Impacts of large-scale land holdings on Fulani pastoralists’ in the Agogo Traditional Area of Ghana

Abstract

This paper examined the impacts of large-scale land holdings on Fulani pastoralists’ livelihoods in Agogo, Ghana in the light of questions of Fulani citizenship and increased violent conflicts between farmers and pastoralists. The study is theoretically conceptualized within issues of belonging, citizenship and legitimacy, which have heralded pastoralists’ quest for land. We studied pastoralists land acquisitions in comparison with large land acquisitions of ScanFarm (Gh.) Ltd, Nicol-Miro Plantation Ltd and Bernard Kojo Ofori Teak Plantation Ltd as case studies. The study found increased competitions and demand for land by smallholder farmers, Fulani pastoralists and large-scale companies in the Agogo area. These competitions for land by large landholding companies and farmers alike have affected pastoralists’ livelihoods negatively; which has pushed pastoralists to marginalized lands while crops are grown along pasturelands and livestock migratory corridors. Consequently, there is increased destruction of crops by cattle, leading to violent conflicts. Besides, pastoralists face high land tenure insecurity as local farmers and landowners seize their leased lands and reallocate them to large agro-companies, partly because of their lack of first-comer claims to land.