How to combine tradition and modernity? Regulating customary land management in Ghana

Ubink, Janine; Quan, J.

doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2007.06.002

Cited by 165 publications

(118 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Some of these interventions involved direct government interferences with customary land management structures [4,8] in frantic efforts to improve, regulate, and streamline customary institutions and their activities, which were regarded as anachronistic and non-progressive. Many of these interventions in Ghana that permeated both cephalous and non-centralized societies saw chiefs consolidating their positions over land and set the foundation for the transformation of communal land into private land.…”

Section: Traditional Institutions and Actors Handling Lsla In Ghanamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They are also identified to be flexible, open and responsive to changing socio-economic circumstances [5][6][7] but may be unable to deal with recent land demand trends. Hence, increase in demand and commercialisation of land may create room for manipulation and the advancement of personal parochial interests [8]. Such modern trends may also push customary land custodians such as chiefs and family heads to charge fees on land users or compel them through eviction to seek alternative land elsewhere [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One key advantage of the dualism in land tenure systems in Africa is that it presents opportunities for land to be held and managed by traditional authorities as trustees [8], in direct consultations with the local land users. This customary conception of communal land presents opportunities for local people to take centre stage in land ownership, and fosters the sense of belongingness without state interferences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Institutional Synergies in Customary Land Markets—Selected Case Studies of Large-Scale Land Acquisitions (LSLAs) in Ghana

Kuusaana

Gerber

2015

Land

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Synergies among land institutions and institutional changes impact on land markets and in guaranteeing agro-based employment, capital injection, local economic development and infrastructural improvement. Increasingly, these institutions have come under pressure and there are concerns about their functional capacities and implications on land markets. This paper discusses institutional synergies and its impacts on customary land markets under large-scale land acquisitions for agro-investments in Ghana. From the study, it was identified that the government of Ghana has maintained a non-interfering stance in customary land markets so as to protect the sanctity and independence of customary land institutions. Also, land transactions were found characterised by lack of transparency, information sharing, participation and accountability. For an efficient and effective management of LSLAs in Ghana, there is the need for a functioning institutional collaboration and one-stop-shop approach to streamline the apparent complex processes of acquiring agricultural land. The roles of customary custodians such as chiefs and Tendaamba should be critically reviewed and re-aligned according to local customs to make the institutions more accountable, consultative and transparent, while curtailing their enormous powers in land administration.

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Section: Traditional Institutions and Actors Handling Lsla In Ghanamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Institutional Synergies in Customary Land Markets—Selected Case Studies of Large-Scale Land Acquisitions (LSLAs) in Ghana

Kuusaana

Gerber

2015

Land

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Section: Current Land Administration Initiativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This enables the traditional elites to further their interests in land. There is evidence that chiefs are resisting attempts to introduce more transparent and accountable procedures for recording their incomes from land transactions and are using the CLSs to gain further control over land (Ubink and Quan 2008).LAP implementation began without the promotion of systematic dialogue in Ghana about the form and content of land reform, although a series of ten regional land policy consultation fora and one national forum took place in late 2007. The LAP has largely been implanted through recommendations of foreign consultants and the national land sector bureaucracy.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Contesting Land and Custom in Ghana : State, Chief and the Citizen

Ubink¹,

Amanor²

2008

Self Cite

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law, governance, and development research l e i d e n u n i v e r s i t y p r e s s contesting land and custom in ghana state, chief and the citizen edited by J a n i n e m . u b i n k k o J o s . a m a n o r Contesting Land and Custom in GhanaLaw, Governance, and DevelopmentThe Leiden University Press series on Law, Governance, and Development brings together an interdisciplinary body of work about the formation and functioning of legal systems in developing countries, and about interventions to strengthen them. The series aims to engage academics, policy makers and practitioners at the national and international level, thus attempting to stimulate legal reform for good governance and development. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. Since the 1990s there has been a resurgence of interest in land tenure reform in Africa, which is reflected in a growing academic and policy oriented literature on the subject, and in the implementation of new land tenure reform policies and programmes and new legislation. In policy circles, recent concerns with land tenure are characterised by a distinctive approach, which focusses on building and facilitating the emergence of land markets, on promoting the rule of law and property rights, and on integrating customary and formal land tenures and the 'empowerment' of customary institutions as part of a trend towards decentralised government administration. In contrast to the dominant global approaches to land reform under modernisation during the 1960s, the major focus is now on institutional and administrative reform rather than equitable redistribution of land. During the 1960s and 1970s land administration in Africa was influenced by the paradigms of modernisation theory, which sought to replace a traditional 'backward' agricultural sector with modern farming based on mechanisation and synthetic inputs. Agricultural modernisation focussed on promoting a cadre of elite or 'progressive' farmers, whose adoption of new technologies would eventually trickle down to the peasantry. Within this modernisation framework customary land tenure was viewed as outdated. It did not provide individual farmers with secure and fungible rights in land. It was argued that this inhibited long-term investment in the productivity of land since users were not sure they would retain ownership over a long period. It also prevented the development of financial and risk markets, in which farmers would be able to use their title to land as collateral for loans and mortgages. Under the influence of modernisation theory, land tenure reform was based on promoting land titling and the creation of state cadastres through which farmers could register their land. However, land registration and ...

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Local-Level Spatial Planning and Development Management

Acheampong

2018

The Urban Book Series

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How to combine tradition and modernity? Regulating customary land management in Ghana

Cited by 165 publications

References 16 publications

Institutional Synergies in Customary Land Markets—Selected Case Studies of Large-Scale Land Acquisitions (LSLAs) in Ghana

Institutional Synergies in Customary Land Markets—Selected Case Studies of Large-Scale Land Acquisitions (LSLAs) in Ghana

Contesting Land and Custom in Ghana : State, Chief and the Citizen

Local-Level Spatial Planning and Development Management

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