Women And Land Rights In Rural Ethiopia : The Case of Wolaita

This volume is concerned about women and land rights in rural Ethiopia. It deliberates on the land rights of rural women in Soddo Zuria District (SZD), southwestern Ethiopia by critically looking into the traditional/customary and modern rural land laws that pertain to the property rights of women in land. The author argues that the traditional/customary law of the Wolaita area has allowed land access to rural women only through marriage until 2005. After the adoption of the 2007 Rural Land Administration and Use Proclamation by the SNNPR (based on the 1995 FDRE's Constitution and FRLAUP 2005), the land use rights of women is legally acknowledged in SZD. In practice, married women in monogamous and polygamous marriages are awarded joint landholding certificates together with their husbands. Moreover, women household heads are given landholding certificates independently. However, the participation of women's organizations in the land registration and certification program and their representation in Land Administration Committees (LACs) is completely lacking in SZD. . . .