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Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/

e-ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 01 Issue 11

December 2016

Available online: http://edupediapublications.org/journals/index.php/JSMaP/ P a g e | 692

Contested Notions and Practices of Development and Resettlement

in Ethiopia: Evidence from Resettlement Sites in Gambella National

Regional State

Moti Mosisa,

Lecturer at Dilla University, Department of Public Administration and Development

Management P.o.Box: 419, Dilla University

E; mail: mosi.moti@gmail.com

Abstract

This paper focuses on contested notions and

practices of development and resettlement in

Ethiopia with particular reference to the

implementation of resettlement programs in

Gambella. Since 2010, the Ethiopian

government launched large scale

development plans as part of the Five Year

Growth and Transformational Plan. Within

this context, the government embarked on

resettling pastoral and agro-pastoral

communities in the peripheral regions of the

country under the broader "vision" of

improving the livelihood of the people. On

the other hand, the resettlement program

was criticized and interpreted differently by

actors with competing perspectives and

interests for its lack of consent

(participation) of the people concerned and

for its multidimensional socio-economic and

environment consequences. Therefore, this

study was conducted with the general

objective of identifying the conflicting

perspectives up on the program, seeing the

process and impacts of the program, and its

connection with Villagization from the views

of different actors. To this end, interview,

personal observation, and focus group

discussion were intensively used with all

concerned government officials, non- government actors, investors and local

people during the data collection. As a

method of data analysis, the Michael

Carnea's resettlement based model has

been used for analyzing the current and

potential risks of the program. The findings

of the study revealed that the implemented

resettlement program and the resultant

outcome called "Development" is conceived

and defined differently by different actors.

Moreover, the process of the program

implementation was based on pseudo- participation-where the process of

implementing the program was based on

informing the people and pseudo- voluntarism principle-where the local

community were deceived by unfulfilled

promises of government official . Finally,

based on the data-based model analysis, it

has been found out that the resettlement

program has resulted in complex sets of

consequences that demand policy response

from all concerned bodies.

Keywords: Resettlement, Development,

Villagization, Competing interests