Land Tenure Reform and Customary Claims Negotiability in Rural Ghana

FINDING THE MIDDLE GROUND: Land Tenure Reform and Customary Claims Negotiability in Rural Ghana Richard Ameyaw Ampadu This dissertation is part of the Research Programme of Ceres, Research School for Resource Studies for Development. Funded by the Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP). © Richard Ameyaw Ampadu All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author. Printed in The Netherlands. ISBN 978-94-91478-14-7 FINDING THE MIDDLE GROUND: Land Tenure Reform and Customary Claims Negotiability in Rural Ghana EEN MIDDENWEG ZIEN TE VINDEN: hervorming van het pachtstelsel en onderhandelbaarheid van aanspraken op basis van het gewoonterecht op het platteland in Ghana Thesis to obtain the degree of Doctor from the Erasmus University Rotterdam by command of the Rector Magnificus Professor dr H.G. Schmidt and in accordance with the decision of the Doctorate Board The public defence shall be held on 19 July 2013 at 16.00hrs by Richard Ameyaw Ampadu born in Accra, Ghana Doctoral Committee Promotors Prof.dr. B.N.F. White Prof.dr. M.N. Spoor Other Members Associate professor dr. K.S. Amanor, University of Ghana Associate professor dr. P.G.M. Hebinck, Wageningen University Associate professor dr. S.M. Borras I dedicate this book to my wife Doris Ampadu-Ameyaw (Mrs) and children Jedidiah, Jeconiah and Jehohannan without whose sacrifices and love my dream of obtaining a PhD could not have been a reality. Contents List of Tables, Figures, Maps and Appendices x Acronyms xii Acknowledgements xiv Abstract xviii Samenvatting xxi 1 DYNAMICS OF RURAL LAND TENURE SYSTEMS 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Background 1 1.3 Organization of chapters 4 1.4 Defining the problem: Struggles for control of rural land 5 1.5 Exploring the ‘land question’ of Sub Saharan Africa 6 1.6 Legal centralism and pluralism: key strengths and weaknesses 12 1.7 Objectives of land tenure reform 14 1.8 Research objectives 18 1.9 Research questions 19 1.10 Analytical framework 20 1.11 Research design and methods 23 1.11.1 Study location and scope of work 23 1.11.2 Selection of communities for study 26 1.11.3 Data collection 27 1.12 Units of analysis 33 1.13 A note on citizenship and land rights among Krobos 35 1.14 Challenges and ethics of customary land tenure research 36 Notes 38 vi Contents vii 2 LAND ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT IN GHANA 39 2.1 Introduction 39 2.2 Ghana and its land systems 40 2.2.1 Land tenure and administration systems 41 2.3 Changing dynamics of land tenure policies 44 2.3.1 Pre-colonial land administration 45 2.3.2 Colonial land administration 45 2.3.3 Post-colonial land administration 47 2.4 Legislative framework on land 50 2.5 The National Land Policy 52 2.6 The Land Administration Project (LAP) of Ghana 54 2.7 The Customary Land Secretariat (CLS) 57 2.8 Local land titling and registration 59 Notes 60 3 DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE IN LAND RIGHTS AND TENURE SYSTEMS OF KROBO 61 3.1 Introduction 61 3.2 A brief historical background of Krobo 62 3.3 Physical location and vegetation of Krobo 63 3.4 Origin and settlement patterns of the Krobo people 65 3.5 Why Krobo occupied the Kloyo mountain area 67 3.6 Sociopolitical institutions and local power configuration 68 3.7 Demography, land pressure and migration 73 3.8 Changes in Krobo social and economic structure 75 3.9 The ‘land question’ of Krobo 77 3.10 Dynamics of land tenure systems of Manya Krobo 79 3.11 Changing nature of land acquisition practices 80 3.12 Changing mechanisms of land access 81 3.13 Negotiating terms of tenure within a multiplicity of land rights 83 3.14 Evolution of customary land rights in Krobo 87 3.15 Agricultural land use, production and trade 90 Notes 94 viii LAND TENURE REFORM AND CUSTOMARY CLAIMS NEGOTIABILITY IN RURAL GHANA 4 CHANGING LAND TENURE AND SOCIAL DIFFERENTIATION 95 4.1 Introduction 95 4.2 Land types in rural Manya Krobo 96 4.3 Socio-economic differentiation 97 4.4 Dynamics of differentiation in a declining rural economy 98 4.5 Social differentiation in historical perspective 99 4.5.1 Social differentiation in the era of cocoa boom (1890s- 1950s) 99 4.5.2 Farmer types identified during the cocoa boom 101 4.5.3 Labour mobilization and type 103 4.6 Social differentiation in the post cocoa boom era (1950s–1980s) 104 4.7 Characteristics of the sample population 110 4.8 Land distribution patterns 114 4.9 Land scarcity and intra-family land allocation opportunities 122 4.10 Evidences of landlessness 123 4.11 Inter-family land access 125 4.12 Access to farm credit/loans 126 4.13 General welfare improvement among farmers 128 4.14 Emerging issues on women’s land access and relations 129 Note 132 5 MECHANISMS OF LAND ACCESS AND EXCLUSION: ILLUSTRATIVE CASES 133 5.1 Introduction 133 5.2 Evidences of land access and exclusion 134 Case 1: Cultural norms on gender and denial of access to ‘own’ land 134 Case 2: Women and the fear of cultural sanctions 137 Case 3: Exploitation of a blood brother using the power of social networks 139 Case 4: The primacy of customary courts in land disputes 140 Case 5: Use of links and power to influence formally adjudicated land cases 142 Case 6: Lack of hierarchy among laws, forum shopping and tenure insecurity 143 Case 7: Past misbehaviour threatens a returning migrant’s social position within community. 144 Contents ix Case 8: Investing in social relations mediates access to farmland 146 Case 9: Customary laws override written agreements 147 Case 10: Vulnerability of women’s land rights 149 Case 11: Social relations trump cultural norms in defence of women’s land rights 150 Case 12: Generational transfers override a father’s po 152 Case 13: Customary laws and social relations against women’s land rights 154 Case 14: Land returned to original owner due to incomplete transaction 155 5.3 Concluding reflections from case studies 156 Note 157 6 LAND (PROPERTY) RIGHTS NEGOTIATIONS AND SOCIAL LEGITIMACY OF TENURE REFORM 158 6.1 Introduction 158 6.2 Landholding and tenure security in Manya Krobo 159 6.3 Land access negotiations in rural Manya Krobo 161 6.4 Local power, privileges and interest in land access negotiations 162 6.5 Boundaries of ‘negotiability’ 164 6.6 State land reform and uncertainty over land in Manya Krobo 167 6.7 Extent of success of land registration and titling processes 167 6.8 Local perception of security of tenure 174 6.9 Farmers’ perception of land conflicts 177 6.10 Farmers’ personal experiences of land disputes 179 6.11 Land adjudication, processes and preferences 182 6.12 Investment in insecurity 186 7 CONCLUSION: EMERGING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS 193 7.1 Introduction 193 7.2 Summary, conclusions and reflections 194 Appendices 206 References 207 List of Tables, Figures, Maps and Appendices Tables 1.1 Brief comparison of legal centralism and pluralism 13 4.1 Education level of respondents 111 4.2 Age of respondents in farmers’ survey 112 4.3 Sample farmers and sizes of their landholding (acres) 114 4.4 Distribution of landholding by social groups (acres) 115 4.5 Distribution of cultivated land by farmers in sample 116 4.6 Distribution of cultivated land (acres) 117 4.7 Most common modes of access to land among sample farmers 118 4.8 Pattern of access to land among social groups 120 4.9 Hindrances to acquisition of more land for expansion 123 4.10 Perceptions of changes in welfare among social groups 128 6.1 Cultivated lands registered (as at 2009) 168 6.2 Mode of access and land registration status 170 6.3 Expressed fear to lose land 175 6.4 Farmers’ experiences of land conflicts 180 6.5 Most common land improvement practices by social groups 189 Figures 4.1 Off-farm employments of respondents 113 4.2 Sample respondents’ perception of the possibility of acquiring inter-family land (per cent) 125 x List of Tables, Figures, Maps and Appendices xi 6.1 Types of land disputes (per cent) 181 6.2 Commonly practised land improvement activities and land access modes 188 Map 1 Showing Manya Krobo District 64 Appendices 4.1A Sources of Farm Credit 206 4.2A Means of accessing Credit 206 Acronyms ADR Alternative Dispute Resolution CA Communitarian Approach CLS Customary Land Secretariat CPP Convention People’s Party CTI Customary Tenure Institution DA District Assembly DCE District Chief Executive DFID Department for International Development EA Evolutionary Approach ERP Economic Recovery Programme ETLR Evolutionary Theory of Land Rights FAO Food and Agriculture Organization FGD Focus Group Discussion GNA Ghana News Agency GSS Ghana Statistical Service GOPDC Ghana Oil Palm Development Cooperation IDI In-Depth-Interview LAP Land Administration Project LC Land Commission LTC Land Tenure Centre LTRL Land Title Registration Law MKD Manya Krobo District MiDA Millennium Development Authority MLF Ministry of Land and Forestry xii Acronyms xiii MoFA Ministry of Food and Agriculture NLP National Land Policy PNDC Provisional National Defence Council OASL Office of the Administration of Stool Land OFY Operation Feed Yourself PO Personal Observation SASF Semi-Autonomous Social Field SAP Structural Adjustment Programme SSA Sub Saharan Africa SPSS Statistical Package for Social Sciences UN-ECE United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Acknowledgements So far yet so near.

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