Land Administration Reforms and Social Differentiation:

Summaries The Lands Commission, as constituted under 1994 legislation, currently manages all public and vested lands and gives consent and concurrence to transactions of land held under customary or community tenure and managed by the chieftaincy (‘stool land’). Working through regional offices, it is supposed to plan land use in the region, develop a registration programme and manage public lands. But political interference and weak management have turned the Commission into an instrument of centralised patronage for the wealthy and those with official connections. It has also used its powers to expropriate community lands without proper compensation. It is now regarded with suspicion by the bulk of customary landholders and poor urban dwellers as the agent of a state?led centralisation of land rights. The author recommends that it become a more truly independent body, with its own source of revenues run on professional lines, and that management of community land held under customary tenure be handed back to the local, traditional authorities

LAND MARKETS AND LEGAL CONTRADICTIONS IN THE PERI-URBAN AREA OF ACCRA GHANA: INFORMANT INTERVIEWS AND SECONDARY DATA INVESTIGATIONS

The peri-urban area of Accra is experiencing a rapid transformation. A robust urban and agricultural land market has emerged, characterized by purchases, rapidly rising real land prices, and outsiders from Accra acquiring agricultural holdings for residential and commercial use. The fact that residences are being built, commercial firms are being established, and large firms are acquiring land for commercial interests attests to the ability of the customary system to enable transfers for productive activity. Nevertheless, limited or uncertain property rights increase investment costs and differential access to information in the land market affects equity. This paper seeks to better understand: (a) the land market in peri-urban Accra, (b) the process by which land held by indigenous communities is transferred to outsiders enabling the conversion of unoccupied or agricultural land into residential or commercial uses, and (c) the contradictions and frictions that exist at the interface of land transfers under customary and statutory systems. It further seeks to examine the possibility that uncertain property rights and high litigation costs are constraining commercial and agricultural investment, and to identify the economic and social factors that determine levels of premiums associated with transactions, and the duration of the customary allocation.Land tenure -- Ghana -- Accra Region, Land tenure -- Law and legislation - -Ghana, Land use, urban -- Ghana -- Accra Region, Real property -- Ghana -- Accra Region, Land reform -- Law and legislation -- Ghana, Land markets -- Ghana, Land tenure, urban -- Ghana, Land administration -- Law and legislation -- Ghana, Tenure types, Traditional -- Ghana, Research methods, Land Economics/Use,

The Effects of the Intestate Succession Law 1985 (PNDCL 111) and the Head of Family Accountability Law 1985 (PNDCL 114) on Youth Access to Agricultural Land in the Techiman Traditional Area of Ghana

This paper examines the effects of the Intestate Succession Law 1985 (PNDCL 111) and the Head of Family Accountability Law 1985 (PNDCL 114) on youth access to agricultural land in the context of customary land tenure. Using the Techiman Traditional Area in Ghana as a case study, the study sampled 455 youth and 23 elders using multiple sampling techniques. It was revealed that while PNDCL 111 has had some positive effects on the ability of the youth to inherit personal properties of their deceased parents; its exemption of family land in terms of application takes agricultural land access through inheritance outside the purview of the law. Given that majority of agricultural lands are family property, youth land access option through inheritance under the law is thus limited. Again, there are no more vacant lands to be acquired as personal property which the youth can inherit under the law. In the case of PNDCL 114, the study found that the law provides no practical support to the youth in asserting claims to land or seeking accountability from their elders over land proceeds. It is recommended that both PNDCL 111 and PNDCL 114 be reviewed to reflect these limitations. Also, the Head of Family Accountability law should make Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms an integral part of the law to improve on dispute adjudication given that court actions to demand accountability are not generally culturally acceptable.KEY WORDS: Legislative interventions, Youth, Land, Access, Ghan

LAND MARKETS AND LEGAL CONTRADICTIONS IN THE PERI-URBAN AREA OF ACCRA GHANA: INFORMANT INTERVIEWS AND SECONDARY DATA INVESTIGATIONS

The peri-urban area of Accra is experiencing a rapid transformation. A robust urban and agricultural land market has emerged, characterized by purchases, rapidly rising real land prices, and outsiders from Accra acquiring agricultural holdings for residential and commercial use. The fact that residences are being built, commercial firms are being established, and large firms are acquiring land for commercial interests attests to the ability of the customary system to enable transfers for productive activity. Nevertheless, limited or uncertain property rights increase investment costs and differential access to information in the land market affects equity. This paper seeks to better understand: (a) the land market in peri-urban Accra, (b) the process by which land held by indigenous communities is transferred to outsiders enabling the conversion of unoccupied or agricultural land into residential or commercial uses, and (c) the contradictions and frictions that exist at the interface of land transfers under customary and statutory systems. It further seeks to examine the possibility that uncertain property rights and high litigation costs are constraining commercial and agricultural investment, and to identify the economic and social factors that determine levels of premiums associated with transactions, and the duration of the customary allocation

Land tenure and the development dialogue The myth concerning communal landholding in Ghana

Published by Granta Editions Ltd., Cambridge (GB)Available from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:6222.201(CU-DLE-OP--19) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

Land markets and legal contradictions in the peri-urban area of Accra Ghana : informant interviews and secondary data investigations

vi, 83 p.The peri-urban area of Accra is experiencing a rapid transformation. A robust urban and agricultural land market has emerged, characterized by purchases, rapidly rising real land prices, and outsiders from Accra acquiring agricultural holdings for residential and commercial use. The fact that residences are being built, commercial firms are being established, and large firms are acquiring land for commercial interests attests to the ability of the customary system to enable transfers for productive activity. Nevertheless, limited or uncertain property rights increase investment costs and differential access to information in the land market affects equity. This paper seeks to better understand: (a) the land market in peri-urban Accra, (b) the process by which land held by indigenous communities is transferred to outsiders enabling the conversion of unoccupied or agricultural land into residential or commercial uses, and (c) the contradictions and frictions that exist at the interface of land transfers under customary and statutory systems. It further seeks to examine the possibility that uncertain property rights and high litigation costs are constraining commercial and agricultural investment, and to identify the economic and social factors that determine levels of premiums associated with transactions, and the duration of the customary allocation