Customary Land Tenure Systems Research Articles

Another Law in Indonesia: Customary Land Tenure System Coexisting with State Order in Mutis Forest

Local wisdom has been coexisting with the state system in several places in Indonesia. The Mountain Mutis Nature Reserve in East Nusa Tenggara province is the strict nature reserves, but a customary land tenure system, called suf, exists so far in the nature reserve. The objectives of this study are (1) to organize the historical territorialization process, (2) to clarify the customary land tenure system and activities for livelihoods by local people, and (3) to discuss the challenges of its land tenure system to manage forests sustainably as well as policy methods to harmonize legal pluralism in Mutis Area. Field observation and in-depth interviews with key informants were employed for data collection, and the collected data were analyzed by a qualitative descriptive method. The findings showed the traditional reward and punishment systems regarding extracting non-timber forest products, grazing livestock, and preventing forest fires were working well for sustainable forest management. However, increased pressure on forests due to future population growth appears to have an impact on the traditional system. It also showed the government officers and local people started some discussions to recognize the suf in the formal legal order. However, there were institutional problems to introduce current state systems. Therefore, it is required to flexibly operate or revise the state laws according to the actual situation to harmonize society between state and people.

When Tradition Meets Modernity in Land Registration: Evidence from Dagbon, Ghana

Development practice over recent years in much of Africa prioritized formalization of land policies deemed to enhance better handling and use of land as an asset for social development. Following this trend, land reform policy in Ghana was based on a pluralistic legal system in which both the customary land tenure system and the statutory system of land ownership and control co-exist by law. The primary research question for this study was the following: What implications emerge when customary land tenure system and the statutory system of land ownership and control co-exist in law? The study discussed the prospects and challenges of land title registration and the meaning of the new organizing concept in land ownership and administration among the people of Dagbon in the northern region of Ghana. The principal aim of the study was to assess the challenges of the implementation of a modern land registration system over a deeply traditional one. A qualitative research methodology was used and included qualitative descriptive analysis. This descriptive-analytical study was carried out to investigate opinions on the implications of the merger and preferred options for redress of any systemic challenges. It employed Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) to supplement in-depth interviews. Interviews were conducted among 40 key participants within formal and informal institutions including officials from both the Land Commission and Town and Country Planning Departments. Purposeful sampling was employed, and an interview guide was developed and used for collecting the data. Data were analyzed using a thematic approach. The results showed that in this structural reform, the ‘allodial title’ holder was much more trusted for tenure security because of the traditional legitimacy of the King as the sole owner and controller of land. The title registration system therefore principally served the secondary purpose as additional security. The findings indicate that in the circumstance where the law was seen as pliable, the policy engendered blurred and confusing effects that deepened the sense of ambiguity and outcomes were sometimes contradictory. We argued that the crossroads presented challenges that were novel and engendered innovative thinking for more appropriate solutions. The study revealed that policy reforms must be tailor-made to the physical, social, cultural and economic settings.

Acceptance or resistance?—Explaining local reactions to land titling in three Chinese villages

ABSTRACT The Chinese government’s recent scheme to issue land certificates to rural households was embraced by some villages but opposed by others. This is puzzling to economists and policymakers who propose that formal property rights are essential for investment, economic growth, and income generation. Why did some Chinese villages accept and others resist land titling? Based on my fieldwork in three Chinese villages, I argue that two important factors explain different local reactions to land titling – the impact of urbanization and the level of congruence between statutory and customary land tenure systems.

Customary Land-Tenure and the Poor: A Study of Jharkhand and Meghalaya

For most people living in rural India having access and control over land is crucial for their livelihood, more so in the case of tribals. This article analyses the nature of the customary land-tenure system in some districts of Jharkhand and Meghalaya and their impact on livelihood patterns, food security and poverty. Based on both secondary and primary data, the article seeks to examine the nature of the customary land-tenure systems in selected scheduled areas; specifically identifying the status of locals versus non-locals in managing land resources and analysing the extent to which women have been able to secure land rights under customary laws. The article concludes that though there are both positive and negative aspects to community and individual ownership of agricultural land, but on the whole the prevailing system does not helping in bettering the conditions of disadvantaged communities.

The role of agroforestry in swidden transitions: a case study in the context of customary land tenure in Central Lao PDR

Agroforestry has been promoted as a promising model of rural development in Lao PDR (Laos), where much upland land use is in transition. Relatively little is known about the contributions of agroforestry systems to Lao farmers’ livelihoods, how these systems compare to alternatives, or the extent to which they might contribute to the national policy objective of replacing swidden agriculture. The consequences of customary land tenure for such transitions in Laos are also poorly understood. We investigated independent adoption by farmers in a Central Lao village of an agroforestry system that combines ‘yang bong’ (Persea kurzii) trees on 7-year rotations with intercrops of rice and bananas. The returns to land from this agroforestry system were more financially rewarding for farming households than swidden cultivation, demonstrating that farmers can develop land use intensification pathways that replace swidden cultivation. However, case study farmers anticipated further expansion of banana monocrops rather of agroforestry systems. In addition, the adoption of the agroforestry system has fostered wealth differentiation in the case study village, reflecting both prior and emerging inequities in the customary land tenure system. Our results indicate that it is important to closely understand the institutional and livelihood contexts of agroforestry systems, to better appreciate their role and potential in supporting sustainable land use transitions. In this case study, the intersection of customary land use practices, national policy goals and land allocation policies, new market opportunities, and farmers’ dynamic livelihood strategies, both define and constrain the contribution of agroforestry to land use transitions.

Conflicting Levels of Engagement under the Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act and the Minerals and Petroleum Development Act: A Closer Look at the Xolobeni Community Dispute

The South African customary land tenure system is currently administered in terms of the Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act 31 of 1996 (IPILRA). As the name suggests, this is a temporary measure to protect vulnerable customary land rights while awaiting permanent communal land tenure legislation. In terms of section 2(1) of the IPILRA, no person may be deprived of any informal right to land without his or her consent. This provision is subject to subsection (4) of the IPILRA, the Expropriation Act 63 of 1975 or any other law that provides for the expropriation of land rights. Accordingly, section 2(4) states that no one may be deprived of his or her informal rights in land unless it is through the Expropriation Act, any valid land expropriation legislation or through custom that is endorsed by a majority of the community members.
 Nevertheless, the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) and the mineral right applicants habitually contravene this consent provision by not including the beneficiaries of the IPILRA in the mineral right application process. The DMR awards licences without the communities' consent because the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act 28 of 2002 (MPRDA) authorises it to act as the custodian of mineral resources on behalf of all South Africans. When an application for mineral rights is received, it is the DMR's duty as a custodian to ensure that all the requirements of the MPRDA have been complied with. These levels of engagement, consent under the IPILRA and consultation in terms of the MPRDA, form the basis of the analysis of the decision of Baleni v Minister of Mineral Resources. Although the court decided that the acceptable level of engagement is consent in terms of the IPILRA, this article argues that consultation and consent are not mutually exclusive, and hence require reading the two pieces of legislation together.

Hybrid Water Rights Systems for Pro-Poor Water Governance in Africa

Water-permit systems are widely used across Africa as a blanket requirement for small and micro irrigation enterprises, as well as large enterprises. The present study aimed to, first, further understand the implications of permit systems for both the most vulnerable and the state, and, second, based on the findings, identify options for pro-poor water legislation that also meet the water governance requirements of the state. The growing recognition of the importance of farmer-led irrigation development for food security across the continent underlines the importance of these questions. Focusing on Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and other African countries, we found that permit systems criminalized instead of protected the water rights of small-scale farmers. Moreover, little if any attention is paid to the logistical burdens and costs to the state of implementing such systems relative to the intended revenue generation. As many small-scale farmers in Africa were found to operate under customary land and water tenure systems, the study proposes a hybrid system of water rights that formally recognizes such practices, along with the use of permits, including enforcement of conditions for large users, to serve the interests of both the state and small-scale farmers.

Towards Responsible Consolidation of Customary Lands: A Research Synthesis

The use of land consolidation on customary lands has been limited, though land fragmentation persists. Land fragmentation on customary lands has two main causes—the nature of the customary land tenure system, and the somewhat linked agricultural system. Since attempts to increase food productivity on customary lands have involved fertilisation and mechanisation on the small and scattered farmlands, these approaches have fallen short of increasing food productivity. A study to develop a responsible approach to land consolidation on customary lands using a design research approach is undertaken and reported here. Based on a comparative study, it is found that three factors inhibit the development of a responsible land consolidation approach on customary lands—the coverage of a land administration system, a land valuation approach, and a land reallocation approach the fits the customary land tenure system. To fill these gaps, firstly, this study developed the participatory land administration that brought together traditional land administration approaches with emerging bottom-up approaches, as well as technological advances that drive these approaches together with the growing societal needs. Secondly, a valuation approach was developed to enable the comparison of the farmlands in rural areas that are without land markets. Finally, a land reallocation approach was developed based on the political, economic and social, as well as technical and legal characteristics of rural customary farmlands. This study concludes that though the land consolidation strategy developed is significantly able to reduce land fragmentation, both physical and land tenure, the local customs are an obstruction to the technical processes to achieve the best form of farmland structures.

The politics of customary land rights transformation in peri-urban Ghana: Powers of exclusion in the era of land commodification

The scholarly discourse on the transformation of customary land tenure systems in SSA is advancing theoretically and empirically. This paper contributes to this evolving debate by drawing upon qualitative case studies of mundane practices of land delivery in Tamale and Techiman, Ghana to understand the powers underpinning the transformation of customary land rights. In the wake of rapid urbanisation, processes of land commodification are intensifying, resulting in the re-interpretation and re-negotiation of customary land tenure systems and exclusions in peri-urban areas in Ghana. Chiefly, state and market powers are mutually reinforcing in the politics of exclusion and the transformation of customary land rights in peri-urban Ghana. Contrary to current international land policy trends that laud the adaptability and negotiability of customary tenure, the evidence in this paper shows that in contexts of rapid urbanisation and unequal power relations, customary tenure regimes can be manipulated to produce exclusionary outcomes. Therefore, the paper concludes that rather than local custom and formal planning serving as regulatory functions to protect the public interest; they emerge as powers of exclusion acting in synergy with market forces to displace usufructuary interest holders.

Land Tenure Systems and Agricultural Productivity in Gombe Nigeria

The purpose of this study is to examine the existing land tenure systems in Gombe state Nigeria with a view to determining its impact on agricultural productivity in the study area. Land tenure system is concerned with man’s relationship with land, involving intervention in the prevailing pattern of land ownership, control and usage in order to change the structure of holdings, improve land productivity and broaden the distribution of benefits to all. Nigeria is an agrarian nation with over 56.8% of her working force engaged in farming. Agricultural development and productivity has the advantage of provision of more employment and a better base for farm financed welfare in the economy. The targeted population for the study comprised of 7,832 households in purposively selected agrarian settlements cutting across the 3 senatorial districts in Gombe state Nigeria. The population was stratified into three zones along the senatorial districts and two locations were selected purposively from this stratification. From Gombe south, Tula and Billiri were selected; from Gombe North Dukku and Kwami were selected and from Gombe central Akko and Yamaltu Deba were selected. The sample size for the study comprised of 500 households in each of the study locations. Hence, 500 questionnaires were administered on the household heads of the 6 study locations making a total of 3,000 questionnaires (representing 38.3% of the targeted population). However only 2,223 (74.1%) questionnaires were correctly filled and returned for analysis. The random sampling technique was adopted in the questionnaire administration. Descriptive statistical tools such as frequency counts, averages, weighted mean and percentages were used in analyzing the data obtained. The Relative Importance Index (RII) was used to identify and rank the variables. Inferential statistical tool such as multiple regressions were also used in analyzing the relationship between the criterion or dependent variable (land tenure systems) and the predictors or independent variables (agricultural productivity of the selected crops in the selected locations). The study revealed that customary land tenure system is the predominant type of tenure system (60.1%) practiced in the study area. Similarly, agricultural productivity in the study area was shown to be impeded by land tenure insecurity (RII, 0.933963), political/bureaucratic bottlenecks in land rights acquisition for agricultural purposes (0.846154) and tenure rules such as stipulated in the Nigerian Land Use Act of 1978 (RII, 0.65596) among others. The study also showed a strong positive relationship of 0.809 between land tenure systems and agricultural productivity in the study area. The study concluded that for better agricultural productivity in the study area in particular and similar developing economies in general, farmers need to have secured land tenure as this encourages investments in the secured land which consequently improves agricultural productivity.

Land Tenure Systems and Agricultural Productivity in Gombe Nigeria

The purpose of this study is to examine the existing land tenure systems in Gombe state Nigeria with a view to determining its impact on agricultural productivity in the study area. The targeted population for the study comprised of 7,832 households in purposively selected agrarian settlements cutting across the 3 senatorial districts in Gombe state Nigeria. The population was stratified into three zones and two locations were selected from each zone. The sample size for the study comprised of 500 households in each of the study locations. Hence, 500 questionnaires were administered on the household heads of the 6 study locations making a total of 3,000 questionnaires (representing 38.3% of the targeted population). However only 2,223 (74.1%) questionnaires were correctly filled and returned for analysis. The random sampling technique was adopted in the questionnaire administration. Descriptive statistical tools such as frequency counts, averages, weighted mean and percentages were used in analyzing the data obtained. The Relative Importance Index (RII) was used to identify and rank the variables. Inferential statistical tool such as multiple regressions were also used in analyzing the relationship between the criterion or dependent variable and the predictors or independent variables. The study revealed that customary land tenure system is the predominant type of tenure system (60.1%) practiced in the study area. Similarly, agricultural productivity in the study area was shown to be impeded by land tenure insecurity (RII, 0.933963), political/bureaucratic bottlenecks in land rights acquisition for agricultural purposes (0.846154) and tenure rules such as stipulated in the Nigerian Land Use Act of 1978 (RII, 0.65596) among others. The study also showed a strong positive relationship of 0.809 between land tenure systems and agricultural productivity in the study area. The study concluded that for better agricultural productivity in the study area in particular and similar developing economies in general, farmers need to have secured land tenure as this encourages investments in the secured land which consequently improves agricultural productivity.

Anatomy of women’s landlessness in the patrilineal customary land tenure systems of sub-Saharan Africa and a policy pathway

A typical character of land tenure or property systems in sub-Saharan Africa is that the systems exclude women (implicitly and explicitly). That is why the discourse on women and land tenure remains a burgeoning policy debate in sub-Saharan Africa. This study is relevant for land policy (and land governance) in sub-Saharan Africa because it evokes the minority voices of women in the land and gender discourse in sub-Saharan Africa. The study dissects, anatomically, female landlessness by probing why women still do not enjoy equal land rights today, and what must be done (policy-wise) to unchain women from their state of landlessness. By way of methodology, the study reviews relevant literature on the historical dimension of womenös access to property rights. It is an explorative study based on two e-Focus Group Discussions conducted on two different online platforms to enable the capture of more expert knowledge on the subject of customary land tenure, gender and womenös land rights in (and on) sub-Saharan Africa. The findings exposed three pillars of womenös landlessness in sub-Saharan Africa, including an analysis of the stages of male power that cripple womenös capacity to own or have access to land. The study identified and explained the nature of the contributions of different stages of male powers — including linguistic power, son power, husband power, and father power — to womenös landlessness. It shows how these powers form the elements of male dominance which interact over a life course to cripple womenös physical and psychological strength within their social spaces (which usually results into socio-political and economic disempowerments). As a key output, the study produced a policy pathway to neutralising the pillars of womenös landlessness.

Peri-Urbanisation Pressure on Customary Land Tenure System and its Management: A Case Study of Kasese Municipality

Peri-Urbanisation Pressure on Customary Land Tenure System and its Management: A Case Study of Kasese Municipality Philly Masereka, Ismail Wadembere Abstract Today’s world is rapidly urbanizing, with radical urban expansion in developing countries. Rapid rate of urbanization has led to an increasing demand for more land for housing, industrial, commercial and agricultural purposes. This land is not available within the already planned cities but at the peripherals where the unplanned customary land is being converted to urban land at a faster rate. This impacts on the peri-urban in terms of changes in land use new forms of household composition, differential access to urban benefits (such as health infrastructure and employment) and increased pressure on land. Current research has mainly focused on the effects of urban sprawl on land cover dynamics hence studies on peri-urbanization and its management on customary tenure system is limited. Therefore, this study focused on examining the nature of developments and how to manage peri-urbanization on customary land in Kasese municipality, Uganda. Used a descriptive research design which uses both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and a sample of 88 respondents were selected using purposive, stratified and simple random sampling techniques with the questionnaires and interview guides as the data collection tools. Aerial photographs for the period 1998-2018 were used to compute spatial-temporal changes in the extends of the municipality as a result of urbanization. The study revealed that majority of the developments in the peri-urban parishes are temporally (42.0%) and semi-permanent (40.9%) while permanent structures were only (17%) this is attributed to many factors for example tenure insecurity. It was also found out that majority 86.4% of the respondents did not get plan approval from municipal council to build and this explains the development of unplanned houses which have led to growth of informal settlements. This research through literature suggested and recommended the use of land readjustment an inclusive and equitable peri-urban land development tool that can meet the needs of local peri-urban communities for proper peri-urban land administration and management. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jea.v7n2a7

Land Grabbing, the State and Chiefs: The Politics of Extending Commercial Agriculture in Ghana

ABSTRACTSince 2006, Ghana has experienced a wave of large‐scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) for agricultural purposes. Although these acquisitions are enabled by favourable agricultural and investment policies, investors nevertheless generally negotiate directly with traditional authorities, often bypassing state authorities in the acquisition process. The strength of customary authorities is often attributed to the weakness of the state. Considering historical political precedents, this article argues that chiefs in fact increasingly derive their power and legitimacy from state and donor policy. Chiefs play a crucial role in translating the (inter)national investment and development logic into local customary settings which are characterized by complex and overlapping use rights to land and natural resources. Using data from an LSLA in Ghana's Volta Region, this study shows how chiefs continuously redefine and adapt the customary land tenure system and its intricate governance logic to the globalized neoliberal policy setting, readily switching between different institutional settings (institution shopping) to legitimize their actions. Those whose rights under customary tenure are least secure are most likely to lose out in the process of institutional change from common to private property, while those with close connections to the customary elite are most likely to benefit from LSLAs.

Governing livelihood and land use transitions: The role of customary tenure in southeastern Morocco

This article documents how customary land tenure systems mediate transformations of land use and livelihoods in the arid pre-Saharan region of southeast Morocco. Although dominant development paradigms for land governance have begun to recognize customary regimes, development orthodoxy still holds that formalizing rules as part of national property law is essential to ensuring economic growth or effectively governing land use and livelihood transformations. Our research in southeastern Morocco indicates that customary tenure regimes play a central role in managing such transformations in the absence of effective formal property frameworks. Extended ethnographic fieldwork in the Mgoun Valley of Tinghir province established the trajectory of rural livelihoods, migration, and land use in the latter half of the 20th Century. Additionally, the authors conducted a survey with 306 households in the Mgoun Valley, documenting income, asset, and livelihood profiles of households today; the survey produced demographic, livelihood, and asset profiles of these same households in the early 1960 s. The results confirm a marked shift from pastoralism to other land uses and livelihoods at the household level in the last half-century. The household-level data also show how the “invisible rules” embedded in customary tenure regimes shape livelihood and land use options available to different households. Unformalized tenure rights in collectively-owned land and breakdowns in customary resource management regimes under global economic pressures are often seen—in Morocco and other parts of the world—as producing chaotic or unsustainable land use change. However, this research shows that customary land tenure may, in fact, actively manage such change using rules that may be invisible to formal data collection and policy-making institutions, but are not invisible to the people negotiating these dynamic rule systems.

Issues in developing a fit for purpose system for incorporating VGI in land administration in Botswana

Developing countries, especially in Africa are faced with a lack of formally registered land. Available limited records are outdated, inaccurate and unreliable, which makes it a challenge to properly administer and manage land and its resources. In the face of such problems, a large proportion of the population in developing countries depends on land and its resources for their sustenance. Developing countries are unable to adopt traditional land administration systems (LAS) due to their lack of capacity and financial constraints. Traditional LAS are characterised by expensive licence fees, procedures, and maintenance structures which are not feasible in developing countries. Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) has the potential to address these challenges by providing timely, affordable, up-to-date, flexible, and fit for purpose (FFP) land information to support the limited current systems. This paper investigates major aspects of developing a conceptual participatory framework for a FFP land administration based on VGI, and conducts a case study in how the system can be applied in local processes, in the context of customary land tenure system in Botswana. The aspects were successfully implemented in the case study area to demonstrate their applicability and roles they could play in ensuring that VGI is reliable and conforms to the legal and institutional regulations of Land Boards. It has further provided an understanding of how VGI can be collected, assessed, and utilized at Land Boards to improve key land transactions on a FFP basis. Furthermore, innovative approaches to Trust and Reputation Modelling (TRM) are presented, minimising the need for ground-truthing of VGI data.

Contested commons: Agricultural modernization, tenure ambiguities and intra-familial land grabbing in Ghana

Agricultural land in northern Ghana is a common pool resource predominantly governed by longstanding customary land tenure provisions. Following the renewed emphasis at achieving a new green revolution for Africa since the last decade, the government of Ghana has prioritized the provision of improved land preparation technologies to smallholder farmers. Although the uptake of these technologies has introduced speed and efficiency in land preparation, there are concerns about the impacts on customary land tenure systems. Drawing on the experiences of smallholder farmers (n = 60) in northern Ghana using in-depth interviews, we examine the dynamics in contemporary agricultural land access and governance following decades of progressive agricultural modernization. Our findings show that agricultural modernization has intensified agricultural land use and exposed the customary land governance system to more rival claims over agricultural commons that were previously owned and cultivated collectively under the extended family system. Given the current ambiguities in the interpretation of customary tenure and concomitant intra-familial land grabbing among smallholder farmers which we term ‘intimate dispossession’, most farmers have resorted to diverse personal tenure protection strategies towards enhancing their land use rights at the expense of co-family members. We advocate a land reform that prioritizes formal registration of agricultural lands to avoid future ambiguities in ownership and a cycle of farmland take-overs. With increasing pressure from other competing land uses, land banking should be prioritized to ensure tenure security for smallholder farmers, particularly weaker social groups and individuals within families who are often at risk of intra-familial land grabbing.

Does minimum tillage improve the livelihood outcomes of smallholder farmers in Zambia?

Minimum tillage (MT) is a farming practice that reduces soil disturbance by limiting tillage only to planting stations. MT is an integral part of Climate Smart Agriculture aimed at raising agricultural productivity, improving farmer livelihoods and building climate resilient farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa. However, there are questions on its suitability for smallholder farmers in the region. This paper assesses the impacts of MT on crop yield and crop income using an endogenous switching regression (ESR) model applied to cross sectional data from 751 fields, of which 17% were under MT in Zambia. The ESR framework accounts for heterogeneity in the decision to adopt MT or not and consistently predicts the outcomes of adopters and non-adopters had they not adopted and adopted, respectively. The results suggest that adopting MT was associated with an average yield gain for maize, groundnut, sunflower, soybean and cotton of 334 kg/ha but it had no significant effects on crop income (from sales and for subsistence) of households in the short-term. These results are partly explained by partial adoption: even among adopters, only 8% of cultivated land was under MT. In these circumstances, although MT confers some yield benefits, the gains may be insufficient to offset the costs of implementation and translate into higher incomes and better livelihood outcomes in the short-term. Additional costs associated with MT include implements, herbicides, and labor for weed control and for land preparation. Assumptions of labor saving from preparing land in the dry season and cost savings by reduced fuel use and weed pressure are aspirational because of the prevalent customary land tenure and communal grazing systems, and because mechanization and the use of herbicides to control weeds remain low among smallholders. Nevertheless, if the longer-term productivity gains from MT are large enough, these may offset the higher implementation costs of MT due to economies of scale and may eventually result in improved incomes and food security. These findings may help to explain the perceived low uptake rates for MT in Zambia and call for lowering implementation costs through extension specific to MT and by adapting MT to local contexts.

The vulnerability of peri-urban farm households with the emergence of land Markets in Accra

Accra, the capital of Ghana, is a fast-growing African city. Its growth has brought in its wake an ever-increasing demand for land, which has in turn led to the emergence of a land market that is increasingly supplanting the age-old customary land tenure system. The customary land tenure system is based on communal, rather than individual ownership of land. However, over the last few decades, the system has come under pressure from the forces of rapid urbanization, city expansion and increasing demand for land for urban development. The purpose of this paper was to examine the vulnerability of residents of indigenous communities in peri-urban Accra due to the emerging urban land market. The case study approach has been used to explore vulnerability among residents of two indigenous communities in peri-urban Accra in respect of their ability to access land. Household surveys, focus group discussions and key informant interviews involving community members, leaders and municipal officials were the main techniques used to collect data. The study revealed that indigenous and long-term residents had their farmlands converted to urban development without any measures in place to protect them from the collapsing customary land tenure system and the evolving urban land market. This has negatively impacted their quality of life, especially with respect to livelihoods. There is therefore the need for municipal assemblies to include the preservation of farmlands in the management of physical growth and land use so as to minimize the rate at which farmlands are being converted to urban development. Measures should also be put in place to restore farm households that have lost their land to urban development in the form of compensation and provision of alternative livelihoods. Keywords: Vulnerability; customary; land tenure; urban growth; land market

Compliance with Residential Building Standards in the Context of Customary Land Tenure System in Ghana

Zoning regulation is considered as a tool used by government to control developments to ensure sustainability. In Ghana where about 80% of lands are held under customary land tenure systems, implementation of residential standards, which is a government function may conflict with customary norms of holding land. This paper uses case study to examine the implementation of residential policies and enforcement of residential standards in areas under customary land tenure in Ghana and if these policies and standards affect the enjoyment of land rights in the context of customary land tenure. Results showed that non-compliance to residential standards and non-conformity to the local plan has minimal interference on enjoyment of land rights. Residents are ignorant of the details of the residential standards and have never seen a zoning regulations document. There is also low level of monitoring and enforcement. Spatial analysis reveals four main types of non-conformity between orthophoto and local plans i) discrepancies in the orientation of the parcel boundaries, ii) discrepancies in the shapes of plot boundaries, iii) houses constructed on the plot boundary or straddle parcel boundaries, and iii) differences in plot sizes. Results suggest the need for planning authority to use efficient approaches such as GIS and UAV’s to communicate, monitor and enforce the residential standards. It is concluded that collaboration between customary land authorities and the Municipality during the allocation and development of plots may improve spatial conformity between orthophoto and the local plans.