In Ethiopia, expropriation and compensation measures have become a great concern due to horizontal urban expansion and development induced projects. Especially in peri-urban areas, the livelihood of farmers is affected by expropriation without fair and comparable compensation. This paper investigates the impacts of expropriation and compensation activities on livelihood of peri-urban smallholders taking Debre Markos Town as a case study area. Mixed research methods were employed. Quantitative data were gathered using a structured questionnaire and by interviewing about 100 smallholders. Qualitative data were collected in focus group discussions and by analyzing legal documents. The analysis showed a high trend of expropriation without fair and appropriate compensation as result of ignoring legal procedures of expropriation and compensation. Expropriated farmers also complained that they did not get any support from the government to use compensation money properly for further investments. Due to incomparable compensation and lack of advice, peri-urban farmers faced multi-faceted problems, such as food insecurity and social and family disintegration. The government has to enable families of expropriated households to earn suitable livelihood, which could be achieved by fair compensation and appropriate guidance.

Institutional setup in the land administration system plays a crucial role in the successful functioning of modern land administration. The institutional setup, whether separated for urban and rural land administration or unified, is responsible for implementing the legal and policy framework. In most regions of Ethiopia, including the Amhara National Regional State, the institutional setup is separated, which results in increasing difficulties to administer land efficiently. The purpose of this study was to assess the challenges and opportunities of the institutional dichotomy between urban and rural land administration in the Amhara region. Primary and secondary data were used in the study. Questionnaires, focus group discussions (FGDs) and interviews with key informants were applied to collect the data. As the findings of the study revealed, about 55% of the respondents agreed that the integration between urban and rural land administration institutions is weak. In addition, 38% of the respondents also confirmed that the integration between the two independent institutions is very weak. The institutional separation between urban and rural land has opened the door for land invasion and informal settlement in peri-urban areas. The study also identifies overlapping job titles, wastage of human and material resources, and promulgation of contradicting urban and rural land laws as the challenges in the region due to the dichotomy of land administration between urban and rural. Although administering urban and rural land in separate institutions helps for minimizing the workload, the findings tend to administer land in a unified institution and within an independent ministry.