Abstract
Owing to climate change, population growth and tenurial changes, the past decade has witnessed high interest among migrant and settler pastoralist groups in the vegetal-rich customary lands of the Agogo Traditional Area. This has resulted in lease grants of large land areas to pastoralists by traditional authorities and usufruct families, for reasons of ensuring optimum use and gaining the highest returns from lands. This paper examines the implications of consequent competing interests over land resources between farmers and herders on indigenous farmer’s agricultural investment decisions. The study uses qualitative methods and empirical evidence is given by primary data from semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions in the case study area. Results indicated that land owners exploit lapses in customary land administration systems to allocate lands in exchange for money, to pastoralists while neglecting indigenous farmers’ land use rights. Thus, indigenous farmers report land tenure insecurity and a sense of deprivation from their customary lands. Despite tenure insecurity concerns, farmer’s agricultural investment decisions remain unchanged because such changes in investment decisions may reduce incomes and compromise their livelihoods. The findings herein contradict theoretical expectations and provide new perspectives for understanding the relationship between tenure (in)security and investment decisions.
Highlights
Barriers to agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have commonly been evidenced in poor soil quality, over reliance on rain-fed agriculture, poor market accessibility, inadequate inputs, low levels of mechanisation and reliance on obsolete agricultural knowledge in a fast-changing world (World Bank 2008; BinswangerMkhize 2009; FAO 2009)
Rural land demands have been influenced by the heightened demand for pasture by pastoralists who migrate towards hitherto uncharted parts of the forest and coastal zones of Sub-Saharan Africa in search of water and pasture (Tonah 2002a; Tonah 2006)
Customary land administration in Agogo Most lands in Agogo are managed under communal property arrangements where custodians of the Agogo stool act as fiduciaries who hold the land in trust for the community
Summary
Barriers to agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have commonly been evidenced in poor soil quality, over reliance on rain-fed agriculture, poor market accessibility, inadequate inputs, low levels of mechanisation and reliance on obsolete agricultural knowledge in a fast-changing world (World Bank 2008; BinswangerMkhize 2009; FAO 2009). More topical in recent times is the limited access to land and poor tenure security attributable to increases in rural land commodification (Schoneveld et al 2011; White et.al2013; Kansanga et al 2018). The migratory herding patterns of pastoralist tribes including the West African Fulani and East African Masai, coupled with land-grabbing effects (see Schoneveld et al 2011; Scoones et al 2013; White et al 2013; Boamah 2014b; Kansanga et al 2018), increases in cattle herds and persistent reductions in vegetation cover in the arid and semi-arid regions has forced many herders to seek alternative grazing lands in the vegetal-rich forest and transition zones of Sub-Saharan Africa (Boonzaier 1987; Bonfiglioli 1992; Bonfiglioli 1993; Bennett et al 2013)
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