Gender, Land and Food Access in Ghana’s Suburban Cities: A Case of the Adenta Municipality

Abstract

The disparity in land and food access in Ghana often overlooks the possibility of an underlying gender disparity. This paper explores and interrogates the disparity between land and food access with respect to gender and the evolution of this relationship over the years as a result of the settlement expansion and urban growth within the Adenta Municipality in Ghana. Adopting a mixed pairwise approach of combining spatial analytical tools, vulnerability indexing and resilient indicators, the paper examines the levels and rates of land accessibilities within the stream of modern cities. It assesses the land market system complexities within developing economies and attempts to address the potential threats of gender-land access gaps. The paper finally assigns weights of ranks to model the phenomenon and recommends trends that can facilitate predictions and early cautionary systems for effective urban land governance in Ghana. The paper concludes that though it is noticed that women engage in power structures on a daily basis, this both benefits and burdens them, depending on their socio-cultural status and other factors in terms of access to land and food.

Gendered access to land and household food insecurity: Evidence from Nigeria

“…Although more food is produced than the world's population needs, close to half of it ends up as food waste (FAO 2011a; Lundqvist, de Fraiture, and Molden 2008), while millions of people are left without adequate food, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (Lundqvist, de Fraiture, and Molden 2008; FAO 2017). This is even worse for female-headed households (FHHs) in developing countries, who have unequal access to productive resources (Adekola et al 2013; Twum et al 2020), since we know that timely access to arable land is important for reducing hunger and poverty, especially in developing countries (Pindiriri 2021; Tekwa 2020). Target 5A of the fifth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 5) identifies the need to undertake changes to provide women with equal rights and opportunities to financial services and productive resources, like land, in accordance with the current national laws.…”

Integrating Gender into the Governance of Urban Food Systems for Improved Nutrition

“…For instance, a review paper by Nordhagen and Condes (29) concludes that women have limited access to business capital for a number of reasons, including that women are less likely to have collateral, tend to have limited household bargaining power, and may be discriminated against by lenders. In addition, land is scarce and harder for women to access and obtain legal rights to, which has implications for both domestic and productive activities, such as urban agriculture (8,26,30).…”

Land, Innovation, and Social Good

“…Land 2021, 10, 503 6 of 6 Twum et al [14] explore the underlying gender disparity in the access to food and land in the suburban cities of Ghana, and its evolution through the years as a result of settlement expansion and urban growth. Using a case study in the Adneta Municipality of Ghana, the authors find that though women engage with the power structures on a daily basis, the result is either a burden, a benefit or both, depending on their socio-cultural status and other factors in terms of access to food and land.…”