Urbanization and Its Effect on Displaced Rural livelihoods

Now a days, the rate of urbanization and industrialization is high and taking place at the expense of farmer’s agricultural land. Many people are displaced from their farm land which is, for majority of them, the only means of earning their livelihoods. Sululta administrative city has been expanding and developing rapidly, like other cities in Ethiopia, from time to time both physically and infrastructurally and this result in the decrement of the amount of land used for farming and the product gained from farming. The main objective of the book is to analyze and explain how and to what extent agricultural land use conversion in to non-agricultural land use as a result of urbanization have been affecting rural farmer’s livelihoods surrounding Sululta town. Before expropriation, majority of the farmers were engaged in farming activity; but after expropriation majority of them were engaged in petty trades. The income of household heads is increased after they lost their lands and falls in the category of “above 800 birr per month”. Hence the life of the majority of them is improved. However, the weak municipal and other local government bodies implementation should be corrected.