Paper short abstract:

Land (re)distribution for private use and certification has long been promoted as a method of ensuring the benefit of the land to the local community. This is not always the case, as it is mediated by structural and socio-cultural factors.

Paper long abstract:

As elsewhere in parts of Africa, the Karrayu upper Awash community is one of the most marginalised pastoralist societies in Ethiopia. Successive regimes implemented large-scale ventures in the valley in the name of ‘development’, all of which were associated with land concessions and grants for the purpose. To this effect, more than 100,000 hectares of land were confiscated from the Karrayu communities, and they were evacuated and denied access to land. Consequently, they have been alienated from the land on which their livelihood is based. However, in the last decade, Ethiopia's Oromia region has implemented a new large-scale irrigation project, which is said to be a response to previous wrongdoing and has been celebrated with many 'firsts,' changing the narrative to first "community-managed," first "integrated approach," and first in ensuring pastoralists access and benefit from their land. To that end, previously communally owned land was distributed to pastoralist households and individuals, including women and youths of both sexes. Many of them were also given land certificates as proof of ownership. Meanwhile, officials framed the project as a means of securing land rights and benefiting already marginalised pastoralists. It is at this point that this paper challenges the widely held belief that land distribution and certification ensure that local people benefit from the land. Using a project as an example, the paper demonstrates how land distribution and certification do not always benefit the owners as promised. It elucidates the disparity between the ownership title and the actual benefit from the land.