The Equity Effect of Small Holders Agricultural Land Tenancy Market in Amhara Region, Ethiopia

Abstract

In the situation when agricultural land sale is prohibited and there is not frequent land reallocation, the land tenancy market is expected to be the main means for getting land for land less youth. On the other hand, because female landlords face higher transaction costs in the land rental markets and have larger difficulties in searching more efficient tenants, the productivity on land of female landlord is lower than the productivity on land of male landlord. Consequently, equity effect of the land lease market is a very important issue. The main objective of this study is to investigate the equity effect of the agricultural land lease market in Amhara region. Structured questionnaires were prepared and administered to collect primary data from the respondent. Multiple sampling techniques were used to select representative samples from the target population. The sample size was determined by using Yamene (1967) minimum sample size determination formula. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test and t-test were employed for analysis. The result revealed that the mean size of land obtained from the government and total land is significantly higher for older respondents. However, the average size of rented-in land is significantly higher for young respondents. This result proved that the land market helps young farmers get access to land. The survey also revealed that there is no significant difference in output across gender. This may be because women owner rent their land to relatives and female land owners rent-out their land for long years compared to male land owners.