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LAND, SETTLEMENT AND ETHNIC BOUNDARIES IN URBAN AND PERI-URBAN SETTINGS: THE CASE AFAR AND TEGRAYANS OF AB’ALA TOWN AND ITS SURROUNDINGS (NORTHEASTERN ETHIOPIA), C.1950S-2010S [Abstract ID: 0705-08]
This paper analyzes the changing dynamics of Tigray and Afar communities’ memory, settlement history, identity and the making of social boundaries in Ab’ala town and its surroundings. In the early 1960s, Ras Mengesha Seyoum of Tigray(r.1960-1974)designated the malaria-ridden Šekhät (otherwise Ab’ala)-then a no-man’s land to become a demographic outlet of irrigation-based settlement for the Tigray farmers. It appeared as a promising food granary to feed Endärta province, including the Afar community. The latter, owing to their pastoral livelihood, were then reluctant to settle within the evolving agricultural hamlet. In the ensuing decades, Ab’ala was hailed as a model of ethno-cultural accommodation between the Tigray and Afar communities. The 1975 Derg’s land reforms drew more Afars into Ab’ala claiming farm lands on par with the Tigray farmers. This sets the precedent toward the evolution of new dependency relationship between Afar absentee landlords and their Tigray tenants-at a time when the law officially banned tenancy. EPRDF’s federalism project after 1991 exacerbated this process. Ab’ala’s importance tremendously increased when it became the capital of zone two of Afar Region. Contrary to the TPLF’s lobbying, the Tegrayans, who then constituted an ethnic majority in the area voted to put Abala part of Afar Region rather than Tegray Region on an officially held referendum in the early 1990s. The same community regretted their decision and is now pushing for autonomy owing to grievances of ethnic discrimination/marginalization. This longitudinal survey is conducted at an interval of a decade (2006-2016). The data is collected from selected informants through purposive sampling method which has yielded three major findings. First, the two communities held contested layers of narratives partly attributed to shifting economic opportunities. Second, the quest for better shares of the pie precipitated changes in local ethnic demographics through Afar elite’s preferential urban land allocation system. Third, there is a nexus between growing urbanization and diverging perceptions of inter-ethnic relations. The study urges policy interventions towards positive engagement and more inclusive urban development, conflict management and inter-ethnic economic collaborations.