IMPACT OF LAND USE POLICY CHANGE ON FARMER’S LIVELIHOOD: THE CASE OF TULU GURACHA KEBELE, GELAN TOWN

Abstract

Industrial expansion usually overtakes large area of real agricultural lands. The change of agricultural land to these systems has effect on the farming households who may lose a part or all of their agricultural land. Thus, this study investigated the impact of agricultural land conversion on the livelihoods of farming households in Tulu guracha kebele Gelan Town of Oromia Reginal State, Ethiopia. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used to gather data. Data was collected through household survey using questioners and interviews which was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Paired samples test, graph and tables were used to analyze the effect of Industrial expansion. Based on paired sample t-test the study found that a statistical significant decrease in household land size and household annual income from farm. The result of the study also found that the level annual crop production and covered in hectares were significantly decreased after the industrialization process that lead to the inability of the households to produce enough food for household consumption. Industrialization has also increased the number of landless households since 2004. The responsible governmental bodies should re-examine the actual implementation of the legal investment procedures, and re-adjust them in a way that allows the development of industrialization process in a more efficient manner, and with a much lower consumption of land resources.