Participatory Decision-Making in Resource Allocation in Areas Exposed to Floriculture Industry in Ethiopia: A Socio – Legal Analysis of the Case of Sululta Area in Oromia Regional State

Abstract

This paper explores the factors affecting smallholder farmers’ participatory decision
making in land and water resource allocation. It employed a grounded theory research
design and utilized data collected through Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), Focus Group
Discussions (FGDs), non-participant observation, and document analyses. The factors
affecting smallholder farmers’ participatory decision-making include legal and practical
gaps such as asymmetric governance and regulatory disparities, complex and divergent
interests of stakeholders, social exclusion, communal land tenure insecurity, a deficit in
smallholder farmers' structural representation, and disenfranchisement stemming from
privatization. It further finds the consequences of non-participatory decision-making such as
restricted access to resources and conflicts, environmental degradation, and diminished
trust in government. The paper urges legal reforms to enhance participatory decision
making, recommends a decision-making model that incorporates smallholder farmers, and
recommends the need for structural representation of smallholder farmers’ effective
participatory decision-making in resource allocation.