2.0 Land Access and Rights in the Ayensuano District and Suhum Municipality

Contents

Table of Contents ...... 1

List of Acronyms ...... 3

Acknowledgement ...... 4

Executive Summary...... 5

1.0 General Introduction ...... 8

1.1 Introduction ...... 8

1.2 Research Methodology ...... 9

2.0 Land Access in the Ayensuano District adn Suhum Municipality ...... 11

2.1 Access to Land within Study Communities ...... 11

2.2 Cultural Practices Discriminating against Women‘s Access to Land ...... 15

2.3 Challenges Confronting Land Access...... 17

5.0 Conclusion and Recommendations ...... 32

5.1 Conclusion ...... 32

References ...... 35

Appendices

List of Acronyms

CBOs Community-Based Organisations CSOs Civil Society Organisations FGD Focus Group Discussion FLOW Funding Leadership Opportunity for Women IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development LAP Land Administration Project NGOs Non-Governmental Organisations PNDC Provisional National Defence Council WASRO WiLDAF West Africa Regional Office WiLDAF Women in Law and Development in Africa

Acknowledgements

WiLDAF Ghana is grateful to a number of people for supporting this research. We appreciate the support of Bernice Sam, the National Programme Coordinator, who conceptualised the study, provided guidance to the consultants and commented on the draft report. We are grateful to the consultants who have worked with WiLDAF Ghana on our land and gender projects providing valuable input not only through primary research but also documentation to empower community people particularly women on land rights. Appreciation to our valuable project officer, Lois Aduamoah-Addo, whose dedication to the rural women‘s empowerment projects in Greater Accra and Eastern Regions encourages the organisation to reach out to more communities who face similar challenges relating to access, control and ownership of land.

Special gratitude to the chiefs, queenmothers, district assembly members and other opinion leaders who provided information that has culminated in this report. To the many farmers and people in the communities of the two districts, we are grateful to you for enriched our knowledge on gender issues in your communities.

WiLDAF appreciates our partner the Farmers Organisation Network of Ghana (FONG) without whose support this project and research would not have happened.

We are particularly grateful to the WiLDAF West Africa Regional Office (WASRO) for this project which empowers women in 5 countries.

Lastly, WiLDAF Ghana and FONG are grateful for the support of Fund for Leadership Opportunities for Women (FLOW), The Netherlands, for financially supporting the project. We believe that through this support you have positively touched the lives of many women and men in the district.

Executive Summary

This study has investigated land access and control from a gender perspective in two agriculture dominated districts in the Eastern region of Ghana, that is, Ayensuano District and Suhum Municipality. The study relied mainly on qualitative techniques involving key informant focus group discussion as well as interactive open discussion involving all key informants.

Access to Land The study found that the key means of accessing land for both men and women include outright purchase, inheritance, marriage and leasing. Access to land through marriage is the most important means of access to land among women. Women can lease land in all the study communities for farming or other purposes. However in many instances, they are not allowed to sub-let lands that had been leased to them. The system of inheritance generally tends to favour men compared to women as men often get access to the most valuable of properties such as land, cocoa and oil palm plantations. This is irrespective of the fact that both matrilineal and patrilineal systems of inheritance are widely practiced in most of the study communities.

Despite the fact that there is no deliberate policy or legislation which restricts access to land among women and men, there are some particular cultural practices identified within the study communities which work against the interests of women as far as land access and control is concerned. Some of these practices include the requirement by landowners for women to be accompanied by their male partners, siblings or children when they want to acquire land. Customarily, women are also not allowed to inherit family lands in all the study communities as they are perceived to take land away from the family when they marry. In matrilineal communities in particular, women who inherit land do so as lineage members, not as wives or children, especially if the parent involved is a man. Women mostly get temporary use rights over family lands and tenure security over such lands tends out too weak because they are likely to lose such lands at the demise of the spouse.

Women are often required to seek consent of their spouses whenever they want to acquire land either through outright purchase or through leasehold. Even though this may be good for purposes of marital harmony, men are not required to do likewise. Men who acquire properties often do not include the names of their partners in the documents covering such properties.

Aside the cultural and institutional challenges confronting women‘s access to land, there are other challenges that restrict access to land for both men and women in the study communities. These challenges include the limited documentation on landed properties on the part of both men and women, although there seems to be more women who have not been able to document their lands compared to the men; closely related to the above is the fact that people sometimes misconstrue indenture to be the end of the titling process and tend to ignore the other processes involved in land titling. These challenges make it difficult to transfer such properties.

Land Ownership and Control Gender differentiated rights and roles in the study communities are found to be skewed in favour of men as against women and this has resulted in an unequal power relation between men and women. In the District and Municipality, most lands belong to individuals and government. This therefore makes it relatively easier for land to be entrusted in the hands of women within communities.

The District and Municipality have patrilineal and matrilineal systems of inheritance. Under the patrilineal system, a man‘s property is mainly transmitted to his children. Usually, the son of the man takes much precedence over the daughter. On the contrary, in the matrilineal system a woman can only get control over land through her husband or brother. In situations where there is no brother or nephew, the aunt‘s son will be considered the closest family member to take over the land. Thus it becomes very difficult for female family members to individually own land. Sharecropping therefore serves as the main channel for women to have temporary control over land for farming purposes.

Women often tend to be excluded in land tenure decision making processes at the community level. Such decisions are mainly the exclusive preserve of chiefs and family heads. Irrespective of whether women belong to the patrilineal or matrilineal lineage, it is the men in their families who more or less preside over the allocation of family resources.

As women mainly enjoy secondary ownership to land, it becomes very difficult for them to cultivate permanent crops such as cocoa which is highly profitable compared to annual crops such as vegetables and cereals. Effectively, men become more empowered economically compared to their female counterparts within the farming system. In addition, women are mostly compelled to engage in share cropping, a situation that results in landlords—mostly men - changing the terms of the tenancy agreement at will. A situation greatly helped by the fact that most of the tenancy arrangements are verbal.

The most pertinent challenge confronting women with regard to land acquisition is marginalization. Women in the study communities always rely on their spouses to cater for their welfare. Due to the domineering nature of men over women in decision making, deciding on land tenure issues is the sole prerogative of men. As such decisions on land tenure are always taken in favour of men but against women.

Gender Roles in Farm and Sharing of Proceeds Women in the Ayensuano District and Suhum Municipality in general are unable to cultivate cash crops mainly due to their inability to control land and also lack the strength to cultivate cash crops such as cocoa due to the drudgery involved in cultivating such crops. Though women contribute significantly to the production of cocoa mostly through labour and at times in cash, proceeds from cocoa farms often go to men and they are not accountable to women. This is because men are in control of cocoa farms and they usually decide how much should go to women. In most traditions it is very difficult for a woman to express her views as to how the proceeds from cocoa should be used. In circumstances when women express their views, those views are mostly ignored.

1.0 General Introduction

1.1 Introduction In traditional African settings, land is said to belong to ―the living, the unborn and the dead‖ (Taringa, 2006 p.204). In many of these communities, land is seen as sacred and there is sentimental and spiritual attachment to land. Aside from the sentimental and spiritual attachments people have over land, it is also seen as a means of attaining livelihoods especially for the present generation and generations unborn. For these reasons, the claim is often made that land is not for sale. Land therefore plays a very important role for accessing and sustaining livelihoods which is important for reducing poverty and promoting national development. In recent times however, the claim that ‗land is not for sale‘ has been challenged due to the increasing commercialisation of land in many parts of Africa. Increasing commercialisation of land is bringing about tremendous amount of pressure on land which is fundamentally affecting its access, control and tenure security especially among women (Gray and Kevane, 1992).

Agriculture has been estimated to engage over 60 percent of the labour force in Africa. For these people, the importance of land as a vital resource for their livelihoods cannot be underestimated. It has been noted that women constitutes a greater proportion of agricultural workers and farm labour in Africa (Rugadya, et al. 2004; WiLDAF, 2010). In Uganda for instance, women have been found to contribute between 70 – 80 percent of the agricultural labour force (Rugadya et al. 2004). Despite the critical role of land to agriculture and the higher proportion of agricultural labour force being constituted by women, inequities are often found in terms of land access and control between men and women in many parts of the continent (Platteau, 1996; Tekle, 1998; Rugdya et al. 2004). In many parts of Africa, women are allowed to have secondary rights to land mainly through their husbands, but are not allowed to inherit.

Research within agrarian societies has shown that land access is an important determinant of income (Owusu et al, 2008). The argument is that individuals with access to land have a better chance of earning a higher income compared to those without or with difficulties in terms of land access. It is therefore not surprising that analysis of the poor within agrarian

societies have often found more women within the poverty bracket compared to men (Rugadya et al., 2004). This is because the institutional arrangements in Africa, coupled with the increasing commercialisation of land places a lot of challenges with regard to women‘s access to land and this is negatively affecting income levels of women compared to men.

In Ghana, there are two schools of thought on gender and land access and control (Owusu et al. 2008). While one school of thought holds the view that gender inequalities does exist within the land tenure systems in many communities in the country, the other view is that women‘s access and control over land is improving and this is mainly influenced by factors such as migration, education and economic improvements especially within rural areas. Despite these dichotomous view points, most studies on gender and land access and control often point to some particular cultural practices linked with the institutional structures in many communities in Ghana which works against the interests of women as far as land access and control is concerned (Vallenga, 1986; IFAD, 1998; Duncan and Brants, 2004, Owusu et al. 2008, WiLDAF, 2010). In many of these communities for instance, due to the system of land ownership and inheritance, and means of transfer, women are often found at the margins of the land sector. Women often derive secondary use rights over land, and when they do get access within farming communities; they are mostly allocated the least productive and the farthest of land from their places of residence.

It is the challenges and inequities with regard to gender, access and control and the tremendous role of land in sustaining livelihoods especially within agrarian communities that inform this study. The aim of this study is to highlight the differentiated means of land access between men and women, the conditions of access, control, and the challenges confronting land access and control and to highlight some particular cultural practices at the community level which work against the interest of women.

1.2 Research Methodology This study is based on selected communities in the Ayensuano District and Suhum Municipality of the Eastern Region of Ghana. Data was obtained from mainly qualitative sources. In all, 20 individuals from six communities were invited to Koforidua over a period of four days where the data gathering process took place. Selection of these individuals was based mainly on the knowledge about community history and current occurrences within 9

communities as far as land related issues are concerned, length of stay within communities under study, and the role currently being played by individuals within their communities. As a result, the gathering was composed of diverse personalities such as traditional rulers (both chiefs and queen mothers), linguists, assembly persons, unit committee members, representatives from religious and faith-based organizations, representatives from civil society organizations, and professional workers within the study communities.

Table 1: Study Communities and Number of Representatives per Community

Community Name No. of participants Female participants Male participants per community

Gorjano 3 2 1

Ayekokuso 3 2 1

Asuboi 2 2

Amanase 3 2 1

Suhum 8 4 4

Budu 1 1

Total 20 12 8

The main research tool used in soliciting information is key informant focus group discussion (FGD). The FGD was conducted in the Twi language which is the main medium of communication within communities in the district. In addition to the FDGs, an open discussion facilitated by the researchers was held and issues of land access and rights, ownership as well as gender relations with regard to land were freely discussed. Both the FGD and the general group discussion were recorded and transcribed by the facilitators themselves who are fluent in reading and writing in the Twi language.

2.0 Land Access and Rights in the Ayensuano District and Suhum Municipality

Access to land refers to the ease with which individuals, households and communities acquire land for various purposes including livelihoods as well as satisfying shelter needs (Owusu and Adjei, 2008). This is influenced by the rights that comes with any parcel of land or the ‗bundle of rights‘ that is held by either the individual, household or community. Under the circumstance where individuals, households or communities in need of land can acquire the land in sufficient quantity at a desired location, then it can be said that land is accessible. In other situations where the institutional arrangements governing land tenure1 make it relatively difficult for people to be able to acquire land to meet their livelihoods requirements, investment purposes or shelter requirements, then it can be said that land is inaccessible. Questions and discourse on land access and rights are therefore very important as they influence who, how, where and when issues relating to usage of land. Answers to these questions have direct implications on livelihoods and poverty as far as both men and women are concerned.

2.1 Access to Land within Study Communities As in most parts of Ghana, both men and women within the study communities do access land through outright purchase, inheritance, marriage especially for women, and through leasing. Access to land through gift did not really come as a major means by which people access land. Perhaps, this may be a result of the increasing commercialization and commoditisation of land especially in most parts of Ghana. However, conditions of access to land through outright purchase, inheritance, marriage and leasing do vary with regard to gender and some variations were also observed within communities in the district.

Access to Land through Outright Purchase Like most parts of Ghana, both men and women are allowed to access land through purchase in all the communities studied. Probably, this may be the easiest means to access

1 Land tenure refers to the formal and informal arrangements for owning, acquiring, dealing in and using land within particular localities. 11

land where interested parties have the ability to pay. However, as came out quite strongly during the FGD, ability to pay is a major challenge especially for women in the study communities. Even though there are no specific barriers which bar women from purchasing land in any of the communities under study, the role of men in women‘s attempt to purchase land cannot be underestimated. The role of men in women‘s attempts at purchasing land in the study communities becomes very important due to some specific requirements or conditions on the part of landowners. In most instances, land owners do not want to deal directly with women in the absence of men. What then happens as a result of this requirement by land owners is that, women often go into land dealings with their husbands. In situations where the woman does not have a partner, landowners often require her to come with a male sibling or male family member before the woman‘s land purchase can take effect. This specific requirement is confirmed by a focus group discussant as follows:

If you are a woman and you see a land that you are interested in and want to buy it, you inform your spouse about it before you can go and buy it. A woman can‘t just get up and say I am going to buy a land because they [landowners] expect a witness. Most of the time, they prefer male witnesses closely related to the woman (46 year-old female FGD participant).

Men on the other hand in their attempt to purchase land for whatever purpose within communities under study are not required by landowners to come with their spouses or other female relations before purchase can take effect.

Access to Land through Inheritance Aside purchasing, women like men can access land through inheritance in most of the communities under study. Both matrilineal and patrilineal systems of inheritance are widely practiced in the study districts. It is very difficult to conclude as to which of the two inheritance systems is dominant in the district as this is beyond the mandate of this study. The fact that women are allowed to inherit land is not however, to say that women in the district do not experience their fair share of difficulties with regard to inheritance over land. In fact, in all the communities women are not allowed to inherit family lands. Specifically with regard to family lands, women only get temporary use rights over such lands, but cannot

own the land (see section 3.1 below). Customary practices such as the misconception that women take family property away from the family allows men to inherit land and women get temporary use rights to lands inherited by their husbands. Effectively, such women, unlike their male counterparts find it difficult to use family lands to cultivate cash crops such as cocoa and oil palm. This is because at the demise of the man, family members are more likely to come in and take possession of the land being used by the woman and the spouse. Use rights that women have over family lands in the possession of their spouses ceases at the demise of the spouse although the woman and children sometimes are made to get access to crops on the land over a period. A typical scenario of this predicament on the part of women is illustrated by the case of Akua2 reconstructed in Box 1 below.

Box 1: Akua’s Story

It is often said that some particular cultural practices especially at the community level works against women in their attempt to access land despite the numerous legislation which seek to protect the interests of all including women in land and other property dealings. This statement clearly exemplifies the case of Akua, a 48 year- old woman who resides in the Asuboi community in the Ayensuano District and Suhum Municipality. Professionally, Akua is a trader and a farmer. She stayed with her partner for a period of 9 years even though the man had not performed the customary marriage rtes. The couple lived with their three children. During the period she stayed with the husband, they cultivated two acres of cocoa and three acres of oil palm plantation on family land in the possession of the partner and proceeds from these farms were used to take care of the entire household. Akua‘s contribution to these farms was tremendous as she stated that ―all his [partner] family members knew I cultivated the oil palm and the cocoa with my husband and I actually nursed all the seedlings myself‖. Unfortunately, Akua lost the husband suddenly in 2009 and she had to take over the difficult responsibility of taking care of the children alone. To further complicate her situation, the family of her late partner came in at the demise of the husband to negotiate a takeover of the two farms. The argument put up by the late partner‘s family is that customarily the man had not married Akua and as a result she has to be compensated for her contribution on the farms. From the point of view of the man‘s family, the two farms belong to the man and since he had not married Akua, the family should get access to the farms. After the negotiation process, Akua accepted a compensation package of GHC 400 for the two farms and the family agreed to pay this amount in instalment. At the moment, Akua had received GHC 200 from

the late partner‘s family and yet to receive the remaining GHC 200. Currently, Akua no longer has 2 accessAkua is to a pseudonymthe farm as used the latein this partner‘s instance family to protect has takenthe identity absolute of the control person of the farms and she also 13 does not receive any share of the proceeds from the farm.

Three key issues come out clearly from Akua‘s case presented above. First, women compared to men often get temporary access to family lands which they can use so long as their spouses are alive. At the demise of the spouse, this temporary use right over the land is very likely to cease as the husband‘s family will most likely come in to take possession of the land and the crops, if any, on the land. This point is further supported by another FGD participant as follows:

Honestly speaking, it is very difficult for a woman whose husband has passed away to be allowed to work on a family land that they worked on. It does not happen (55 year- old male FGD participant).

Secondly, because of the temporary use rights that women often derive from family lands, this affects the type of crops that is cultivated by women. In most instances because the women know that they are likely to lose the land to the family, they tend to cultivate crops that takes shorter duration to mature at the expense of cash crops which take longer duration to mature, but brings in higher returns. This is likely to have implications on poverty among these women.

Carefully reading through Akua‘s transcript, she kept referring to the partner as her ―husband‖. In the eyes of the man‘s family however, Akua is not the man‘s wife. This conflicting perception and interpretation of Akua‘s position in the relationship is at the root cause of her current predicament. Despite the fact that Akua had stayed with the late partner for 9 years, the law on intestacy, the Intestate Succession Law, 1985 (PNDC Law 111) does not protect her because she is not a spouse.

When it comes to inheriting valuables such as cocoa farm especially within communities in the Ayensuano District and Suhum Municipality, most of the time the property is given to men and they are expected to share the proceeds from the property with women. What the woman is expected to get from the property therefore comes at the mercy of the man and in most instances there are no stringent checks in place by family elders to ensure that proceeds from such properties are distributed equitably between men and women.

Land Access through Marriage Access to land through marriage is a very important means for women within all the study communities. Although access to land among women through marriage is very important, what did come out during the FGD is that security of access is usually dependent on whether the land belongs to the spouse or the family. When the land belongs to the man, women do get use rights over the land and security of tenure on such land for women is very strong compared to the situation where the land does not belong to the spouse. Under such circumstance, women only get temporary use rights over the land and as earlier pointed out they are most likely to lose such lands especially if the land is family land in the possession of the spouse. The key issue that came out during the FGD is that women are not allowed to inherit family lands. Under the circumstance, if a man and his partner are using an inherited family land for farming purposes for instance, at the demise of the man, the extended family of the man comes in to take possession of the land. The woman will therefore be left to go and look for another land to farm on. This is sometimes done irrespective of whether the woman has children with the man or not.

Accessing Land through Leasing Both men and women in all communities under study can access land through leasing. However, like outright purchase, there are some specific conditions which go with leasing and these conditions often vary between the sexes. In some of the communities women are not allowed to lease out land that has been leased out to them although men in some communities are allowed to do so.

2.2 Cultural Practices Discriminating against Women’s Access to Land Within the study communities, whenever a woman has the means to access land through either outright purchase or leasing, she still has to seek the consent of the husband or partner before going ahead with the transaction. This situation is different from that of men who could easily go ahead to acquire land without seeking the consent of their partners. Women who acquire land without the consent of their spouses are often accused of being unfaithful to their husbands. Whenever this happens, it breeds suspicion and ill-feeling in the relationship which could lead to instability in such households. On the other hand, when men acquire landed property without the knowledge or consent of the wife or partner, there is no fuss over it and neither is household stability threatened. 15

In other circumstances, men who acquire properties do not include the names of their spouses in the documents covering the property. Most FGD participants indicated that at the community level, nothing wrong is seen of the situation where men acquire properties and do not include the names of their spouses in the documents covering the property although women do contribute in diverse ways during the land acquisition process. On the other hand, when a woman acquires a property and does not include the name of the husband in the document, this brings about problems in the relationship. The case below gives a clear example of the situation where the appearance or otherwise of a spouse‘s name on land documents brings about conflict.

A couple of months ago, a woman had money and went to acquire land in my community. However, the woman‘s husband insisted that she includes his name in the title documents covering the land. The woman objected and it resulted in some acrimony in the relationship and as a result, the woman eventually had to sell the land. (Female FGD participant from Amanase)

Aside the various laws which seek to protect the interests of women in property inheritance, it is quite conclusive that women suffer a lot of injustices as far as inheritance is concerned. This situation is even more serious with family land. Most of the focus group discussants confirmed that women are not allowed to inherit family lands in their communities. Even within areas where matrilineal inheritance dominates, women who inherit land do so as lineage members not as wives or children especially if the parent involved is a man. This is not however to say that women‘s access to land is without difficulties in the matrilineal dominated areas as in most instances, the lineal heads that control majority of the family lands are men and the majority of the stool occupants are also men and this works to the disadvantage of women. What usually pertains in most of the study communities is that it is the men who usually inherit family lands. It is believed that the men inherit on behalf of women. However, it is usually the men who inherit family lands who enjoy most of the benefits that accrue to the inherited lands. This is irrespective of the type of inheritance system that is practiced in the locality.

In some of the communities, the rights of children to lands inherited by their mothers are sometimes violated at the death of their mothers. Siblings of the deceased mother and their children sometimes come in to deprive children of their inheritance for the reason that the children have to inherit from their father‘s side.

At times, women unlike men, who get access to family-owned lands for farming purposes, are not given the free will to cultivate crops of their choice. Women are not allowed to cultivate crops that take a longer duration to yield such as oil palm or oranges. Most often, women are allowed to cultivate crops such as corn and cassava which have shorter yielding time.

In response to whether women can lease out land that is in their possession, it came out quite strongly that as women are not allowed to inherit land, they have no right to transfer by lease any parcel of land in their possession. Excerpts of this transcript are presented below: Interviewer: Are women allowed to lease out land in their possession?

Male FDG Participant: Women don‘t inherit land so how can they lease out land?

The situation is the same irrespective of whether the inheritance system in the community is matrilineal or patrilineal. Under the matrilineal system, it is rather the male children of women who inherit. On the surface, it is said that women inherit under the matrilineal system of inheritance. However, women who do inherit do so on behalf of their male children.

2.3 Challenges Confronting Land Access Discussants during the FGD gave strong indications about the limited documentation of land among people within their communities and this practice is common for both men and women. Despite efforts by the Customary Lands Secretariat under the Land Administration Project (LAP) to make land registration processes less cumbersome and affordable, current documentation processes within the two districts appear cumbersome in the eyes of community members. Although the role of education and literacy as well as poverty cannot be downplayed under this circumstance, the cumbersome registration processes have

resulted in situations where people prefer not to register their lands at all which has implications on security of tenure. Although both sexes expressed frustrations in land documentation processes, it appears the impact of this frustration weighs in more heavily on women compared to men. This is because men compared to women are more likely to be able to endure frustrations involved in land registration processes. Added to the above, men compared to women are more likely to be able to afford the costs involved in land registration processes (WiLDAF, 2010). As a result, although both sexes are culpable when it comes to not registering land, it came out quite strongly during the FGD that there are more women who have not been able to register their lands compared to men.

Some people within the study communities also misconstrue indenture to be the end of the titling process and this phenomenon is common to both men and women. As soon as they get the indenture on the land, they tend to ignore the other procedures involved in the registration process. This laxity on the part of potential buyers which is mostly influenced by limited knowledge, poverty and the cumbersome registration proceedings is likely to have serious implications on security of tenure over such lands.

Aside the limited documentation of land, another challenge confronting women‘s access to land in particular is the situation whereby landowners ask women to bring in their partners or male relations during land transactions. This situation is particularly serious in the case of women without partners or widows who are unable to get trustworthy male relations to accompany them in their dealings in land. This challenge to women‘s access to land is illustrated by an FGD participant as follows:

I saw a land by the roadside in my community [Suhum] and wanted to acquire the land and use it for farming. As a result, I asked for the landowner and I was directed to him. When I contacted him for the land he asked me which man is backing or accompanying me for the land. I told him I did not come with any man and I am only interested in acquiring the land for farming. He insisted I go and bring a man. So I went and brought my senior brother but he rejected him. However, when I went and brought my son to him, he agreed and gave the land to me. (52 year-old female FGD participant)

Due to limited knowledge and negligence, some individuals in their attempt to acquire land deal with wrong personalities because there are many claimants to family-owned lands. Identifying the right family heads therefore becomes difficult for both men and women. This sometimes leads to loss of money by men and women in their attempts to access land.

Women are not allowed to head families in the study communities in the Suhum Municipality and Ayensuano District. Notwithstanding the inheritance system, it is the family head that has the greatest influence in land dealings at the family level. As women are not allowed to head families in communities, this is likely to affect the extent to which women can access land.

3.0 Land Ownership and Control

3.1 Brief Overview of Land Ownership in Ghana It is a cliché that land is a key asset for most developing countries including Ghana. Given the effect of continuous increase in population, globalization and urbanization, demand for land in developing countries is on the rise. This has made the resource very scarce in a number of places leading to increased competition for land ownership. Further, the agrarian nature of livelihood activities of men and women in sub-Saharan Africa in spite of the growing diversification of livelihood activities and extensive urbanisation makes land a critical resource for livelihood activities particularly for farmers. Thus the control of land as a critical livelihood resource becomes gendered. The issue is that women become more disadvantaged when the issue of land ownership arises. Control over land is a cardinal resource to a healthy livelihood for women. Though this assertion is true, it is argued that women are discriminated against in terms of realizing their rights to land (Duncan and Brant, 2004). The socio-cultural norms of a society impact significantly on the control and access to land in developing countries such as Ghana. Farming systems, customary laws on marital issues, gender roles at household level and inheritance rights are some of the socio-cultural norms that discriminate against women in land access and control.

Women‘s land ownership in Ghana is considerably influenced by the inheritance systems, the land tenure system and the pattern of land use. In Ghana the major conduit by which women acquire land is through inheritance both as wives and as daughters or sisters. However, the gender-differentiated rights and roles within various traditional set-ups in Ghana are skewed in favour of men and against women. This is mainly due to the hierarchical nature of rights and responsibilities over land and other property within the traditional set-ups. Granting the right to own land to be the preserve of men, and rendering women‘s rights to own land through their male relations creates an unequal power relation.

3.2 Land Ownership in the Ayensuano District and Suhum Municipality The focused group discussion that was conducted with key informants from communities in the Ayensuano District and Suhum Municipality gives credence to the assertion that gender- differentiated rights and roles within traditional set-ups within the Ghanaian context are

often skewed in favour of men as against women and this has created an unequal power relation between men and women. For instance the family head (usually a male) and chiefs have control over land in the communities. Under the patrilineal system of inheritance, children or grand children3 are also allowed to inherit land. Box 1 reveals the opinion of the key informants on who, by gender, controls land in these two districts.

Box 1: Land Ownership in the Ayensuano District and Suhum Municipality, by Gender Though family heads and chiefs are the sole custodians of the land, land can also be controlled by the children or grandchildren of the deceased. The chief of Amanase pointed out that, ―there are no stool lands. All the lands belong to individuals. So we advice them to make the necessary documents on them so that in future there will not be any cause for alarm‖. But the queen mother of Suhum specified that ―All of us (i.e. people of Suhum Kraboa Coaltar) are from Akwapim and as we were developing the town (i.e. Suhum), lands were given to clans and families without them paying a dime. All because our fore-fathers wanted the development of the area and so they gave the land out for free. This is what we have now realized and we feel that the government has cheated us because they took the lands without any compensation. The station and the market belong to us but since we want peace we have left it like that. So the stool has not got any land because we gave all to the government. The issue is that our clans and families mostly have male heads who serve as superintendents of the land‖.

The various case studies presented above are consistent with standard literature. As noted in both the literature and most of the case studies, it is the males who hold positions such as chiefs and family heads in the family or communities that control land. Most lands in the Ayensuano District and Suhum Municipality belong to individuals and the government. Thus it is easier for land to be entrusted in the hands of women.

In Ghana, kinship is mainly unilineal which is traced either through the matrilineal (mother‘s lineage) or through the patrilineal (father‘s lineage) descent. With regard to patrilineal decent, children are expected to inherit through the father‘s kin group and not their mother‘s. Thus,

3 The children or grandchildren are usually the male children of the deceased. The patrilineal system under which this system operates does not permit daughters of the deceased to inherit land. 21

kin membership is usually passed on from male children to their sons. In the case of matrilineal societies, children are part of their mother‘s kin group and only female children can pass kin identity to their offspring. The matrilineal system of inheritance is characterized by the fact that it has a weaker form of relationship between father and child compared to the patrilineal form of inheritance. Since the father of the child does not belong to the same kinship under the matrilineal system of inheritance, the father‘s responsibilities are generally assigned to the mother‘s brother (uncle) who is the closest kinsman of the child. This scenario is quite common in the Akan communities in Ghana (Eliana La Ferrara, 2006).

In addition, the intergenerational transmission of land control rights varies among both matrilineal and patrilineal cultures. In the patrilineal system, a man‘s property is mainly transmitted to his children. Usually, the son of the man takes much precedence over the daughter. On the contrary, in the matrilineal system women can only get control over land through their husband or brother, despite the fact that control of land is through maternal lineage. This is purely due to seniority requirements, where it is traditionally believed that property must be passed first to any living brother or the head of the family and then to the younger generation. Nonetheless, if no brother or nephew exists, the aunt‘s son will be considered the closest family member to take over the land. Thus it becomes very difficult for female family members to individually own land.

Another interesting dimension to the customary matrilineal norms in Ghana is that men are expected to maintain their spouse(s) and children and in return, the spouse(s) and the children work on his farm for him. However, such labour input does not give them a right to own the land. Thus, the traditional matrilineal system of inheritance can result in an ironical situation in which a man‘s nuclear family work all their life on his land and at his death are left virtually with no property (Eliana La Ferrara, 2006). As a result of the inheritance system, there is little land left for women in a household to use for their own economic activity such as farming; thus making it very difficult for females in a community to control land. The only coping strategy adopted by women in acquiring land is through share cropping (Duncan and Brant, 2004). Two types of the sharecropping system exist in Ghana. These are the abunu and the abusa systems. Under the abunu system, the proceeds from the farm are shared into two equal parts and the land owner takes half (50%) and the farmer—female also takes the

remaining half (50%). With the abusa system, the proceeds from the farm are shared into three equal parts; the land owner takes one third with two thirds going to the farmer— female. These types of share cropping are mostly found in the Akan speaking communities in Ghana.

The system of inheritance that exists in the Ayensuano District and Suhum Municipality is both paternal and maternal. In both systems, the woman is a secondary owner of the land. However discussions from the FGD stipulates that the people of the Ayensuano District and Suhum Municipality are migrant settlers and own land on individual basis.

Box 2 provides key informants‘ position on the system of land acquisition as well as the terms of engagement with regard to land acquisition in the two districts. It also provides information on whether the land tenure system has changed over time in those communities.

Box 2

A queen mother from one of the key towns in the Suhum Municipality indicated that, ―Amanase people practice paternal inheritance and we Suhum people practice maternal inheritance system‖. Another chief explained further that ―the people of Suhum practice both the patrilineal and matrilineal systems of inheritance. To be able to acquire and own land in the Suhum Municipality, you first have to see the chief of the town to help you get one. If you are able to get one but do not have money to pay for it then you go into sharecropping with the land owner. But if you are able to pay money for the land outright, then you are not obliged to share anything with the land owner. The problem is that we the women find it very difficult getting money to purchase land in our communities‖.

When land is given out in the Ayensuano District and Suhum Municipality to a tenant farmer for the cultivation of a cash crop such as cocoa, the proceeds are divided into two equal parts (i.e abunu) with the land owner taking half of the proceeds and the tenant farmer also taking half of the proceeds. This means the land does not belong to you the farmer but only the cocoa. However, if the land is in a forest or has never been cultivated on, a lot of hard work is required to prepare the land for the crop. As such, the cocoa and the land will be divided into two equal parts for each party (i.e. landowner and tenant) to take one. On the other hand if the landowner did his own work and later gives the farm to a tenant farmer only the proceeds from the cocoa is divided into three equal parts

(abusa) for the farmer to take two- thirds and the landowner taking one-third. This second arrangement is mostly patronized by women considering the fact that they are relatively not as strong enough to clear forests as men. Food crops are also divided into two for cassava (abunu) and three for maize (abusa) respectively.

In the district, sharecropping is therefore one of the main conduits through which women have temporary control over land for farming. This assertion is also consistent with what is found in standard literature. But one striking issue is that women in communities in the district cannot inherit family lands. They are only able to inherit land(s) that is/are solely for their parents—fathers. Thus as specified in literature, land is very scarce for women in the district. As a coping strategy, women employ the share cropping system to be able to acquire land for economic purposes.

In the Ayensuano District and Suhum Municipality, if the land is forest which is given out entirely to the farmer to farm, the proceeds in addition to the land are divided into two equal parts (abunu) between the land owner and the farmer. However, if the crops (such as cocoa or oil palm) have been cultivated already by the landowner, the proceeds will be divided into three equal parts (abusa) for the tenant farmer to take one- third of the proceeds. The issue is that the second approach does not involve land ownership and is less labour intensive relative to the first approach (abunu). As such, women are more interested in the second approach compared to the first approach, since they get more of the proceeds in the abusa system, but will not be able to acquire the land.

3.3. Challenges of Women’s Ownership and Control over Land Women‘s control over land is fraught with challenges despite the fact that women constitute 52 percent of the total labour force, and 70 percent of subsistence crop farmers in the agricultural sector. Patterns of marital residence, land scarcity, gender-based division of labour and organization of production and gender bias in land size are some of the challenges. Women in many communities are given secondary cultivation and land rights. They are only able to get access to land through their male family members. The hierarchical nature of rights and responsibilities that emerge as a result of gender differentials are skewed against

women but in favour of men. Men are granted the primary right of inheriting land but women only access such land through the male relations or husbands, a situation that provides an unequal level playing field along gender lines. The two systems of inheritance - patrilineal and matrilineal systems - are major contributors to the disadvantaged position of women with regards to land ownership. Under the patrilineal system of inheritance, inheriting land is solely the prerogative of the father or male head of the family. Thus though all the children are entitled to inherit from their father, respective entitlements or specific shares allocated to them are subject to considerations based on gender, where the male children are given preferential treatment to the detriment of the female children.

Another challenge relating to land ownership for women is marital relations. Under the customary laws of Ghana, a woman is obliged to assist her husband on the farm. Coupled with her gender roles at home, this effectively reduces the amount of time and effort she can spend developing her own farm. However, it is common for a woman to lose her land and crops at divorce or upon the demise of the husband. In addition, the size of land that a woman farms on is affected in polygamous marriages. Women do not have relevant education and information on land rights and modes of enforcement of such rights. This is due to the fact that women have a lower literacy rate compared to men. Cultural norms, perspectives and gender-power relations at all levels of community life may be a major contributory factor. Considering the fact that in many parts of the country female children are not encouraged to pursue higher education, it is increasingly becoming difficult for women to understand their rights (Sarpong, 2006).

Additionally, women are excluded in land tenure decision making processes in their communities. Such decisions are mainly the exclusive preserve of the chiefs, and heads of the families. Therefore, whether women belong to the patrilineal or matrilineal cultures, it is the men in their families who more or less preside over the allocation of family resources.

Usufructuary user limitations are also factors that are inimical to women‘s ability to own land. On the average, women are given smaller sizes of land compared to men. Clearing of virgin land is traditionally the sole right of men, thus making women‘s access to land limited to less fertile lands (Sarpong, 2006).

Due to the fact that women only have secondary ownership to land, it is very difficult for women to cultivate permanent crops such as cocoa which is highly profitable compared to annual crops such as vegetables and cereals. Thus men become more empowered economically than female farmers. In addition, women are mostly compelled to engage in share cropping, a situation that results in landlords—mostly men changing the terms of the tenancy agreement at will. This situation is made easy for the landlords mainly because most of the tenancy arrangements are verbal (Duncan, 2000). So, instead of abusa where the tenant is expected to take two- thirds of the proceeds and the landlord taking one-third, the landlord can decide to take half of the total output of the produce, that is abunu (Sarpong, 2006). Box 3 below provides evidence from key informants during the FGD on challenges confronting women in land acquisition.

Box 3: Challenges confronting women with regard to land acquisition in the Ayensuano District and Suhum Municipality.

A 45 year-old farmer said that ―women are always sidelined in all activities in the family and the community. I will use my mother as an example. My mother has brothers and she is the last born of her family. Her brothers died earlier so my mother is now the head of the family. But for six years now, my mother has been denied the land by my uncles mainly because she is a woman. However, when his brothers were ill and were taken to Dodowa, the proceeds from the land is what was used to cater for them. Unfortunately, my mother who is now the head has been denied of it just because she is a woman. So, about a month ago we went to enquire from some of our uncles why they have denied our mother, who is now the head of the family, of the revenue from the lands? They were not able to give us any answer. About two weeks ago we went to them again and they assured us that they will consider the issue this month ending. So I think women are always suppressed in the family when it comes to land issues‖.

Another 46 year-old community member from Aye Nyamebekyere also stated that ―in the patrilineal system, if the children are four or ten and they are sharing the land, they will give each of the men one parcels of land. However, all the women will be put together to work on just one parcel of land. The reason is that the family believes the women will go and marry from elsewhere; as such the children of the women must eat from their husbands‘ farms‖.

From the focus group discussion, it is clear that the most pertinent challenge confronting women with regard to land acquisition is marginalization. For instance women are not allowed to own land in general. Where female children inherit land together with brothers from a deceased male parent (in patrilineal societies) they are all given a piece of land to work on. Further, proceeds from the women‘s farm are what are usually used for the upkeep of the house. Thus, women in the district always rely on their spouses for their economic well- being. Another attestation of marginalization is that opinions of women are mostly disregarded to the extent that they are not included in records of community meetings. Also, a woman cannot acquire land on her own. She requires a male family/community member who holds a responsible position such as a family head to lead her to acquire the land. Due to the domineering nature of men over women in decision making, deciding on land tenure issues is the sole prerogative of men. As such decisions on land tenure are taken in favour of men, and often against women. For example under the patrilineal system when a father dies the land is shared among the children. Each male child will be entitled to take an equal size of the parcel of land. But female children are lumped together entitled to one parcel of land. Consequently, land becomes very scarce for women; therefore they resort to sharecropping as a way of dealing with the economic challenges.

However, there are certain peculiar conditions that permit women to own land in the district. Evidence from the District is that when the children of a deceased are minors, the surviving wife or sister may be allowed to take over the properties of the deceased. However, the woman is not allowed to put up any permanent structure or make any permanent investment on the land. She is expected to hand over the land to the children as soon as they are mature or when she dies.

Box 4.0: Conditions that allow women to own lands When the issue of the conditions under which a woman can inherit a land was asked, most of the discussants responded that ―They will not even allow the woman to inherit land‖. However, a key informant, 26 year-old food seller indicated that ―There are few conditions under which women can inherit a land. For instance, under the patrilineal system, if the children of a late man are minors, the land can be entrusted to the woman to inherit; she does not have the right to lease any portion of the land to anybody even if she is in dire need of money to cater for her children. This is because the children are expected to grow and inherit the land. Again, she cannot do any long term property on the land because it will be taken away from her when the children grow or as soon as she dies‖.

4.0 Gender Roles in Farm and Sharing of Proceeds

Cash crop production in the Ghanaian economy, specifically cocoa, and the increasing importance of foreign exchange earnings from cash crops significantly impacts gender roles in agriculture. Cocoa farming in Ghana is labour intensive as such most cocoa farmers rely mostly on their family for labour. Various tasks in cocoa farming are gendered such that there are tasks that require male labour and there are others that can be done by female labour. Male labour is used for more intensive tasks such as clearing, tree felling and uprooting of root stumps whereas female labour is used for less intensive tasks such as weeding, harvesting and planting (Vigneri, 2008). Though duties or roles played by women on the cocoa farm may be described as less labour-intensive, women provide an immense proportion of labour in the farming in general. The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) estimates that two thirds of the female labour force is involved in agricultural activities (Garcia, 2006). However, production of cocoa which is the major cash crop in Ghana is observed to have very few women involved in it. This is partly due to the huge capital outlay for land acquisition and input procurement. In addition, women lack the labour requirements for cocoa farming. Hence, cocoa farming in Ghana has become an opportunity for highly able men to undertake (Duncan and Brant, 2004). Primarily, men assumed the role of cash crop production initially, while women were responsible for food crops production—mainly for home consumption and the main traditional food crop yam was replaced by less labour-intensive crops such as maize and cassava.

Subsistence agriculture is the most dominant type of agriculture in Ghana since the pre- colonial days. However, during the pre-colonial days, both men and women used the same plot of land for farming, and they produced exclusively for domestic consumption. Specific agricultural tasks were defined along age and gender groups. Men were in charge of producing food crops whereas women were confined to weeding and assisting their husbands during harvest. Women were also responsible for domestic chores such as cooking, water-fetching; firewood collection as well as taking care of children (Ackah et al, 2011). The rationale for this type of labour along gender lines is purely due to the fact that tasks assigned to men are mostly regarded as masculine because they require a lot of energy. Thus, women were not allowed to perform such tasks. Tasks for women were less cumbersome to 29

perform. These less cumbersome, less energy-demanding tasks continue for women in contemporary Ghana.

Box 5: Case studies on gender roles in farming in the Ayensuano District and Suhum Municipality

A 44 year-old queen mother indicated that ―women can plant maize, cassava or weed and level the land whereas the men engage themselves in cutting trees‖. A retired educationist in the group concluded ―it is because women by their nature are not strong enough for such jobs‖. Some of the discussants then said that women are mostly involved in the planting of crops such as cocoa, cassava, maize and yam. However, harvesting of cocoa is mainly done by men because it requires a lot of hard work and considering the fact that men are generally taller than women, it is easier for men to harvest the crop‖.

Consistent with Ackah et al, (2011) women in general are unable to cultivate cash crops mainly due to their inability to control land and also lack the strength to cultivate cash crops such as cocoa due to the drudgery involved in cultivating such crops. For that reason, women in the district are mostly seen to be involved in food crop cultivation. The main food crops cultivated by women in the communities are maize, cassava, yam and vegetables. As the proceeds from cocoa production accrued to men, women soon started to sell part of the food crops they produce to ensure cash income for themselves. The issue is that though women contribute significantly to the production of cocoa, men do not render account to women on how much money accrues from sale of the cocoa beans.

Generally, it is also very difficult for a woman to express her views as to how the proceeds from sale of cocoa should be used, more so when in the first place, any contribution made to the farm is seen as part of her gender role as a wife. (Ackah et al. 2011). The situation is not different from what happens in the Ayensuano District and Suhum Municipality. In the district, the women have very little or no say in making decisions on use of proceeds from cash crop farming. The proceeds are managed by the man of the family. Traditionally, the men are not obliged to render accounts on the proceeds accrued from the cocoa to women. It is the sole prerogative of the man to decide whether to give the women any of the

proceeds. Box 6.0 presents the opinions of key informants on how decisions on proceeds from cash crops are taken. Box 6: Case studies on contributions made on proceeds on Gender basis A 55 year-old man admitted that ―it is difficult for the women to get proceeds from cocoa though they play a very significant role in the production of the crop. The women help in removing ropes from the cocoa, cook for those who will assist you in cracking the cocoa, help to carry the beans home and help dry it. If the man has other engagements, it is the woman who will be turning the cocoa for the sun to shine on it from time to time. As soon as it is dry, the man will go and look for sacks to load it, and the woman will assist in carrying the sacks to the cocoa shed. However, the woman will not be allowed to partake in decisions on how to use the proceeds. It is a personal experience‖. A 46 year- old woman also added that ―in situations where the woman is fortunate, the man will just give the woman a small amount of money for housekeeping‖. However, a queen mother opposed the above assertion by pointing out that ―proceeds from cocoa are equally shared between the men and women. In the matrilineal system of inheritance, the head of the family takes the proceeds and uses it to possibly undertake developmental projects such as construction or renovation of the family house. Sometimes the family head gives a small amount of money from the cocoa proceeds at the end of the year for festivities such as Christmas‖.

5.0 Conclusion and Recommendations

5.1 Conclusion This study has investigated land access, control and ownership from a gendered perspective in two agriculture-dominated districts in the Eastern Region of Ghana - Ayensuano District and Suhum Municipality using mainly key informant FGD supplemented by an open discussion involving all key informants. As in most parts of Ghana, both men and women can get access to land in the study communities through outright purchase, inheritance and leasing. However, marriage seems to come out quite strongly as one of the most important means of access to land for women. This notwithstanding, women in most of the study communities generally enjoy temporary use rights over land. Despite the fact that there is no deliberate policy or legislation which restricts access to land among women and men, the study observed some particular cultural practices which work against the interests of women as far as access to land is concerned. For instance, women in all the study communities are not allowed to inherit family lands although they can inherit land that belongs to their spouse. In addition, landowners require women in their attempt to acquire land to be accompanied by their male partners, siblings or children before any transfer by way of lease, outright purchase or sharecropping can take effect.

Generally, the report has brought to the fore the fact that land is generally owned by men in the two districts in question. Land is mostly the preserve of the family heads and chiefs who are mostly men. Women have minimal control over land and rely mostly on sharecropping to be able to own land for farming. The condition that allows women to own land is where the parents of the woman or the spouse of the woman prepares a Will that provides that the daughter or wife must inherit his land. Women can be temporary owners of land when the children of a deceased land owner are minors and the land is entrusted in the hands of the woman. The extreme condition under which a woman can own land is when there is no male child in the family. The key difficulty for women to own land is discrimination due to the existing customary practices in the district including practices under patrilineal and matrilineal systems of inheritance. Proceeds from family and individual lands are solely administered by the men. Women have no power to determine or express views on how such proceeds are administered. 32

5.2 Recommendations  Intensive advocacy is needed for government to simplify and reduce the cost of documentation of land especially in rural communities to encourage people to document their lands.

 More education and sensitization targeting men is needed at the community level to include the names of their spouses on properties (including land) that have been jointly acquired in the relationship.

 Community level education is equally recommended to encourage family heads and chiefs who control land at the community level to be sensitive to the plight of women in their decisions regarding land access and control.

 Education about specific cultural practices which work against the interests of women should be intensified by non-governmental organisation (NGOs), civil society organizations (CSOs), and community-based organisations (CBOs) especially at the community level where a wider audience can be targeted.

 Still in line with education, it is recommended that CSOs, NGOs and CBOs should be encouraged and supported to take over the challenge of educating and sensitizing local communities to increase their knowledge base about land and related issues.

 While using family lands, couples should to be encouraged and avenues created for them to secure lands that woman in particular can comfortably use in the absence of the husband.

 Recognition of the opinions of women is a cardinal instrument to women‘s land ownership. The fact that the views of women are considered inferior does not allow key opinion leaders to come to terms with the plight of women with regards to the economic value of land to women.

 Furthermore, recognizing the economic importance of land to the welfare of women is also important in the sense that it will enable women to compete with men in owning key cash crops such as cocoa and oil palm in the two districts.

 Another important factor to be considered is the imperative of girls and women‘s education. Education will enable them to understand and know their rights, roles and obligations on land ownership and also encourage women to demand a share in farm proceeds.

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Appendix 1

List of FDG Participants from Ayensuano District and Suhum Municipality Name Name of Age Occupation Position within Gender Community Community Vida Tetteh Ayekokye 42 Trader Linguist to the Queen Female

Juliana Adesa Aye 49 Trader Community member Female Nyamebekyere Tetteh Kokooso 26 Food Seller Mmabaa Hemaa‘s Female Vincentia Nyamebekyere linguist Nana Kwaku Suhum 68 Retired Educationist Ankobeahene of Male Addo Akropong-Akwapim Nana Amanase 46 Cook Mmabaahemaa Female Gyamfua Grace Amoah Asuboi 46 Trader Linguist to the Female Queenmother Mary Asuboi 48 Trader, Farmer, Health Treasurer of Asuboi Female Kemavor Insurance Worker Town) Emmanuel Ayekokooso 55 Farmer Unit Committee Male Ansah Member Daniel Narh Kokooso 45 Farmer Secretary to the Chief Male Nyamebekyere Juliana Asante Ayekokuoso 45 Trader Trader Female Peter Suhum 67 Farmer Farmer Male Vivian Amanase Trader Trader Female Owusu-Ansah Nana Korkor Suhum 58 Trader Market Queen Female Nana Yaa Suhum 52 Businesswoman Queenmother Female Sakyibea Samira Abedi Suhum 27 Student Female Nana Baffour Amanase 79 Chief Chief of Suhum Male Asare II Beatrice Suhum 25 Health Extension Health Insurance Female Kissieadu Worker Worker Richard Suhum 54 Farmer Farmer Male Debrah