Resettlement, Sustainable Livelihoods, and Development in Africa

Resettlement has become a worldwide phenomenon in the development discourse. This phenomenon is mainly caused by population pressure, war or prolonged hostilities, irreversible environmental degradation, and development projects. The main objective of this chapter is to analyze the effects of a planned government intra-regional resettlement program on the sustainable livelihoods of resettled households in Ethiopia. To this end, the combination of SLF and IRR models were used as the pillars of the theoretical and conceptual framework of the study. This study, based on mixed method design, concludes that the effects of planned resettlement on the sustainable livelihoods of resettlers were mixed and challenged the generic representation of the scheme as a success or a failure. The adverse effects were mainly due to policy gaps, the mismatch between policy and practice, poor inter-sectoral and inter-regional integration, and inadequate capacity building efforts. Recommendations are provided in line with these gaps.