Impact of Urban expansion on income of evicted farmers in the peri-Urban areas of Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia: Endogenous switching regression approach

Abstract

The rate of urbanization in the Amhara region has apparently increased over the past three decades and is now higher than that of any other region in Ethiopia. As cities expand, peri-urban farmers in the region are being compelled to abandon their landholdings, which is their life-long asset. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the impact of urban expansion on the income of evicted peri-urban farmers in Injibara, Burie and Gish Abay cities of the Amhara regional state, Ethiopia. Using stratified sampling technique, primary data was collected from 393 households (197 evicted and 196 non-evicted). The endogenous switching regression model was employed to examine the impact of urbanization on the income of evicted farmers. The model’s output of ATT revealed that evicted farmers had a substantial reduction in yearly income of 9202.36 Ethiopian Birr as compared to their counterfactuals. In other words, eviction diminishes the annual income of evicted farmers by 26.73%. Furthermore, ATU results also confirmed that non-evicted farmers’ income would have decreased by 4666.78 Birr if they had chosen to be evicted, proving that eviction might have a negative impact on farmers’ income at any circumstance. Therefore, this study suggests that the government conduct a comprehensive socioeconomic and demographic evaluation before evicting indigenous farmers and that an alternative strategy be developed to mitigate the negative effects of eviction on peri-urban farmers.