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LIFT Commences Issuing Second Level Land Certificates to Farmers

DFID Ethiopia supported the Land Investment for Transformation (LIFT) programme issue second level land certificate (SLLC) to farmers.

Certified farmer with the DFID Ethiopia Director and DFID -Private Sector Development Adviser

DFID allocated 2.25 billion birr to support the Programme

The Land Investment for Transformation (LIFT) programme issued second level land certificate (SLLC) to farmers at an event at Dejen Kebele of Amba Alaje Woreda in Southern Tigray on 15 November 2015.

During the Event, the certificates were given to farmers in the Kebele, whose lands have been demarcated and duly registered over the last seven months. A total of over 120,000 parcels covering 15 Kebeles (including Dejen) have been demarcated in the Woreda under the LIFT programme.

The colourful certificate issuance event at Dejen was held to celebrate the programme’s progress in delivering land use right certificates for 14 million rural parcels in 140 Woredas of the Amhara, Oromia, Tigray and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples (SNNP) regional states over the next five years.

The Event was graced by the presence of high-level officials including H.E. Frenesh Mekuria , State Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr. George Turkington, Head of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) Ethiopia Office, Mr. Haile Asfaha, Head of Tigray Regional State’s Agriculture and Rural Development Bureau, Mr. Berhe Fiseha, Head of Tigray Regional State’s Environmental Protection, Land Administration and Use Agency and Mr. Tigistu Gebre-Michael, Director of Federal Rural Land Administration and Use Directorate.

Other participants drawn from the federal and regional governments, development partners, DFID-Ethiopia and LIFT Programme offices and the local community at large were also in attendance.

During the event, the high-ranking officials presented land use rights certificates for some 45 landholders. The issuance activity for the rest of the farmers will be carried out by Kebeles.

Dejen is located amongst the splendid landscapes of Mount Emba Alaje, and the province was in the past the scene of many battles including those during the Ethio-Italian war. Marking such an event with local farmers at this historic place has left a fascinating impression for all.

LIFT is a six-year (2014-2020) programme jointly developed by the Government of Ethiopia (GoE) and DFID- Ethiopia Office, and is intended to strengthen rural land tenure security and improved land holding rights of small-holder farmers. The total programme funding from DFID- E is 67.3 million UK Pounds, which is equivalent to ETB 2.25 billion.

The overriding objective of LIFT is to improve the incomes of the rural poor and vulnerable as well as enhance economic growth. This will be achieved through second level land certification (SLLC), improved rural land administration systems (RLAS) and development of the rural land sector and its supporting operations and by increasing productivity and investment productivity of the farmers.

SLLC is the main driver of LIFT. By the end of the programme, 6.1 million households (around 70% of parcels being jointly or individually owned by women) are expected to have their land use rights certified in the regions. LIFT demarcated 826‚740 parcels in the initial Woredas of the four regions, achieving 88 percent of its set target by 29 October 2015.
LIFT will also help increase incomes of 1.36 million smallholder farmers by at least 20.5%.

Published 20 November 2015