Collaborative customary land governance: Motivations and challenges of forming land management committees (LMCs) in the upper west region of Ghana

Abstract

Drawing from the literature on customary land governance, this study examined landowners’ motivations as well as challenges in the formation and operation of Land Management Committees (LMCs). Using multiple qualitative data collection approaches, it was found that, motivations for the formation of LMCs include creation of joint efforts to resolve land disputes; desire to benefit from increasing land values; protect the land use rights of settler communities; and operationalize government policy. Inadequate logistics and accommodation owing to limited financial resources, unwillingness of some landowning families to support the LMCs, inadequate skills and difficulty in combining private work with LMC activities, interference in the work of LMCs by land sector agencies were the challenges affecting the operation of the LMCs. The findings suggest that it is significant not just to reconcile private and collective interests in land and forge mutually beneficial relationships in decentralised land governance but also to create mutually supportive incentives for the different stakeholders taking into consideration their unique challenges for collaborative land governance. It is therefore imperative to accommodate the motivations and expectations of the different stakeholders. The LMCs should be recognised as part of the decentralised land governance system and given significant support in their operations.