CUSTOMARY LAND TENURE SYSTEMS AND GENDERED LAND RIGHTS IN ’S RESULTS FROM PHASE II GENDER EQUITY AND LAND TENURE FOCUS GROUPS

Gina Rico Mendez, PhD(*) Kathleen Ragsdale, PhD (**) Kelly Lower (**) Mary Read-Wahidi, PhD (**)

(*) Democracy International (Colombia Office) & Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University (United States of America) (**)Social Science Research Center, Mississippi State University

20th Annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty Ξ Washington DC Ξ March 26, 2019 Feed the Future Soybean Innovation Lab (SIL) is managed by the University of Illinois through support from USAID (Award No. AID-OAA-L-14-00001; P. Goldsmith, PI) and provides support to SIL’s Socioeconomic and Gender Equity Research Photo: Kelly Lower team at Mississippi State University (Grant No. 2013-04026-07; K. Ragsdale, PI). Photo: G. Rico Source: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/cia-maps-publications/map-downloads/ghana_admin.jpg/image.jpg Households Cultivating Soy in Ghana’s Northern Region

Source: Ghana Statistical Service. 2010 Population and Housing Census. Cartography by the Center for Applied Resource and Environmental Systems. January 2014.

Ghana’s Northern Region

. 74% of adults engage in agricultural production – primarily as small-scale farmers1

. 22% poverty rate2

. 31% moderate-to-severe hunger rate2

. 39% stunting rate among children 0-59 months2

Theory

. Ostrom’s new-institutional economics 3-5

. Incentives: Ex. Potential explanation of low investment in rural infrastructure maintenance

. Hierarchical governance structures create adverse investment incentives6

. Disincentives: Can reduce opportunities for economic and political development6

Customary Land Tenure

. Insecure property rights for women . Customary systems in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) frequently prevent women from inheriting land7

. Differences between Access and Control

. Access to land:

8 . “Right to enter upon and use land”

. Control over land:

8 . Ability to make decisions in regards to land . Ability to transfer land titles8

Changes in Regulatory Frameworks

. Evolution of customary land tenure systems towards individualized rights9-16

. International demand for certain commodities . Push to change the land tenure legal framework as

10-11 means to respond market demands

. Effects over food security . Focus on commodity production at the expense of

10-11 food crops

Ghana’s Land Tenure System I

. Legal framework: plural land tenure system

. Predominant form: customary land tenure

18 . ~80% of land own by traditional communities

. Women farmers have secondary access and little control over land8, 18

Ghana’s Land Tenure System II

Ghana8 Northern % Region19 Land ownership % Owned by men 83.1 94.8 Owned by women 9.8 5.2 Jointly owned 3.5 <1

Methods

. Gender Equity & Land Tenure Focus Groups – Phase II

. Goal: explore gender inequality in customary land tenure systems

. Eight focus groups among separate groups of men and women soybean farmers in Northern Ghana (N=101)

. Recordings and notes analyzed by lead author Photo:PhotoPhoto: byK.: KellyRagsdale K. Ragsdale Lower Results. Access to land: Gender differences “Acquiring the first plot”

. Men do not purchase land, they inherit it . Women get land through their husbands exclusively, except in one community . If the husband does not have land available, he has to look for land for the wife/wives Photo Photo:by: Kelly K. Ragsdale Lower “The tradition is that, when you marry as a new wife, the husband will organize his brothers, and go and get a piece of land and plow. This is the land for the wife to farm now. The next year, you will have to plow on your own.” (Female, District)

“The women go and beg their husband for land to farm.” (Female, )

“The husband has to give her land. If he does not have enough, he will have to go to someone to get land for her to farm.” (Male, ) Results. Access to land: Factors affecting access for women

. Birthplace. Women usually lose their right to access to land if they marry outside their community

. Marital Connections. Men will always provide land for women to farm

. Age. Elder women get her husband’s land, however, her children are responsible for farming Photo: Kelly Lower Photo:Photo:Photo: K. K.Ragsdale K. Ragsdale Ragsdale “If you marry from outside, to this village, your home village does not help you have land here.” (Female, Saboba District)

“You need a man to farm. The family you marry into has some authority, the authority to keep the land to farm, and to give some to you to farm and take care of your children.” (Female, Chereponi District)

“Some men here have three or four wives, some have one. The number of wives married to a man does not have any influence on his ability to access farmland.” (Female, Chereponi District) Photo:Photo: G. RicoPhoto: K. Mendez Ragsdale K. Ragsdale-GELT -I

Results. Secured Land Rights? . Participants from 3 out of the 4 communities assert they have secured land rights.

. However…

. Men in Tolon indicate, women do not have security of tenure

. Both, men and women participants from Chereponi indicate that men has secured land rights but women do not Photo:Photo: K. RagsdalePhoto: K. Ragsdale K. -Ragsdale GELT-I Regarding women´s land rights: “It is only to use the land for farming. Any other thing, you have no right to..” (Female, Saboba District)

“The women do not have secure rights to the land they farm. Because the land belongs to the husband. She doesn’t have any say.” (Male, )

“When she’s going to marry, the husband will provide her land, and the land here in her birth village will no longer be hers to farm..” (Female, )

Results: Control over Land

. Women farmers can control land, only if they farm continuously . They cannot let the farm fallow

. Men keep the control over farm land use . What to grow . Purchasing seeds and other farm inputs . Land transactions . Bargaining power

Photo: G. Rico Mendez – GELT-1

Photo:Photo: K. Ragsdale K. Ragsdale In the same village: “They [women] have the rights to access the land, to manage the land, to control the income from the land. They have full control over the land and the proceeds as well.” (Female, Karaga District)

Later they assert: “They all have secure rights to the land. If you no longer farm, they will take the land to farm (the children)” (Female, Karaga District)

The ladies also have secure rights to their land. Because the husband controls the land and he gives her land to farm. So nobody can take the land. (Male, Karaga District) Results: Gendered Farming Challenges

. Women farmers have less access to: . Agricultural knowledge, technical trainings . Agricultural inputs . Cash income . Fertile land . Childcare and household duties: complicate their farming activities . Such challenges impact women farmers’ agricultural productivity

Photo: G. Rico Mendez Results: Soybean Farming Challenges

. Men and women farmers’ challenges include: . Inoculant: difficult to access . Planting: difficult to sow in rows . Harvesting: gloves are needed . Threshing: lack of mechanical threshers . Hand threshing is labor intensive . Can damage soybean seeds, introduce debris

Photo: G. Rico Mendez “Soy crops can be profitable and the yield is good” (Female, Tolon District)

“If the land is fertile, once you plowed it you can get really good

yield. If the land is not fertile, then it comes the challenge. ” (Female, Saboba District)

“And if you cannot get the inoculum, it can be even harder, you are

not harvesting enough. ” (Female, Saboba District)

“Harvesting is more difficult, especially with children. ” (Female, Tolon District)

Photo:Photo: K. Ragsdale USAID

Conclusion I

. Customary land tenure systems impact women’s decision making around land use (Access and control)

. Land tenure insecurity may inhibit women farmers’: . Economic incentive to invest in their plots . Ability to secure loans for inputs or other economic development activities . Capacity to decide what to farm

Conclusion II

. Lack of gendered perspective in regulatory frameworks for land tenure can perpetuate women’s exclusion from equitable land rights

. Women farmers have less incentive to invest in their plots when land can be taken without recourse

. Polygamy remains a significant cultural aspect that impact women’s land tenure security REFERENCES

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KATHLEEN RAGSDALE, PHD ASSOCIATE RESEARCH PROFESSOR SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH CENTER MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY [email protected]

KELLY LOWER GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH CENTER MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY [email protected]

MARY READ-WAHIDI, PHD ASSISTANT RESEARCH PROFESSOR SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH CENTER MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY [email protected]

Photo: G. Rico Mendez GELT-I Visit the Soybean Innovation Lab at: http://soybeaninnovationlab.illinois.edu/progr ams