Inequality in Consumption Expenditures Prevailing among Displaced and Non-displaced Peri-urban Farm Households in Metropolitan Towns of Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Rapid population growth in urban areas resulted to high demand of urban land in metropolitan towns because of which town administrators spurred to incorporate peri-urban areas in to urban administrations to meet the rising demand. This problem often results in eviction of households originally residing in peri-urban areas from their farmlands, resulting in loss of livelihoods.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the inequality in consumption expenditures prevailing among displaced and non-displaced farm households in metropolitan towns of Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia.
Material and Methods: Deciles ratio, Gini coefficient, and Generalized Entropy Inequality Indices used to examine the prevailing inequality in consumption expenditures among displaced and non-displaced farm households’ in study areas. About 430 households (183 displaced and 247 non-displaced) sampled through a multi-stage purposive and random sampling procedure.
Results: The results of the deciles distribution revealed that large segment of the displaced farm households were concentrated in the poorest deciles while the non-displaced farm households were concentrated in the richest deciles. The highest recorded Gini coefficient was for displaced farm households as compared to the non-displaced farm households. Similarly, the result of General Entropy (GE) inequality decomposition showed that the highest registered consumption expenditure inequality was for displaced farm households at mean log deviation GE (0) as compared to the non-displaced farm households.
Conclusions: The overall inequality measures illuminated that urban expansion brought a dramatic increase in the concentration of poverty and inequality in consumption expenditure for displaced farm households compared to non-displaced farm households. Therefore, the government and other stakeholders should design sustainable rehabilitation programs of households evicted from their farmlands with full packages and revise the meager land compensation schemes.