Farming in the shadow of the city: changes in land rights and livelihoods in peri-urban Accra

Abstract

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Centre de recherches pour le developpement international (CRDI)

In The Land of the Chiefs : Customary Law, Land Conflicts, and the Role of the State in Peri-Urban Ghana

“…It is based on fieldwork undertaken in 2003 and 2004. While the research displays narratives from only one village, it was part of a broader study in peri-urban Kumasi that has unveiled the same kinds of processes in other villages, and which is also confirmed in the literature on other peri-urban areas of Ghana (Abudulai 2002;Alden Wily and Hammond 2001;Berry 2002a;Gough and Yankson 2000;Kasanga and Kotey 2001;Maxwell et al 1998). …”

“…The Constitution does not however make more specific provision on how customary lands should be managed by traditional authorities, and in practice increasing land values leads to widespread disputes over the powers to allocate rights in customary land and entitlements to the proceeds of these land allocations. For instance, peri-urban areas witness severe struggles between farmers and families, on the one hand, and chiefs on the other over the right to convert farmland into residential land (Abudulai 1996, Abudulai 2002Alden Wily and Hammond 2001;Kasanga et al 1996;Maxwell et al 1998). In agricultural areas similar struggles over land and its proceeds can be witnessed (Amanor 1999, Amanor 2001, Amanor 2005Boni 2006;Firmin-Sellers 1995;Fred-Mensah 2000;Hill 1963;Lentz 2006;Lund 2006).)…”

“…The conversion of farmland to residential land and the effects on farmers' tenure security and livelihood described above for peri-urban Kumasi 5 have also been documented for the outskirts of a number of other major Ghanaian towns, such as Accra (Gough and Yankson 2000;Kasanga et al 1996;Maxwell et al 1998; NRI (Natural Resources Institute) and UST (University of Science and Technology) 1997: 28-30, D13-14;Wehrmann 2002), 6 Tamale (Abudulai 2002), and Wa (Hammond 2005: 18). According to Kasanga and Kotey evidence from all ten regional capitals ''confirms that the displacement of poor and marginalized families from their land is a national disease'' (Kasanga and Kotey 2001: 18).…”

“…Many other areas in Africa with a high pressure on land -whether due to population growth, urbanization, immigration, high quality agricultural land, or possibilities for mining or logging -show a severely reduced security of customary tenure, with often a negative role for chiefs, elders and heads of families. In these cases often one or more of the abovementioned explaining factors are found: traditional checks and balances have been more or less eroded; the state gives free rein to chiefs, elders and heads of families; and these traditional authorities can manipulate the negotiability of customary law to serve their own interests (Abudulai 2002;Alden Wily and Hammond 2001;Alden Wily 2003: 20;Amanor 2001: 32-40;Atwood 1990: 665;Berry 1997Berry : 1235Brokensha and Glazier 1973;Bruce 1988;Fisiy 1992;Hammond 2005;Goody 1979-80;Kasanga et al 1996;Kasanga and Kotey 2001;Lund and Hesseling 1999: 143, 149;Maxwell et al 1998;Shipton and Goheen 1992: 315;Swindell and Mamman 1990). In the face of land competition and the lack of both traditional and state checks and balances, the negotiability and ambiguity of customary law mainly serve certain privileged classes and increase inequity.…”

Challenges of Women in Urban Agriculture in Kwara State, Nigeria

“…Similarly, perennial crops cannot be planted on these types of land and most importantly, such urban cultivated land cannot be used as collateral to obtain loans from the banks by urban women farmers. Scholars have identified, in general terms, women's lack of access to land as a major constraint to urban agriculture activities (Maxwell et al, 1998;Smit et al, 1996 ;Maxwell, 1995) Farm input was also ranked number one problem confronting them by 338 (37%) respondents, 397 (22.0%), 238 (13.2%) and 263(14.6%) ranked it 2 nd , 3 rd , 4 th problems respectively. This is also important because farm inputs are needed to increase productivity.…”