The dynamics of farmer migration and resettlement in the Dhidhessa River Basin, Ethiopia

Extensive migration, settlement, and relocation of people for water resources development practice along a river basin often changes its hydrologic conditions and leads to conflicts for available water resources. In view of this, this study compiled the dynamics of population migration, settlement, and water resource developments in the Dhidhessa River Basin (DRB). The trend in migration time series for 1984-2017 based on census data indicates that the migrated rural population were ‘pulled’ by the government initiative. On the other hand, survey revealed that the farmer have dire reasons to migrate from their origin due to the scarcity of land and water. However, given the distance to a dam location, such potential migrants are financially incapable of relocating on their own. The study, therefore, calls for an analysis that takes into account the wellbeing of the displaced agrarian society at large of the migrant population in particular in the dam-affected area.