World Bank 2016 Land and Poverty Conference Scaling up Responsible Land Governance Using LGAF as an Input into Ongoing and future Law Revision: Lessons from Ethiopia Zerfu Hailu (PhD), LGAF Ethiopia Implementation Country Coordinator 14/03/2016

Presentation outline Introduction Methodology Some Key Recommendation Lesson Learnt The way Forward

Total area about 1.1 million km 2 Estimated population more than 90 million 9 regional states 2 chartered cities Introduction LGAF Ethiopia started in September 2014 and finalized in December 2015

M ETHODOLOGY Information had been collected mainly from Practical experience of the involved experts Review of existing reports and Research documentations Legal and policy documents and Review of institutional responsibilities Conducting panel sessions Validation workshop WB Global secretariat African LGAF secretariat TAG Member

Main Actors Involved in LGAF Ethiopia Implementation 1.Rural Land Administration & Use Directorate (RLAUD) at the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources – Participating in the process, facilitating the process and monitoring progress, 2.World Bank – Financial support, technical support and monitor the process through LGAF Global Secretariat (Washington DC) 3.LGAF African Secretariat (Nairobi) – Managerial and technical support throughout the process 4.Technical Advisory Group (TAG) (9 in number) - Technical support through review of background reports 5.Expert Investigators – Collecting information and prepared 9 background reports 6.Land Administration to Nurture Development (LAND) Project - Facilitating the implementation process, technical support in the process and significant support for the validation workshop 7.Panel session participants, as an average 7 experts per panel, and validation workshop participants, in total 37, participated representing many relevant institutions 8.Country Coordinator (CC) - Coordinating and leading the whole process, preparing panel sessions, organizing validation workshop and developing final country report from background reports.

Ethiopia, since mid 1970s, administer and manage its land by two different legal instruments and two separate institutions. The LGAF Ethiopia questions this arrangement effectiveness and recommends that the government has to open a policy dialogue to hammer out the pros and cons of the current institutional arrangement and to make appropriate decision. In the rural land sector there are two institutions. The RLAUD, which is responsible for the administration of smallholders' and government owned lands in the rural areas. The Ethiopian Agricultural Investment Land Administration Agency (EAILAA) is mandated to oversee large scale agricultural investment lands in the rural areas. The LGAF Ethiopia questions effectiveness and importance of this institutional arrangement and request the government to open a policy dialogue to hammer out the pros and cons of the current institutional arrangement and to make appropriate decision. Ethiopia is using its land and land resources without having comprehensive national land use policy. Formulation and enactment of a national land use policy is urgently essential. At the same time provision of policy framework to give clearer responsibility for managing communal lands is needed. There is a need to establish property valuation institution to develop valuation rolls by professional valuators for different economic activities. Some key Recommendations

Compensation that could have been paid to affected property owners/holders ought to be valued by independent professional property valuators. Both the Federal and Regional expropriation and payment of compensation laws, proclamation 455/2005, ought to be amended The policy and legal framework has to address rehabilitation of affected people in addition to compensation payment. There is a big dissatisfaction on the less involvement of affected communities in the compensation computation process and on the level of compensation payment.

Surveying, registration and certification of rural land holdings is conducted without formally enacted registration and cadastral laws. Therefore, registration and cadastral laws should be developed and enacted. There has to value increment of the second level certification through allowing smallholders to access credit using their holding right as collateral

Documentation, in most cases, is poor and updating and maintenance of records is not practiced in Ethiopia except in Amhar regional state Ethiopia is now engaged in vigorous rural land cadastre activities. Mapping and registering of parcels information is very important activity. However, unless the cadastral information is updated as transactions take place, the information will be obsolete soon and its importance decline in time. Therefore, there must be a legal instrument to make updating obligatory.

The current working modality in courts is focusing on quick disposal of cases and hence reducing backlogged cases. In this regard, it is performing very well. But the overall length is not shortened since quick decisions are open for errors and then being held for longer times in appellate courts. Therefore, the working modality must balance the need for speedy trial with quality of decision. Establishing a separate land bench within the first instance court system will help judges to be more expert in the area and can create the balance between quantity and quality of decision. For appeal cases, to provide speedy trial especially in relation to land related disputes needs establishing a separate bench at the high and supreme court level dedicated only to land disputes.

Lesson learnt

Wide institutional participation in the process (Multi stakeholder) LGAF Reports preparation Three expert investigators from university Three expert investigators from RLAU offices Two expert investigators from bilateral projects One investigator from private sector Country coordinator from bilateral project 65 experts in panel sessions (7 per panel) from different institutions 37 participants in validation workshop  Ministries  Bilateral projects  5 Universities  all 9 regional RLAU representatives Three senior reviewers (One from bilateral and two from public) WB Global secretariat African secretariat TAG group members

Functional linkage between institutions facilitated the use

Immediate and future use of LGAF Reports Bilateral projects

There are favorable conditions to transform LGAF recommendations into action – the federal and regional governments vow to tackle land governance issue during the GTP II period (2015/16 – 2019/20) Conduct popularization conference on the availability and potential use of LGAF Ethiopia information. Publication of the reports and disseminations Design functional monitoring mechanisms (LGAF WB & African secretariats) Strengthen the link with the MoANR the MoUDH EthioLandNet SLA in Africa (new initiative) Multi & Bilateral land related projects and others World Bank & others have to continue to mobilize resources Development partners align around LGAF Ethiopia to support the land sector The Way forward

Thank you very much for your attention!