Meharie / Dissertation Research: Population Displacement, Household Livelihood Security and Social Relations in a Peri-Urban Area of Ethiopia

The socio-economic impacts of population displacement on households, as a result of development projects, have been documented extensively. Although the literature is filled with accounts about how development-induced displacement is a devastating experience for households, until very recently, no study has systematically examined how individuals within the household are differentially affected by this type of displacement and how their responses in turn affect household social relations and livelihood security. While recent efforts have increasingly focused on individual household members, women have received the majority of attention at the expense of other household members, particularly youth. Furthermore, despite the increasing rate of urbanization in developing countries in the last few decades, displacement studies have neglected to document the effects of urban expansion on peri-urban populations. This project proposes to be the first study to examine the effects of peri-urban displacement on youth and households in order to understand how newly created constraints and opportunities alter on-farm obligations, social relations, and household livelihood security. The proposed research will determine; (I) if youth are released from on-farm obligations to pursue other livelihood opportunities, (2) if autonomy gain from off-farm employments gives youth increased bargaining power within the household to challenge customary gerontacratic rule of the society, and (3) if youth from displaced households contribute more to household livelihood security as compared to youth from non-displaced households.