Study on Institutional structure and Human Resource Development needs in the Land Administration Sector in Ethiopia

Since the end of the 1990s, efforts have been made into establishing a just land administration system in Ethiopia. A new land law was developed in 1997. Federal and regional strategy documents were prepared. Sweden has supported the development of the land administration sector since the early 1990s in the Amhara Region in Ethiopia both through the Sida- Amhara Rural Development Programme, SARDP, and through the Establishment of the Institute of Land Administration at the Bahir Dar University, ILA/BDU, in Amhara. Through this combined support, the Environmental Protection, Land Administration and Use Authority (EPLAUA) was established to co-ordinate and regulate activities related to environmental protection, land administration and land use issues. There was a serious lack of trained manpower in the area of land administration, within EPLAUA in particular, and the country in general. Therefore, EPLAUA initiated a institutional cooperation programme with the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden in 2004. Future university teachers were trained at KTH and a separate programme started in 2007 with Swedish support to establish the first high level institute for land administration in Ethiopia at the Bahir Dar University. Based on encouraging results and interest of the Ethiopian government, other land administration programmes are also under implementation and/or development in Ethiopia.

A technical mission focusing on land administration led by the World Bank was conducted in June/July 2008 . The mission reviewed the status of implementation of land administration in Ethiopia and identified significant steps that the government of Ethiopia and development partners could take in realizing the vision for land administration in the country. Among others, the institutional roles and responsibilities and capacity building were considered critical.

This study on Institutional structure and Human Resource Development is requested by the Government of Ethiopia in collaboration with the World Bank with the aim to assist the Government of Ethiopia, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, MoARD, in making informed decisions on land administration issues in Ethiopia and decide on how to structure the responsibilities at the Federal level for land administration.