This ALL-IN project led from the University of Gondar is testing the impacts of LSLTs on rural communities in Ethiopia’s Benishangul-Gumuz and Gambella regions. In particular, the research is identifying who benefits from these transfers and who does not, with a focus on the causes of those varying impacts. The study measures those impacts based on the difference in the amount of land earmarked and transferred land across districts in the regions specifically.

Agricultural ministries across the global south are including LSLTs in their long-term strategic plans as a way to accelerate agricultural commercialization. In Ethiopia, LSLTs were intensified during the five-year Growth and Transformation Plan that seeks to improve food security, create jobs, accumulate capital and promote exports by attracting domestic and international investments. This ALL-IN project will build evidence on how LSLTs contribute to or detract from these and other goals.