Vaguely Right or Exactly Wrong: Measuring the (Spatial) Distribution of Land Resources, Income and Wealth in Rural Ethiopia

Crelis F. Rammelt, Maarten Van Schie, Fredu Nega Tegabu and Maggi Leung
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Crelis F. Rammelt: Human Geography & Planning, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht 3508TC, The Netherlands
Maarten Van Schie: Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, The Hague 2500GH, The Netherlands
Fredu Nega Tegabu: The Horn Economic and Social Policy Institute, Kirkos Sub City 1250, Ethiopia
Maggi Leung: Human Geography & Planning, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht 3508TC, The Netherlands

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 6, 1-19

Abstract: Land ties people to specific localities featuring different levels of accessibility and natural endowments; it is therefore related in various ways to matters of inequality. Drawing from economics and human geography, we explore the multifaceted and complex nature of inequality. Our case study takes place in rural Tigray, Ethiopia. Quantitative data analysis is used to reveal (spatial) income distribution patterns between statistically representative population groups. Qualitative data are then used to describe the productive activities of these groups, their respective processes of material asset accumulation or losses, and how their economic activities are affected by location. The paper concludes that, where measures of the distribution of income falls short, we require other tools that will help us reveal patterns: (1) of material wealth distribution; (2) of control over production; and (3) of the unaccounted value created within the household or derived from the natural environment.

Keywords: inequality; wealth; accumulation; spatial distribution; land; Ethiopia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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