Kompensationspraxis i den etiopiska exproprieringsprocessen

Abstract: Development of the agricultural sector is among the top priorities for the Ethiopian government in order to keep up the economic development in the country. One way of reaching this is to undertake large-scale development projects, such as the Tana Beles Sugar Development Project described in this thesis. For this, large areas of land are required for the plantations. This land is expropriated from farmers living in the area. There are a number of legislations regulating how and when expropriation can be done in Ethiopia. The key factors are that it must be for a public purpose, in accordance with due process of the law and accompanied by compensation. The purpose of this study is to determine how well those regulations align with the methods practiced in the field and issues to implement the regulations. This includes the judicial, social and financial aspects of the expropriation process. Field studies for this thesis were done in Amhara National Regional State where the property of more than 2500 families had been expropriated in order to make place for sugar plantations. Interviews were performed with people affected by the expropriation, government officials and individuals who took part in the valuation of property during the expropriation. The study shows a significant discrepancy between the requirements in the legislations and the expropriation practice in the field. The affected people are to a large extent dissatisfied with how the expropriation process were undertaken, as well as the amount of compensation received for lost property. Furthermore the study points at issues with the training of the valuators involved in the process. A general issue with the expropriation process is the lack of documentation and transparency. To a large extent important records were missing from the local authorities, which made the process hard to follow in retrospect.