Land ownership and conflicts over the use of resources: Implication for household vulnerability in eastern Ethiopia

Survey data from Hirna watershed in Eastern Ethiopia were used to identify determinants of household choice among alternative land property right regimes to help mitigate negative consequences of scarcity-induced land related conflicts and so as to help reduce household vulnerability. It has been observed that absence of clearly defined property right and management plan has led to overexploitation of the hillsides leading to perpetuation of poverty and food insecurity. Multinomial discrete choice models were specified and estimated for explaining decision of household heads for most preferred property right regimes. Overall, two variables, namely the dependency ratio and the level of education of the household head, provided the most predictive power whether or not the household prefers common property resource regime, whereas the number of household members, the livestock holding of the household and the area of cultivated land lost due to enclosure of part of the watershed were found to be more relevant in determining household's preference for resettlement to other potential areas. On the other hand, the age of household head, the number of household members and the level of education of the household head were found to be statistically significant in determining the likelihood that a household prefers intensifying agriculture. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.