Farmland Abandonment to a Comprhneive Efficient Results: New Opportunities to Inform the Policy and Law of Ethiopia

Abstract

The abandonment of farmland is a crucial factor that could result in economic transformations. It allows land transfers, and labor mobility and helps to depict the connections between rural and rural areas. Addressing farmland abandonment requires considering the interests of all parties involved in the land rights system. Nevertheless, Ethiopia's land policy and legal framework regard the abandonment of farmland as an administrative issue rather than a normative means for achieving economic goals. The research aims to establish normative mechanisms that can effectively facilitate a smooth transition from rural to urban settings, encompassing the interests of all stakeholders involved in the land rights network. The study has used the black-letter law method to analyse the legal rules of constitutional, federal, and regional laws concerning farmland abandonment. It also employed an integrated paradigm that mainstreams an economic approach to law analysis. The economic analysis of law utilizes a normative citizen-centered mechanism design theory constructively, enabling the prediction of outcomes and the formulation of policy recommendations. The study has found that the current policies and laws of Ethiopia related to land prioritize redistributive farmland abandonment over comprehensive efficient results, ignoring the entire land economic system as an institution. It suggests that it is critical to set mechanisms to identify the public good and bad of farmland abandonment, reducing farmland abandonments, individualized land withdrawal path, and encouraging responsive land abandonment. These measures can facilitate land transfer and promote labor mobility. The proposed mechanisms could address improper farmland abandonment, resulting in land redistribution without safeguarding the interests of farmers who lost their land.