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288 Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia
specific treatment of corruption risks in Ethiopia’s land sector proceeds
as follows:
• “The Land Sector in Ethiopia,” which summarizes the policy and institutional
arrangements for land administration in Ethiopia
• “Corruption in Ethiopia’s Land Sector,” which investigates the nature
and extent of corruption
• “Mapping Corruption to the Value Chain,” which uses a value chain
model for corruption vulnerability in Ethiopia’s land sector
• “Recommendations,” which focuses on the five key areas of land sector
corruption and a broader strategy to improve land governance and
reduce vulnerabilities to corruption.
Corruption in the Land Sector
Land administration systems typically include processes to manage public
land, record and register private interests in land, assess land value,
determine property tax obligations, define land use, and support the
development application and approval process. Box 7.1 sets out some
simple definitions. Land administration is a basic tool that supports land
management and operates within the framework established by a country’s
land policy and its legal, social, and environmental contexts.
The land sector globally is particularly susceptible to corruption and
rent seeking. Land is an enormously valuable asset, typically accounting
for 30–50 percent of national wealth in developing countries (Kunte et al.
1998). The value of land thus creates a significant opportunity for corruption
on the part of those with the legal authority to assign, revoke, or
restrict rights to it. In addition, externality concerns often necessitate the
Box 7.1
Land Administration and Management Defined
Land administration: the processes of determining, recording, and disseminating
information about tenure, value, and use of land when implementing land
management policies.
Land management: the activities required to manage land as a resource from
both environmental and economic perspectives toward sustainable
development.
Source: UN-FIG 1999, 52.