SOCIOECONOMIC EFFECT OF TENDAHO SUGAR CANE PLANTATION ON THE PASTORAL LIVELIHOOD OF AFAR NATIONAL REGIONAL STATE

Abstract

The land use rights for rural dwellers (both pastoralists and farmers) are clearly enshrined in the newly written constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. However, because of various factors such as lack of clear guidance or legal protection or enforcement to ensure pastoral land use rights has led to encroachment and alienation of key dry season grazing areas. Most importantly, the expansion of various federal and regional state investments in pastoral regions the likes of Afar for example have become a cause for the shrink of pasture areas and access to water for the pastoralist which thereby led their accustomed livelihood style on the brink of alienation and crisis. This study therefore, has explored how the increasing expansion of agricultural lands over the rangelands in Zone one Afar National Regional State (Tendho Sugar Plantation) affected the nomadic way of livelihood and the overall lives of the pastorals. In this research work, primary data was collected with the help of open and structured questionnaires, focus group discussion. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics using SPSS. Results from this study indicated that 71% of the respondents have affirmed that the sugar cane plantation in the study area has affected the total area of the dry season grazing area, access to water for their livestock and household purpose, decrease on their livestock size, created intra and inter conflict between the pastoralist and the Thendaho Sugar Estate. From this study it was concluded that the expansion of the Sugarcane Plantation up to 60,000 hectares of land in the dry season grazing area of Lower Awash basin without any compensation mechanism to the pastoralist have brought severe effect on the livelihood of the pastoralist.