Peri-urban agriculture and land tenure dynamics in Southern Ghana

Abstract

Peri-urban zones are characterised by strong urban influences including increased possibilities for marketing of farm produce, provision of inputs and services, and non-farm employment but also exacerbated competition for land, inequalities in its distribution and risks from pollution. In developing countries, the positive elements generally are less than the negative influences. Peri-urban areas - lying in the interface between the urban and the rural - therefore tend to experience the development problems associated with 'both worlds'. Rural problems of inadequate social facilities still occur at the same time that land pressures and poor environmental health problems associated with growing urban areas create typical urban problems. This study used structured interview schedules to collect primary data from 504 randomly selected households in 50 randomly selected peri-urban communities. These communities were sampled from five purposively selected districts, namely Cape Coast, Ho, Sunyani, Koforidua and Accra. The issues examined related to agriculture in the context of the increasing tendency towards freehold land titling. It was concluded that all the zones are facing severe land shortage, which is affecting agricultural production, given the deficiencies in agri-support services. Women tended to have even smaller farm sizes. The trend towards land title registration is putting women in disadvantaged positions as landholders bequeath their lands to sons, even in matrilineal societies. It is therefore recommended that any policy on land, especially the LAP project, should consider the interests of women and the periurban poor..