Contested commons: Agricultural modernization, tenure ambiguities and intra-familial land grabbing in Ghana

Kansanga, Moses Mosonsieyiri; Andersen, Peter C.; Atuoye, Kilian Nasung; Mason-Renton, Sarah

doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.03.047

Cited by 64 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…In this regard, several studies [26][27][28]46] have reported the loss of agricultural LC to urbanization especially around the peri-urban areas, which are the areas at the interface of urban and rural areas and mining activities [25,36,47]. Kasanga et al [48] also acknowledged the pressure on agricultural lands from other land uses in Ghana.…”

Section: Changes In Agricultural Land Covermentioning

confidence: 99%

Land Cover Changes in Ghana over the Past 24 Years

et al. 2021

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Changes in land cover (LC) can lead to environmental challenges, but few studies have investigated LC changes at a country wide scale in Ghana. Tracking LC changes at such a scale overtime is relevant for devising solutions to emerging issues. This study examined LC changes in Ghana for the past almost two and half decades covering 1995–2019 to highlight significant changes and opportunities for sustainable development. The study used land cover data for six selected years (1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2019) obtained from the European Space Agency. The data was analyzed using R, ArcGIS Pro and Microsoft Excel 365 ProPlus. The original data was reclassified into eight LC categories, namely: agriculture, bare area, built-up, forest, grassland, other vegetation, waterbody, and wetland. On average, the results revealed 0.7%, 131.7%, 23.3%, 46.9%, and 11.2% increases for agriculture, built-up, forest, waterbody, and wetland, respectively, across the nation. However, losses were observed for bare area (92.8%), grassland (51.1%), and other vegetation (41%) LCs overall. Notably, agricultural land use increased up to 2015 and decreased subsequently but this did not affect production of the major staple foods. These findings reveal the importance of LC monitoring and the need for strategic efforts to address the causes of undesirable change.

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Section: Changes In Agricultural Land Covermentioning

confidence: 99%

Land Cover Changes in Ghana over the Past 24 Years

et al. 2021

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“…Farm land in the northern savanna agroecological zones is considered a community property, and its use is often governed by customary rights or usufruct rights, whereby community members have user rights but they cannot own or sell the land (seeKansanga et al, 2018). Thus, the duration of usufruct right may influence farmer investment and for that matter the efficiency level of the household.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable Land Management Practices and Technical and Environmental Efficiency among Smallholder Farmers in Ghana

Issahaku

Abdulai

2019

J. Agric. Appl. Econ.

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The study examines the effects of adoption of sustainable land management practices on farm households’ technical efficiency (TE) and environmental efficiency, using household-level data from Ghana. We employ selectivity biased-corrected stochastic production frontier to account for potential bias from both observed and unobserved factors. The empirical results show that adopters exhibit higher levels of TE and output, compared with the nonadopters. However, the results reveal that adopters are found to use excess herbicides that could have adverse environmental consequences. The results also reveal that extension services and access to credit positively and significantly correlate with TE.

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“…The role of rural labor has been discussed above. Also, since mechanized farmers cultivate more land, grazing land is increasingly encroached upon, leading to conflicts between crop farmers and pastoralists and between crop farmers themselves (confirming Kansanga et al 2018b). While other studies found that smallholder farmers often have worse access to mechanization (see Daum and Birner 2017 for Ghana), this aspect was surprisingly absent from many FGDs.…”

Section: Tractors Will Change the Face Of African Farmingmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…When trying to minimize the negative effects of mechanization, it is important to keep in mind that there is no environmental benefit in preventing small-scale farms from mechanizing if large-scale farms expand cultivation instead (Sulieman 2015). Land-use planning as well as land reforms improving tenure security can also mitigate conflicts between pastoralists and farmers and between farmers with rival claims over agricultural commons (Kansanga et al 2018b). Scale appropriate mechanization, where "machines are adapted to farm size and not the opposite" (Baudron et al 2019b, p.154), can reduce some of the potential environmental effects of mechanization as well as address social effects such as consolidation and labor displacement (Baudron et al 2015;Baudron et al 2019b).…”

Section: Targeted Complementary Policies Are Needed For Sustainable Mmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived effects of farm tractors in four African countries, highlighted by participatory impact diagrams

Daum

Adégbola

Kamau

et al. 2020

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

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Agricultural mechanization is on the rise in Africa. A widespread replacement of manual labor and animal traction will change the face of African agriculture. Despite this potentially transformative role, only a few studies have looked at the effects of mechanization empirically, mostly focusing on yields and labor alone. This is the first paper that explores perceived agronomic, environmental, and socioeconomic effects together, thereby revealing linkages and trade-offs, some of which have been hitherto unknown. Data were collected using a novel data collection method called “participatory impact diagrams” in four countries: Benin, Kenya, Nigeria, and Mali. In 129 gendered focus group discussions, 1330 respondents from 87 villages shared their perceptions on the positive and negative effects of agricultural mechanization, and developed causal impact chains. The results suggest that mechanization is likely to have more far-reaching agronomic, environmental, and socioeconomic consequences than commonly assumed. Most perceived effects were positive, suggesting that mechanization can help to reduce poverty and enhance food security but other effects were negative such as deforestation, soil erosion, land-use conflicts, and gender inequalities. Accompanying research and policy efforts, which reflect variations in local agro-ecological and socioeconomic conditions, are needed to ensure that mechanization contributes to an African agricultural transformation that is sustainable from a social, economic, and environmental perspective.

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Contested commons: Agricultural modernization, tenure ambiguities and intra-familial land grabbing in Ghana

Cited by 64 publications

References 44 publications

Land Cover Changes in Ghana over the Past 24 Years

Land Cover Changes in Ghana over the Past 24 Years

Sustainable Land Management Practices and Technical and Environmental Efficiency among Smallholder Farmers in Ghana

Perceived effects of farm tractors in four African countries, highlighted by participatory impact diagrams

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