Impact of National Rural Land Administration Information System on Land Government Revenue: Evidence from Oromia Region of Ethiopia

Abstract

The Oromia region has recently embarked on a big digitalization program for rural land governance in the country called the National Rural Land Administration information system (NRLAIS), aiming for effective management of land ownership and control over natural resources in the region. The primary objective of this study is to assess the impact of the National Rural Land Administration Information System (NRLAIS) on rural land-related government revenue in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. Mixed research approaches were employed. The analysis compared revenue trends in weredas (districts) where the NRLAIS was implemented against those without the system, using both descriptive statistics and linear regressions analysis. Findings indicate that the NRLAIS had a significant positive effect on land government revenue. While both groups experienced revenue growth over time, the NRLAIS group exhibited a substantially greater increase in mean revenue following the implementation of the NRLAIS. The analysis confirmed that NRLAIS implementation was a strong predictor of higher revenue, even when accounting for baseline differences. Notably, the NRLAIS group had experienced lower revenue prior to implementation, but this trend was reversed post-NRLAIS, suggesting that NRLAIS played a key role in improving land government revenue. The non-NRLAIS group showed only modest gains with no significant changes related to the NRLAIS period. These findings underscore the NRLAIS’s effectiveness in enhancing land revenue collection and addressing previous administrative inefficiencies. Overall, the NRLAIS contributed to more consistent and improved revenue outcomes in the regions where it was adopted.