(October 04 2011, Independent)--MUKETE Dejene rifles through a white plastic bag hanging from a hook on the mud wall of her one-roomed hut.
She produces a green, passport-sized booklet with her picture on it. "This is my land registration certificate," the mother of four says proudly. "This proves my land is mine."
Mukete (54) lives in the remote village of Ziguda in the Amhara region of eastern Ethiopia. Her home is one of 6.3 million households in Ethiopia benefitting from the massive land certification programme, "Before, it was impossible for a woman to get land and property she had with her husband.
She produces a green, passport-sized booklet with her picture on it. "This is my land registration certificate," the mother of four says proudly. "This proves my land is mine."
Mukete (54) lives in the remote village of Ziguda in the Amhara region of eastern Ethiopia. Her home is one of 6.3 million households in Ethiopia benefitting from the massive land certification programme, "Before, it was impossible for a woman to get land and property she had with her husband.
"When they divorced, she was simply kicked out of the house without anything. But now she has the same rights as men. Nobody can take my land now," she says.
Ethiopia hit the headlines in 1984 when it was ravaged by famine. A drought hit the Horn of Africa; but like the current famine in Somalia, war and the government's poor agricultural policies worsened the severity of the natural disaster.
Much like our own history, land has been a source of struggle and bloodshed in Ethiopia. In the 1970s, the Derg Regime nationalised all land and redistributed it. In 1996, the current government repeated this.
Farmers had no confidence that their land would remain theirs and therefore did not invest in the farms. However, Ethiopia has seen improvements in recent years.
The Chinese are investing heavily in the country and the government, under Meles Zenawi, has introduced the land titling scheme, across regions between 2003 and 2007.
Shewa Kena, land co-ordinator with Amhara's land-titling agency, explains that because of the new laws "people feel secure because no one will evict them from their land". FULL ARTICLE AT Independent »
Ethiopia hit the headlines in 1984 when it was ravaged by famine. A drought hit the Horn of Africa; but like the current famine in Somalia, war and the government's poor agricultural policies worsened the severity of the natural disaster.
Much like our own history, land has been a source of struggle and bloodshed in Ethiopia. In the 1970s, the Derg Regime nationalised all land and redistributed it. In 1996, the current government repeated this.
Farmers had no confidence that their land would remain theirs and therefore did not invest in the farms. However, Ethiopia has seen improvements in recent years.
The Chinese are investing heavily in the country and the government, under Meles Zenawi, has introduced the land titling scheme, across regions between 2003 and 2007.
Shewa Kena, land co-ordinator with Amhara's land-titling agency, explains that because of the new laws "people feel secure because no one will evict them from their land". FULL ARTICLE AT Independent »
No comments:
Post a Comment