Abstract:
The objective of this study was to assess the cause and effects of urban expansion around Gojo
town in Jeldu district West Shoa, Oromia Regional State. Based on the descriptive research
design, the study had applied the mix methods of both Qualitative and Quantitative approaches.
A household survey was conducted on 150 households sampled through systematic sampling and
non-random sampling techniques. Primary data had been collected through questionnaire,
interview, and focus group discussion while the secondary one was from different written and
documented sources. Having analyzing the collected data through the SSPS software, the
researcher had arrived at the conclusion that urban expansion has some adverse impact on the
livelihood of peri-urban agricultural community in Ethiopia, as the Gojo town case had shown
us. The livelihood of such community has been at the verge of risk. This negative externality was
attributed mainly to lack of urban good governance & lack of effective rules and regulations on
land expropriation from and compensation to farmers while the difference in wealth, power,
educational background, family size burdens, livelihood strategies and diversity before and after
expropriation were determining factors. The recommendation of this study that there is a need
to prevail urban good governance to curtail the problem, especially, following participatory
approach on stakeholders, particularly, farmers, in to urban development plans and projects,
there should exist effective rules and regulations which guide expropriation from and
compensation to farmers when their land is expropriated for public interest, there should, also,
be consideration of the recipients' interests on kind and quantity of compensation and if money
is only possible resolutions on a kind of compensation to farmers', then, pre-trainings and post
coaching need to be carried out to enable such community sustain and secure their livelihood in
such changed and continuously re-changing urban terrains.
