The socioeconomic and environmental implications of land grabbing in Sheka zone, southwestern regional state, Ethiopia

Getaneh Haile Shoddo ()
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Getaneh Haile Shoddo: Jigjiga University

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2024, vol. 26, issue 11, No 106, 29745-29774

Abstract: Abstract This study examines the impact of large-scale investment in agriculture on forest ecology in the Sheka zone of southwestern Ethiopia. Using remote sensing and geographic information system techniques as well as ethnographic methodology, this study is aimed at (i) identifying and examining cases of “investment agriculture” in rural communities in Sheka zone and (ii) investigating the impacts of these activities on the traditional sacred forest (GUDO) and economic (KOBO) forest by using geospatial techniques. From 1985 to 2023, the study identified two distinct types of alteration (conversion and alteration) as well as four primary land-use categories: dense forest; open forest; agricultural land; and settlement. The study also detected a significant increase in the rate of land-use and land-cover change in Masha and Anderacha districts, Sheka Forest, and the southwestern regional state from the period 1985 to 2023. The study showed that the rapid growth of agriculture on forest land has had a huge effect on the change in forest cover. The rate of forest cover changes in the area has been steadily increasing in the last two decades. This study demonstrates how the accelerating trend of investment in agriculture is shaping ecological change in the region through an analysis of the political economy at the international and domestic levels.

Keywords: Land dispossession; Land grabbing; Displacement; Commercial farm; Sacred forest (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s10668-023-03862-1

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