Impact of Land Certification on Sustainable Land Use Practices: Case of Gozamin District, Ethiopia

Agroforestry is attracting considerable attention in Ethiopia because of its potential for sustainable land use practices. As land tenure insecurity is a major limiting factor for sustainable land use practices in Ethiopia and developing countries in general, the Ethiopian government launched a rural land certification program to secure land tenure. There are limited empirical studies about the impacts of land certification on sustainable land use practices. To fill this knowledge gap, this study was outlined for an area in the Ethiopian Gozamen district. It investigates the impact of land certification on sustainable land use practices and is focused on factors affecting tree plantation based on a household survey, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and field observations. The results of the study showed that the majority of the respondents practiced sustainable land use practices after their land was certified. Therefore, land certification has a great contribution on sustainable land use practices. In addition, age, consultancy, land size, education, and nurseries proved as significant factors for tree plantation. As access to land is a basic socio-economic precondition for sustainable agriculture and forestry in developing countries, tenure security is a key pathway for the development of the poor and it contributes essentially to achieve sustainable development goals.