Links between Tenure Security and Food Security: Evidence from Ethiopia

The study uses five rounds of household panel data from Tigray, Ethiopia, collected 1998–2010 to assess the impacts of a land registration and certification program that aimed to strengthen tenure security and how it has contributed to increased food availability and thus food security in this food-deficit region. Our first survey took place just a year before the intervention (the land certification program). Our panel data in combination with the “years of certificate ownership” variable allow us to assess the dynamic impacts on food (calorie) availability of strengthened tenure security. Anthropometric data also allow us to assess potential child nutrition impacts of the reform 8-12 years after its implementation. Results show that land certification appears to have contributed to enhanced calorie availability, and more so for female-headed households, either through enhanced land rental market participation or increased investment and productivity on owner-operated land.