The Emergence of Land Markets in Africa

CHAPTER 11

Land Rental Markets

and Land Management

in the Highlands of Ethiopia

SAMUEL BENIN AND JOHN PENDER

and is a crucial resource in agrarian economies and, thus, efficient land markets (including sales and rentals) are important for sustainable land management and agricultural development. Land markets allow land to be used by farmers who are more capable to earn the highest return from it, particularly where markets for other scarce factors of production do not function perfectly because of asymmetric information, transaction costs, and incentive problems (Binswanger and Rosenzweig 1986; Chapters 1 and 2). Unfortunately, land sales markets ...