Government Strategies and Implementation Challenges on Evicted Farming Households in Ensuring Sustainable Livelihoods: The Case of Gondar City-peripheral Rural- Communities. Gondar, Ethiopia

Abstract

This study aims to examine strategies, processes and implementations in ensuring sustainable livelihoods   of land expropriated households. Thus, samples of 293 evicted households were taken for this cross-sectional mixed research. Both primary and secondary data were complimented to the study. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze quantitative data whereas the qualitative data was analyzed in thematic analysis techniques. The finding shows that there are, in Ethiopia, national and regional laws, policies, and strategies including the Ethiopian constitution that describe how expropriated households should be treated, compensated and give rehabilitation to ensure sustainable livelihoods. Though government policies and proclamations declared appropriate compensations to evicted farmers, the livelihood of expropriated farmers challenged; mainly in time delay of compensation, low compensation, and absence of consistent payment to farmers, lack of job opportunity considering their educational and social status. Besides, there is no rehabilitation and follow-ups on what the farmers do with the compensation money.  Policies and strategies are not properly implemented at the grass root level so that sustainability of farmers’ livelihood is going in to questions. Therefore, policies should consider current living conditions, inflation rates and social characteristics of farming peoples. Finally, local governments, nongovernmental organizations and higher education institutions need to be concerned to properly design and implement policies and resolve negative consequences of urban expansion on the surrounding farming households.

Keywords: peri- urban, livelihood, eviction, and government.