LSLA and Household Farm Investment in Northern Ghana

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1		Abdul-Hanan Abdallah	--	1629	2023-12-14 10:22:12	\|
2	format correct	Catherine Yang	+ 3 word(s)	1632	2023-12-15 01:48:46	\|

This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/land12040737

There is a bi-directional relationship between large-scale land acquisition (LSLA) and households’ farm investment. Thus, households that lose land, labor, land-based resources, and uncultivated land, or that live nearby affected households or have limited land due to enclosures by domestic and foreign entities, are more likely to choose short-term investments over long-term investments in northern Ghana. Additionally, households that invest in long-term and short-term land-improving technologies are likely to avoid eviction by domestic and foreign entities in northern Ghana.

land acquisition farm investment land- and yield-improving techniques Ghana

1. Historical Overview of Large-Scale Land Acquisition in Ghana

Several definitions for large-scale land acquisition (LSLA)—a phenomenon commonly referred to as land grabbing—abound in the literature (e.g., ^[1]^[2]). However, as the study is situated in Ghana, a definition by the Lands Commission of Ghana—one of the lead agencies in charge of land management in Ghana—is adopted as the operational definition for LSLA.

According to the Lands Commission, an LSLA involves the acquisition of land that covers a land area of around 20.23 hectares or more ^[3]. Such acquisitions are usually characterized by investments in the production of mangos, rice, groundnuts, soya beans, millet, jatropha carcass, and onion for sale in either domestic or international markets. Furthermore, such acquisitions refer to the guidelines of the Land Commission of Ghana, or the code of conduct proposed by ^[2], for transparency, respect of human rights, sustainability of benefits, and the environment in acquiring or leasing land on a large scale. An LSLA by domestic entities includes all forms of acquisitions that are wholly perpetuated by domestic entities ^[4]. On the other hand, an LSLA by foreign entities is defined to include all forms of acquisition that are perpetuated by foreign entities (ibidem). Direct exposure to LSLA by domestic or foreign entities involves losing farmland, labor, or forest resources due to enclosures by domestic or foreign entities, while indirect exposure to LSLA by domestic or foreign entities involves living in an affected community, losing access to uncultivated land, or having limited land due to enclosures by domestic and foreign entities (ibidem).

In Ghana, LSLA and its characteristics are far from new or unique; there have been instances of such acquisitions, and attempts to make such acquisitions, throughout history. For instance, aside from the seizing of vast areas of land throughout the territorial wars of the pre-colonial period ^[5], there were several instances of attempts to acquire vast land during the colonial period. Such attempts to acquire land on a large scale are deeply rooted in the Crown Lands Bill of 1894.

The Crown Lands Bill of 1894 was designed to repose the power of traditional authorities over lands described as ‘wasted lands’ to the colonial government, to regulate concessions of mining and timber rights over vast tracts of land by these authorities to European mining and timber companies. However, attempts to pass the bill received resistance from intellectuals who argued that the people of Ghana were capable of managing their land without supervision, direction, or legislation from the colonial government. The role of newspaper editors in the resistance was significant, as they argued that the bill was claiming the ‘wasted lands’ for the use of the colonial government. Traditional authorities, on the other hand, petitioned the colonial government with historical documents (e.g., Bond of 1844 and the 1874 Proclamations) that never claimed any land outside of the forts and castles of the colonial administration. Given the strength and convincing nature of the resistance, the colonial administration conceded that the bill could not be passed without amendments. Thus, in 1897, the bill was modified. The modifications included the abandonment of the intent to vest ‘wasted lands’ into the colonial government. Instead, the bill indicated that ‘public land’ was to be administered by the colonial government for the good of everyone. This implied that the right of ownership of land was no longer automatically recognized until a grant of land certificate was issued by the colonial government. However, attempts to pass such a bill were again resisted, with the argument that it still placed too much power in the hands of the colonial government ^[6]. This led to the failure of the second bill of 1897. Thus, the current wave of LSLA is not new, but a repetition of similar historical strategies.

The difference, however, is that the historical strategies abated current authorities in transferring land on a large scale to investors. In other words, the current wave of acquisition is driven by legislative interference that failed in the past. Both traditional and state authorities have labeled some lands as ‘unused’ or ‘marginal’, but have succeeded in transferring such lands to investors. For example, in the Agogo Traditional Council of Southern Ghana, land considered to be ‘‘bush’’ or ‘‘marginal’’ by chiefs was transferred to ScanFarm Ghana Ltd. ^[7]. In the northern region of Ghana, a report regarding unused land led to its acquisition by Biofuel Africa Ltd. ^[7]. In addition, state laws and policies now facilitate LSLA, even though no known law and policy succeeded in facilitating LSLA in the past. In particular, agricultural policies play a central role in the recent wave of LSLA, and are discussed in detail in the next section.

Additionally, the current wave of acquisition differs from past attempts in terms of the trends and actors involved. Available statistics from the Land Matrix database regarding LSLA in Ghana (Table 1) show that out of a total of 1,502,483 ha intended to be acquired in Ghana, 551,091 ha has been acquired so far, and of the total acquired, about 95,873 ha is under domestic actors, while 455,218 ha is under transnational actors ^[8].

Table 1. Large-Scale Land Acquisition in Ghana.

Deal Scope	Land Intended to Be Acquired (ha)	Land Acquired
LSLA by domestic actors	186,163.00	95,872.79
LSLA by transnational actors	1,316,320.40	455,218.40
Total	1,502,483.00	551,091.18

Source: ^[8].

Given that agriculture, which is the main source of livelihood for most households in Ghana, largely depends on land ^[9], the livelihoods of agricultural households are likely to be affected by LSLA by foreign and domestic entities. However, studies investigating the implications of LSLA by these actors on livelihoods are scarce in the literature. In particular, empirical studies regarding the effect of LSLA by domestic and foreign actors on livelihood strategies, including households’ investment in land improvement techniques, are limited, and such information could be very useful for land use and development policies. This study focuses on farm investment effects of LSLA in northern Ghana, with specific reference to LSLA by domestic and foreign actors.

2. Agricultural Policies and the Rise of LSLA in Ghana

Since 2003, the global economy has experienced multiple crises, including food, oil, and financial crises ^[4]. This has triggered several challenges in the food systems of most economies ^[10]. Food insecurity, in particular, became a major challenge for most economies ^[9], and thus, prompted some food import-dependent countries to reconsider their policies for food security and sustainable development ^[10].

On the other hand, agriculture is a strong option for improving food security, as well as the 2030 agenda for sustainable development ^[11]. As a result, the sector has become the focus of most policy efforts to guide local and international investments to enhance food security. However, much as such policy efforts have enhanced food security, they have also promoted LSLA.

At the global level, policy efforts including the principles for responsible investment in agriculture (RAI) ^[12] and the code of conduct (CoC) for large-scale land acquisitions and leases ^[2] were developed to guide investment in agriculture to improve food security. Yet the propositions of the RAI and CoC promote LSLA by softening the perceptions of opponents about the dangers of LSLA on peasant livelihoods, and thus make it possible for governments to intervene less intrusively and more efficiently in society (see ^[13] for detailed discussion).

Another exemplary effort was the Rio+20 Summit by the UN on sustainable development, where commitments were made to enhance food security ^[14]. These efforts were also evidenced in the Maputo Declaration and New Economic Partnership for African Development and its Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme, in which African governments pledged to increase productive land under sustainable land management, and to also set aside at least 10% of the national budget for agriculture ^[15]. However, as part of the mechanisms that enhance food security, the Rio+20 Summit pledged to adopt voluntary guidelines for land investment to ensure transparency in bulk land acquisitions ^[14].

In Ghana, the first and second policies for Food and Agriculture Sector Development (FASDEP I and II) ^[16] and the Medium-Term Agricultural Sector Investment Plan ^[17] were both developed and implemented in accord with the Maputo and Malabo Declarations to increase productivity and food security.

Additionally, the Block Farm Programme (BFP) ^[18] and the Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project (GCAP) ^[19] were developed to promote the commercialization of agriculture to enhance food security. In addition to these efforts, the Land Administration Project was jointly implemented by the World Bank and Ghana’s government to stimulate economic development and reduce poverty ^[20]. Some traditional authorities also transferred land on a large scale to investors to create development opportunities for local occupants ^[7].

However, these efforts have promoted LSLA in such a way that different investors, including domestic and transnational agribusiness investors, are eagerly acquiring large tracks of land to help secure food and energy needs for the future ^[13]. The GCAP, for example, encouraged the release of land for large-scale commercial agriculture. This has, so far, resulted in the acquisition of over 9000 ha of land in Ghana ^[19]. The BFP promoted large-scale land-based investment by encouraging the consolidation of large tracks of arable land for crop production ^[18].

Additionally, one of the intervention areas of FASDEP for modernizing agriculture is the promotion of reforms for land acquisition for large-scale plantation crops, such as mangos, cashews, oil palm, and rubber ^[16]. Therefore, the current agricultural policy efforts have had a significant role in the recent wave of LSLA in Ghana, where both transnational and national actors eagerly acquire land on a large scale to produce food and energy for export ^[21]^[22].

References

Cotula, L.; Vermeulen, S.; Leonard, R.; Keeley, J. Land Grab or Development Opportunity? Agricultural Investment and International Land Deals in Africa; IIED: London, UK; FOA: London, UK; IFAD: Rome, Italy, 2009.
De Schutter, O. Large-Scale Land Acquisitions and Leases: A set of Core Principles and Measures to Address the Human Rights Challenge; UN: New York, NY, USA, 2009.
Lands Commission. Guidelines for Large Scale Land Transactions in Ghana (Issue May). 2016. Available online: https://www.colandef.org/lands-commission-guidelines (accessed on 8 November 2017).
Abdallah, A.-H.; Michael, A.; Awuni, J.A. Impact of land grabbing on food security: Evidence from Ghana. Environ. Dev. Sustain. 2022.
Senu, P.M. Customary land tenure practices and land markets in Ghana. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. 2014. Available online: http://ir.knust.edu.gh/xmlui/handle/123456789/6221?show=full (accessed on 11 November 2020).
Nti, K. This Is Our Land: Land, Policy, Resistance, and Everyday Life in Colonial Southern Ghana, 1894–1897. J. Asian Afr. Stud. 2013, 48, 3–15.
Boamah, F. Competition Between biofuel and Food? The Case of a Jatropha Biodiesel Project and Its Effects on Food Security in the Affected Communities in Northern Ghana. Master’s Thesis, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway, 2010.
Land Matrix. Deals|Land Matrix—An Online Public Database of Largescale Land Deals. Land Matrix. 2021. Available online: https://landmatrix.org/list/deals (accessed on 13 August 2019).
FAOSTAT. Selected Indicators. FAO. 2020. Available online: http://faostat.fao.org/static/syb/syb_5100.pdf (accessed on 18 May 2020).
World Bank. Rising Global Interest in Farmland: Can it Yield Sustainable and Equitable Benefits? World Bank Publications: Washington, DC, USA, 2010.
Scharlemann, J.P.W.; Brock, R.C.; Balfour, N.; Brown, C.; Burgess, N.D.; Guth, M.K.; Ingram, D.J.; Lane, R.; Martin, J.G.C.; Wicander, S.; et al. Towards understanding interactions between Sustainable Development Goals: The role of environment–human linkages. Sustain. Sci. 2020, 15, 1573–1584.
FAO; FAD; UNCTAD; World Bank. Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investment that Respects Rights, Livelihoods, and Resources. UNPRI Report (Issue January). 2010. Available online: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwib4tys5un7AhWWHOwKHWwpBvoQFnoECAwQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fao.org%2Ffileadmin%2Ftemplates%2Fest%2FINTERNATIONAL-TRADE%2FFDIs%2FRAI_Principles_Synoptic.pdf&usg=AOvVaw27KQJrVmEdDhEhdYOVOa2D (accessed on 14 September 2014).
Borras, J.S.; Franco, J. From Threat to Opportunity? Problems with the Idea of a “Code of Conduct” for Land- Grabbing. Yale Hum. Rights Dev. J. 2010, 13, 507–523.
IFPRI. 2012 Global Food Policy Report. 2013. Available online: https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896295537 (accessed on 14 September 2014).
NEPAD. Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme. CODESRIA. 2003. Available online: http//www.nepad.org (accessed on 21 September 2017).
MoFA. Food and Agriculture Sector Development Policy (FASDEP II) (Issue August). 2017. Available online: https://leap.unep.org/countries/gh/national-legislation/food-and-agriculture-sector-development-policy-fasdep-ii (accessed on 21 September 2017).
MoFA. Medium Term Agriculture Sector Investment Plan (Metasip); MoFA: Accra, Ghana, 2010.
Benin, S.; Johnson, M.; Jimah, K.; Taabazuing, J.; Tenga, A.; Abokyi, E.; Nasser, G.; Ahorbo, G.; Owusu, V. Evaluation of Four Special Initiatives of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Government of Ghana. In Proceedings of the Transforming Agriculture Conference, Accra, Ghana, 8–9 November 2012; pp. 1–3.
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Borras, S.M.; Franco, J.C.; Moreda, T.; Xu, Y.; Bruna, N.; Afewerk Demena, B. The value of so-called ‘failed’ large-scale land acquisitions. Land Use Policy 2022, 119, 106199.
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1. Historical Overview of Large-Scale Land Acquisition in Ghana

2. Agricultural Policies and the Rise of LSLA in Ghana

References