Towards the development of differential land taxation and its implications for sustainable land management

Despite the concerted efforts by the researchers, government and NGOs to arrest land degradation problems, most agricultural lands of developing countries are still suffering from massive degradation. This study introduces a new strategy, called differential land taxation (DLT), where rural lands are subject to different taxation rates. DLT is determined by rating the magnitude of accord or discord between the recommended and the implemented land management practices. To appraise DLT, opinion of stakeholders, drawn from sample localities of central Ethiopia, were assessed. Most respondents proved that DLT could bring about sustainable land management practices through encouraging conservation-minded peasants while systematically discouraging land abusers.