Impacts Of Urban Expansion On The Land Tenure Security And Liveliehood Of Small Landholder Farmers In The Urban Friges Of Jimma City Jimma Zone Oromia National Regional State, South West Ethiopia.

Abstract

Urbanization is one of the most impactful human activities across the world today affecting the quality of urban life and its sustainable development. However, Horizontal expansions of urban centers in developing countries have significant impact on the livelihoods of peri urban communities. Impacts of horizontal urban expansion include loss of agricultural land displacement of peasants’ unemployment and change of their livelihood. This study investigated the impacts of Jimma city expansion on the livelihood of the farming community in the study area. Out of 13 Kebeles of Jimma city three of them were included in the study, from which 202 respondents were selected using different sampling techniques. Jimma city is one of the largest urban centers in southwestern part of Oromiya in which its expansion has influencing peri urban community’s livelihood by changing urban fringe agricultural land into built up area.. The livelihood of per urban communities before land expropriation and after land expropriation is changed from 3000Eth Birr per month to unemployment. This study assured that those communities led better livelihood before they lost their agricultural land due to urban expansion. Also the study indicated that there are opportunities of infrastructure improvement and socio _economic growth related to urban expansion and encourage the livelihood of farming communities in the study area. .Thus the study conducted to analyze the spatio –temporal Expansion of Jimma City and its Impacts on the livelihoods of farmer households in the peri-urban of the study area.. In addition the objectives of the study was; to identify the drives of Jimma city expansions to its peri urban area and; to assess the impacts of horizontal expansion of the City on the land tenure security and livelihood of small holder farmers in the expansion areas. The researcher take a total of 202(88%) samples of farmers 143(76%) from displaced,30(15%)from non-displaced farmers through systematic and purposive sampling 23(12.9%) officials and Influential personnel for interviews and FGDs. Data was collected through questionnaires interviews and FGDs .Due to the urban expansion 81.5% hectares of farmland has been converted to urban land use from the selected 202 sample farm household in the peri urban of the study areas. Out of these half of them 63(45%) their land were expropriated with the descent of farmer household. According to the data gathered through questionnaires, interviews and local administrative (Municipality) 202 farmers households were displaced from their farmland due to the horizontal urban expansion in the study area between the year (2002—2022).Among the total displaced households 61 (34.4%}were expropriated their farmland due to squatter settlement 46(29.9%) displaced by government dislocation 37 (20.9%}were expropriated by municipality administrative issues and 30(16.9%) and almost 3% of them were lost their land because of investment and adjustment of the City’s plan without the consent of farmer community. The regional government and City administrative should review the laws which were adopted in relation to land expropriation of peri- urban area and farmers should train and co-operate in order to create alternative sources of livelihood.