The Impact of Poverty on Access to Land in Ethiopia:Panel Data Evidence

Kassie Dessie, Bahir Dar University

The poor in Ethiopia are mostly rural and are primarily engaged in agriculture for their basic livelihood. As a result, access to land is closely related to the poverty status of the household. This study analysed the effect of poverty on access to land using order probit model and censored tobit mode using panel dataset between 2011/12-2015/16. The existence of fragile land market coupled with population pressure in the rural area create landlessness as a challenge. Tenure insecurity aroused from expropriation and weak governance to register and protect land transaction rights together with the absence of alternative livelihood in rural area leave farming not as feasible livelihood to accommodate the emerging landless and poor households in Ethiopia. The result of random effect in the order probit and censored tobit model confirm that the change in poverty status of the household (from non-poor to poor), influence significantly access to land.