouraged others to further participate in urban informality. There
is a shared perception among informal house owners that their homes will eventually be
regularized by government. Yet, some still are fearful of evections since they are not certain
whether their homes are compatible with the current and future urban plan. Though, informal
settlers have such feeling, it is clear that government and the town administration will never be
silent observers of unregulated expansion of informal houses because first and foremost cities
growth must be guided by modern plan and program.

Second, there are large numbers of uninhabited informal houses in the two study kebeles which
become the concern for local communities for their security. According to informants, such
vacant homes are becoming shelters of criminals that threatening the life and property of local
communities.In this regard, one respondent claimed that “we are unable to keep hen, goats and
sheep to support our life due to previously unknown but recently growing theft practice in our
city.”

Fourth, residents of informal houses lack basic services such as electricity and water provisions
as stated earlier because providers of such services required ownership certificate and plan that
informal house owners are lack. Therefore, they are not getting some or all of the services
provided by governmental institutions that subjected them to additional transaction costs in order
to get such services. Furthermore, informal house owners are not entitled to financial credit
services due to requirement of financial institution borrowers to present legal plan and certificate
as collateral to provide loan. This could jeopardize informal house owners’ motivation to make
long-term capital investments or to use their property as collateral to secure loans for capital
investments. Overall, despite informality is timely solution for urban poor and middle classes
families in resolving their critical housing problem, it is also a very risky business that has and
will have an enormous socio-economic challenges.

88
6.4. Informality and its Outcomes on the City Administration

Overall from my observation and information that I obtained from research informants the lion
share of Sheshemene city is covered by informal houses that characterized by narrow roads,
unplanned houses, and lack of green space and absence of unoccupied land that can be allocated
for future city’s development. It is clear that the city is exhibiting one of the most dramatic
physical expansions which is against modern urban plan. Thus its current path of unregulated
physical expansion could pose greater obstacle to make Shahsemene economically, socially and
environmentally vibrant and suitable for its residents. Secondly, allocating or letting existing
land to be occupied by residential home alone cannot resolve Shashemen’s endemic high
unemployment rate that is above national average. According to the Shashemene city socio-
economic profile (2010:51), there are 41,695 unemployed people. The 2012 CSA report also put
the unemployment figure to 60,565.

In line of the above facts, Shashemene needs more industries, service provisioning centers, green
areas and access to employment opportunity. In this regard according to(Lynch AJ.2001; and
Visvaldis V.et al.,2013) Cities must have the following functions to achieve socio-economic and
environmental well- being of its residents :Supply function: provision of region’s population
with necessary goods and services. Housing function: provision of sufficient habitat and
building grounds. Labor market function: provision of structures to ensure local economic
activities. Cultural function: provision of leisure and tourism, which can be reinforced by city
marketing and branding workforce absorption capacity, unemployment and outmigration.
Environmental function: waste and water management, landscape quality, efficient land use
etc. With respect to the above indicators, Shashemene has remained far beyond achieving such
functions and the expansion of unplanned houses across its vicinity is becoming stumbling stone
for the city administration to achieve the above good city indicators.

Thirdly, the city administration has been losing taxes that can be collected if the land is allocated
to business, industries and formal houses. This is related to what Peruvian economist (De
Soto,2000 in Petracco and Pender, 2009)89 called such inefficient economization of land and
failure to generate from it as ‘dead capital’ As stated earlier, the large sheer of the city’s land is

89
.He estimated the amount of“dead” capital at $9.3 trillion based on urban informal houses and slums. For further see (De Soto
,2015 Pan J. and Sobotova Ln (2003).
89
occupied by informal houses. Currently, city municipalities in Oromia including Shashemene
have been collecting 400-500ETB per 200m2 .If lands occupied by informal homeowners paying
land tax based on the current payment rate ,the city municipality could collect large sum of
money which could be reinvested for various infrastructure and service provisioning institution
thereby contribute for Shashemene’s development.

Fourthly, there is wide range of underground transaction not only informal land but also informal
houses which also deprived municipality’s property transaction taxes which could contribute for
the growth of Shashemene through expanding its tax basis. To conclude this part of discussion
urban house informality has been posing series of challenges and thereby slowing down the
prospects that Shashemene to become a model for southern Ethiopian cities and towns despite it
has huge economic, social, environmental and spatial potential and strategic advantages.

90
 Chapter Seven

Conclusion

The twenty-first century has been called the urban century in which the world’s majority
population is gravitating towards urban centers. In 1975, there were three megacities in the
world: Tokyo, New York and Mexico City. In 2005, there were 20 such cities, of which 16 were
located in the developing world .Cities and towns are now recognized as pivotal for development
that offer greater life opportunities and create wealth. Cities contribute up to 55% of gross
national product in low-income countries, 73% in middle-income countries90 and 85% in high-
income countries. However, urban centers in developing world are characterized by economic
inefficiency, lack of jobs, homelessness and large informal settlements, inadequate services and
infrastructure.

Urbanization is unavoidable aspect of future human life that needs to be managed consciously
and scientifically.Well managed urban centers can act as engines and catalysts for growth and
development. Contrariwise, when cities poorly planned and governed, they become centers of
poverty, inequality and social conflict. Informal settlement is becoming one of the common
problems of the third and developed world states. Since informal settlements usually established
on suburb urban areas at the expense of fertile peasants land, they pose real and existential threat
on peri-urban peasant livelihood status (Nssir and Elsayed 2017;UN Habitat2011; Abunyewaha
2018; Fegue2007;Fernandes2011;James 2015 Giri 2018).

Shashemene has been demonstrating one of the fastest rates of unplanned horizontal expansion at
the expense of peasants’ farmland. Since 2005/6 the city has been the forefront for urban land
grab by various groups. Currently, informal settlements are representing a large percentage of
urban and rural areas of the city. Urban house informality and informal land transaction in
Shashemene like other cities and towns are not the sole engagement of the poor and middle class
families’ who seek to secure their residential house rather it is the focus of well-to-do groups,
land speculators, officials and municipality professionals who have vigorously been taking part

90
.According to (Keivani and Murphy, 2009,) the contribution of a single megacity, for example, Sao Paulo or Bangkok, can be
as high as 40% of the gross national product while comprising only 10% of the population of their respective countries.

91
or contributing in evicting farmers from their land for the sake of expanding their fortune at the
expense of poor and unprofessional peasants.

Horizontal informal urban expansion in Shashemene is going on in large scale at the expense of
per-urban peasants’ land that resulted in the displacement of farmers’ at large scale. Farmers
were lost or are losing their land by government expropriation with the lowest compensation rate
that was/is far below the current land market price. This is/was major reason that pushing
thousands of farmers involving in anticipatory measure to sale their land holding. Socio-
economic and cultural reasons are also other contributing factors that led increasing peasants
land dispossession.

Peasants in Shashemene have been subjected to land dispossession and subsequently to various
socio-economic and cultural glitches attributable to principally ill-disposed government policy,
legal and administrative imperfections as well as diminishing farm land size among other
factors. Urban expansion and land dispossession has been forcing ex-farmers and their families
to be homeless, jobless, threatening their socio-cultural life. Unchecked informal urban
expansion also leading the loss of large tracts of peri-urban fertile land and creating spillover
effect on informal transaction in neighboring wored as farm land . Impossibility of getting the
chance to access both urban land and houses through formal means due to poverty, the
skyrocketing price of formal land and houses, progressive hike of rental houses in Shashemene
and Hawasa, the desire to be owners of urban house among farmers of neighboring woredas, and
land speculation are among other factors that led different groups to engage in informal land
transaction and growing informal house construction in the study kebeles.

Unrealistic urban policy and legal frameworks mainly Proc.721/2011 and IHP, weak regulatory
measures, preferential allocation of urban land on the basis political allegiance, corruption, low
compensation for dispossessed property owners and corruption have had played greater role in
informal land transaction, house construction and the subsequent dispossession of farmers land
and their vulnerability to multitude of challenges with the except of a few success stories. Thus,
the current urban policy and legal frameworks proved to be unfriendly for both peri-urban
peasants who disproportionately affected by increasing urban development process and urban
poor and middle class families who unable to get formal residential homes. Informal urban

92
dwellers too have faced uncertain tenure security and such settlements are economically idle
whereby neither the government extracts revenue nor home owners have access to financial
resources as collateral on their homes.

Existing urban housing policy is proved to be ineffective and inefficient in satisfying the growing
demand for urban housing. Therefore, unless urgent amendment on the country’s urban property
right arrangement is not carried, informal land transaction and farmers land dispossession will
continue as the middle and low income class families, land speculators and officials grappling to
search for more land to achieve their respective interest. Consequently farmers and their families
continue to suffer inexplicably more than others who involved in growing informal and irregular
urban development process. Moreover, if government fails to act urgently, existing urban
expansion trend will continue to exacerbate inequality, institutionalizing corruption and
jeopardizing good and healthy urban development.

Thus, regional and Shashemene city administrations need to devise workable solutions and work
in collaboration with all stakeholders to minimize the adverse impacts of urban informality and
the containment of its alarming rate of expansion. Informal land transaction and house
construction need to be minimized in Shashemene and surrounding rural areas to prevent further
displacement of peasants and their subsequent suffering by giving tenure security assurance,
financial assistance to redevelop their land by themselves or modernize their agriculture through
dairy farming, poultry and productive urban farming and become capable of leading their
livelihood status and enabling them to be provider of basic agricultural goods and services for
city’s population.

Secondly, there must be urgent, workable, socially and economically visible government
direction and measure to rehabilitate ex-peasants who dispossessed their farmland for moral,
legal, social and natural justice grounds. Because, it is mainly government ill designed urban
development policy and its implementation pushed them in to their current status. Unless
government do something for the life improvement of ex- peasants and their large family, there
is no doubt that there will be timing bomb for obvious reason the city is hosting large number of
unemployed, homeless and displaced peasants which will be difficult to maintain for city’s
development ,peace and stability in such their current life condition. Thus, the city

93
administration should pursue supportive administrative direction by opening access to economic
opportunities, housing and greater access to productive assets.

Since informal settlers occupied large size plot land in comparison to planned settlements plots,
the city administration need to rethink of the redevelopment of informally occupied urban lands
and houses by giving small but legally certified and standardized plot of land and help informal
settlers to redevelop it based on the city master plan and reclaiming the rest land to allocate for
other essential development projects. In this regard, there will be no looser rather the city
administration and informal settlers could be winners. Such measure can boost their security on
their home and reap benefits that come out of regularization. The city administration can benefit
from this process: first by avoiding forceful eviction of informal settlers and the subsequent
socio-economic and political crises that follows it. Second, it can effectively execute the city
master plan and be able to build model t city.

Third, it can get large tracts of urban land which could be allocated for various development
projects. Here, the Turkish model that followed incremental redevelopment of informal houses
and gave owners the right to construct up to four floor houses by themselves with the provision
of financial incentives can be a lesson for the city administration in reducing housing shortage
and managing housing informality.

The city administration needs to strength its regulatory capacity to minimize informal urban and
corruption. Since property strongly associated with human right, dignity and identity, it is not
morally and legally right to let few illegal fortune collectors to monopolize scarce resource.
Thus, corrective measures are imperative on those who violate the law and wider public interest.
Finally, the current urban policy and legal frameworks in Ethiopia have been proved to be
ineffective and leaning towards satisfying economically, politically and socially powerful groups
and effectively eliminating others from access to urban houses and land market. In general, some
scholars I referred for this thesis paper, call for some kind of land reform in Ethiopia. For
instance, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa’s (UNECA, 2002) report stated
that land tenure and its governance are“the most pressing areas requiring institutional reforms in
Ethiopia.” The report suggests that “Land policy has not yielded the expected result…it needs to
be resolved quickly since it impedes the development of several key sectors” (UNECA, 2002 in

94
Samuel, 2006).Thus, politicians, economists, policy makers and legal experts need to start
discussion and negotiation in order to amend the current land policy and come up with good
policy options that serve majorities interest and stimulate socio-economic progress. In this
regard, all policy makers need take to in to account Nelson Mandela’s remark who stated that

“As long as poverty, injustices and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly
rest” (obtained in www. Nelsonmandela.org)

95
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 Major Questions for Research Respondents
Interview Guide for FGD
1. How do you explain/describe the expansion of Shashemene city?
2. When did the horizontal expansion of the city started significantly? What do you think has
contributed to the city’s expansion at that particular period?
3. What did the socio-economic conditions of the surrounding local population look like before
the expansion of the city?
4. How have the socio-economic conditions of the surrounding community changed after the
expansion of the city?
5. What are major land related problems in the surrounding community before and after the
expansion of the city?
6. How do you see existing land policies and laws with regards to tenure security and land
transfer?
7. How do you evaluate the current livelihood conditions of your community?
8. What are major impacts of the expansion of Shashemene on the livelihood status of local
community?
9. What are major factors that led people to informally sell their land to urban dwellers?
10. How is the process of informal land transaction carried out,
11. Who are major actors in the process of informal land transaction?
12. Which/who are major groups/individuals/ looking for to buy peasants land? And why?
13. Is the informal land selling contract binding and accepted by sellers’ wife and clan
members? If not, what are menses to persuade them?
14. What formalities informal land buyers need to fulfill to construct houses?
15. What is the role of government officials/chairman of the keble, militias, got officials and
others/ in the process of informal land transaction and house construction?
16. What are major challenges in the process of land transaction and house construction?
17. Do you think that the informal land transaction is good for peasants? If so how? If not why?
18. How do you evaluate the life condition of peasants who sold their land?
19. What major opportunities or challenges have those peasants who sold their land been
experiencing or facing?
20. Is there additional point you want add please?
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2. Interview Guide for Peasants who sold their land

1. Ethnicity
Religion __________________
Education_________________
2. Sex _________________________
3. Age _________________________
4. Source of livelihood______________
5. Family size_______________________

1. How do you explain the impact of the expansion of Shashemene city on your life?

2. Can you tell me your socio –economic life conditions before the expansion of the city to
your surrounding?
3. Could you tell me the size of land that you have before the expansion of urbanization?
4. Could you tell me the size of land you currently hold? What are reasons that forced you
to sell your land informally?
5. Could you tell me the process of land selling and who played major role on land
transaction?
6. How much money did you earn by selling land?
7. Do you think that you earned the right price?
8. How did you spend the money?
9. Do you think that your decision to sell the land was right?
10. What was your role in the construction of buyer’s informal houses?
11. Could you tell me the role of government officials in both informal land transaction and
house construction?
12. Currently what is the source of your livelihood?
13. How do you compare your current and past livelihood status?
14. What are major challenges you have been facing as a result of selling some of your land?
15. What opportunities have you gained because of land sell?
16. Is there any point you want to add?

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3. Interview Guide for Shashemene- town urban land expert
1. How do you explain the pace of expansion of Shahsmene town?
2. Do you think that the fast growth of Sheshemene town is in line with the town’s master plan?
3. What were/are menses to transfer land for different purposes in Shahshemene?
4. Do you think that existing land allocation practices are sufficient and effective to
accommodate residents’ demand? If not why?
5. How do you evaluate existing both national and regional land policies and legal frameworks in
regulating informal land transactions?
7. How do you evaluate the level of informal land transaction in Shashemene and its
surroundings?
8. Based on your understanding, what are major factors that aggravate informal horizontal
expansion of Shashemene town?
9. What are major factors that impede the town administration to control informal urban
expansion?
10. Do you think that existing compensation rate for peasants is sufficient? If not, what is the
town administration future plan to improve it?
11. Is there any administrative and policy directions to minimize informal urban expansion? If
so, Please explain them?
12. Which part of the town is more vulnerable to informal expansion and why?
13. What are administrative efforts that encourage peasants not to engage in informal land
transaction?
16. How do you evaluate efforts to regularize informal houses? And do you think that such
efforts are effective?
18. Is there any policy or administrative direction to support victim peasants who lost their land
by government expropriation with the lowest compensation rate? If there are, please list
them?
19. How do you evaluate the impact of informal land transaction on Shashemene town growth?
20. What are way outs from informality?
21. Is there any point you want to add please?

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4. Interview Guide for Peasant Association Chair-person
1. How do you evaluate the impact of urban expansion on the life of peasants adjacent to
Shashemene?
2. What are the legal and policy mandates of your kebele to administer lands under your
jurisdiction?
3. How do you explain the extent of informal urban expansion in your kebele?
4. To what extent does your kebele administration controls horizontal expansion of Shshamemen
city?
5. Which institution/who should be blamed for increasing informal land transaction and urban
expansion inyour kebele?why?
6. Based on your assessment what are reasons that forced or encourage peasants to sale their
Land informally?
7. Could you tell me what kind of relation or coordination exist between your peasant association
and Sheshamene town administration?
8. Do you have information on the process of informal land transaction and what is your
Kebele’s role in it?
9. Most of the time what kind of administrative measures does the kebele administration take to
regulate informal land transaction and house construction?
10. What do you think is the impact of informal land transaction and urban expansion on life of
peasants who sold their land?
11. What is government direction, and your kebele’s plan, in controlling informal land
transaction?
12. Do you consider informal urban dwellers as members of your association? If not why? If so
what kind of service your kebele deliver for them?
13. What kind of challenges that informal urban dwellers are facing in your kebele?
14. What kind of problems that informal urban dwellers pose in your kebele? Do you see their
presence as challenge or opportunity?
15. What kind of relationship exists between peasants and informal urban dwellers?
16. What kind of measure taken by your kebele administration if conflicts arise between
peasants and informal urban dwellers?
17. Based on your assessment/understanding what are major reasons that impede your effort to
control informal settlement in your kebele?
18. Is there any additional idea you want to add please?

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5. Interview Guide for Informal Urban Residents
1. Personal information
1. Ethnicity
Religion_______________
Education______________
2. Sex ______________________
3. Age ______________________
4. Source of livelihood_____________
5. Family size____________________
2. Core research questions
1. Where did you live before you move to here?
2. What was your source of income before you buy this land?
3. Why you did not buy a house or the land that has a plan?
4. What is the size of your plot and how much money did you pay for it?
5. Did you buy the land with the support of delala? If so how much money you paid for him?
6. Could you tell me the process of land /house /buying? Who were major participants in that
process? Please explain their role? How you did you get permission to build your house?
7. What challenges did you faced in your effort to build your house?
8. Do you have access to governmental delivered services like water, electricity and others?
9. How do you explain your relationship with locals mainly those who sold land to you?
10. Have you now regularized or formalized your holding?
11. What challenges you faced while your attempt to regularize your house?
12. Do you feel a sense of security for your house?
13. Could you tell me major challenges that you have been experiencing as a result of your
informal house?
14. Is there any additional point you want to add?

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