ANNEXES

ANNEX 1: Administrative Map of Ghana

Source: Ghana Statistical Service, 2002b

ANNEX 2: Map of the Volta Region showing districts and communities visited (2001)

ANNEX 3: Interviews with Selected Resource Persons

Leadership Roles of a female traditional leader

Ten years ago Mama Amba-Dza II was appointed Queen Mother for life, after the death of the previous queen mother, who was her aunt. Being a teacher by profession, Mama Amba-Dza II has actively promoted boys and girls education in the area and encouraged GOs and NGOs to undertake development activities in collaboration with the communities. She is often asked to assist in solving conflicts related to marital and single parenthood problems and decision-making in general within the household.. For the past two years she has had to represent both the men and women in Kpando after the death of its chief.

Access to and control over land

Her family lands cover 5-6 acres. Around 20 households cultivate these lands. Family land is inherited from grandparents and passed on to male family members. The stool owns around 12 acres. An individual cannot own this land but all stool members can apply for a piece of stool land for cultivation. Not all the stool land is cultivated as more and more youngsters leave the area to urban centres for enhanced education and jobs.

Women have access to both family land and stool land but have no control over either types of land. As a Queen Mother, Mama Amba-Dza II has greater access to land than most women in the area. She is permitted to cultivate a vast area of stool land and is also allowed to cultivate cash crops on this piece of land if this is done at her own expense. These privileges are related to the fact that the queen mother is not paid for her community services. Stool land, brought under cultivation by the Queen Mother will be passed on to the next Queen Mother, for her to use. She will not have control (=right to sell) over the land either.

According to the Queen Mother, there are no serious land conflicts in her community due to the fact that there is sufficient land. Anyone who needs land can ask for it.

Women generally cultivate vegetables and cereals on separate plots of land whereas men prefer to cultivate cash crops such as yam, palm trees and pineapples (small scale). Inter-cropping is a common practice in the area. In addition to farming, people are often involved in off-farm activities such as pottery and petty trading for women and fishing, masonry and carpentry for men.

The Queen Mother indicated that as a result of the focal group discussions, she would from now on stress the importance of increasing women’s control over land and the need for men and women to register their land.

I am a widow with children and I live in Hohoe. I currently farm on the land of my late husband. The size of the land allocated to me is 1 acre. I grow cash crops such as Oil Palm. In terms of the impact which my marriage has had on my farming activities, I would say that marriage has rather increased my capacity to farm because my husband gave me capital support to begin farming, which I did not have before marriage. Though a widow, I have matured and gained experience so I am able to cope with the problems associated with being a widow. My recommendations are that women should be assisted financially to expand their farming activities and should be encouraged to diversify their farming activities by exploring other possibilities such as raising animals.

I am a widow with children and I live in Kpedze. The land, which I currently farm on, belongs to my father. It measures 100 by 72 feet. I face serious problems because of the low returns from my farming activities. When my husband passed away, his family did not allow me to remain on his land, so I was forced to return to my own family. When I arrived, I found that land I used to cultivate had been taken over. My brothers gave me a small portion to farm on but this does not give me enough money to look after myself and my children. I currently grow yam and cassava. For me, my marriage did not make any difference in my life. Before, I had terrible financial problems and this did not improve with the marriage because my husband did not support me in farming activities and as I was not gainfully employed, life became even more difficult for me. As a widow, I have no one to support my children and me. The responsibility has become entirely mine. As a recommendation, I would say that women in my situation should be given credit for farming, allowing them to secure income to look after their children. Additionally, my husband’s family should see it as an obligation to give me a portion of land to farm on.

I am a married disabled woman from Jasikan. I work with my husband on his 20-acre farm. My husband’s land is the largest among all other members of his family. I am unable to farm much due to my physical state. I farmed more before my marriage, but I have weakened physically because of having children. Now I rather engage in hair plaiting as a trade but even this, I can just do it for a few hours a day.

I am a widow from Kadjebi. I was married and divorced before I met my now deceased second husband. I managed to purchase 2 acres of land from a man within my community. Because this land is my own bona fide property, I grow permanent crops like oil palm and cocoa trees. Before I married the first time, I was already employed and therefore sufficiently economically secured. I divorced my first husband because he failed to support the children and me financially. He is still alive. Unfortunately for me, my second husband was not any better. Just imagine, I did not have children with him, but actually supported his children, which he brought into the marriage. Widows on the whole suffer in the hands of their in-laws when their husbands die. In most cases, they take no interest in the up keep of the family and at the same time they try to take over the man’s estate.

I am married under customary law, am disabled, have children and am from Anloga, I have a one-acre farm on which I grow cassava and maize. From my family experience, men always receive a greater share of land than women regardless of disability. Before I got married, family members supported me to develop my land. This support however ceased when I got married because nobody in my husband’s family was willing to offer me such assistance. I therefore desire to shift to trading and wish I had credit to begin.

I am a childless widow from Jasikan. My husband died 2 years ago. I currently farm on land belonging to my late father. My brothers, who have control over it, gave me a portion to farm on (cannot tell acreage). I grow maize and cassava. Marriage enhanced my ability to undertake economic activities. I currently farm and in addition I sell fish in Akosombo. Marriage is actually good because your husband helps you financially. It is not good to remain single. Unfortunately, I could not have children, but my husband brought 2 boys and 2 girls from a previous marriage. I helped my husband to nurture the children, but after his death, the children left to look for their biological mother and are now fighting for their mother to take possession of their late father’s property. Given my situation, I would prefer to start trading if given financial support.

I am married with 7 children and I am from Kpezde. I currently farm on my family land. I have a total of 2 acres in different locations. Regarding differences in the size of land allocated to men and women, in my family the rule is to allocate land in accordance with the ability to cultivate it. I grow garden eggs, okro, green leaves, pepper, maize and cassava. One third of the land is planted with oil palms under a shared cropping arrangement. Marriage initially improved my conditions in life because previously I depended on my parents who were not able to support me financially. But after marriage, my husband gave me the financial back up needed. However, he is on pension now, so this financial support has ceased and at the moment I am carrying the burden to care for the household.

Lesson: Women farmers who marry civil or public servants, tend to suffer more economic hardship since they are placed in a position to support the upkeep of the home when their husbands go on pension.

I am a 60 year old widow from Kadjebi. I have a brother who has completely taken over our deceased father’s cocoa farms and other land. He has given me only a small portion to grow food crops. His excuse is that I am supposed to be looked after by my husband and children. He told me categorically that I might benefit from the land when I leave my husband’s land, but I would still be restricted to grow only food crops. I have no rights whatsoever to grow cash crops. In general, women have to seek permission from their brothers to use their father’s land especially where they return back from a failed marriage. Unfair treatment of women is driving many daughters away from home to work elsewhere.

The current system of demarcating land and proving ownership brings about a number of problems after the death of the owners or the users of that particular land. The traditional system of land ownership leaves room for unscrupulous people to encroach on parcels of land that do not belong to them. Land Title Registration has come into being quite recently, precisely to forestall such land disputes. Proper land title registration defines ownership of land which reduces land disputes. It entails getting a surveyor to officially survey the boundaries of the land and ensuring that no one else has ownership rights over it. Hereupon an indenture is prepared. With the upsurge in land disputes it is advisable to register any parcel of land one owns. The reason why people do not register their land is that the concept of registration is either not known or is new to them. Population pressure has contributed to fragmentation of land, especially as land is distributed among all those who inherit upon the death of the owner. This is why the individual parcels of land gradually reduce in size.

Education of women on their rights over land helps to create awareness among them but also creates tension among the men folk. Traditional systems die hard, which is why programmes advocating equal land rights to men and women of the same family are bound to bring discord. Women should be educated to accept the traditional system of men having more rights over land. When this sensitization is carried out there will be peace. Making laws is one thing but applying them is another matter. Empowering women is having little impact on their access and rights to land. The traditional system is so powerful that is resists all forms of change.

Our forefathers settled in this area during the pre-colonial times, after having defeated the earlier occupants. The General commanding the conquering forces or the clan head allocated land to the individual families. During this time, there was an abundance of food; due to high soil fertility and low population density, the area was self-sufficient in food. During the colonial era most states (= chiefdoms) were founded and became permanent settlements. Internal wars had by then reduced. The population density has been steadily increasing since independence. This combined with poor weather conditions, low yields due to over-cropping of land and a rise in international trade (export and import of food), has led to food insecurity. The pressure on land use has become so high that fertile land for farming has become scarce. In the 1960s the population of Ghana was about 5 million. Land suitable for farming has diminished in size and fertility, now that the population has grown to over 18 million. Over reliance on rain-fed agriculture is also another factor contributing to food insecurity. Modern methods of irrigation bring some respite to agricultural production, improving the food supply both at household and community levels but not everybody can afford it. Another important improvement is the introduction of a modern legal framework for resolving land disputes. These changes may be ascribed to an increase in western style of education and an increase in the desire of many to know their ancestral roots which is the basis of land ownership or land allocation.

There is evidence to show that women’s access to and control over land can improve with a better understanding of their legal rights and a greater access to the judicial system. I remember a case concerning a land dispute involving two childless elderly brothers and a sister with children of her own. Upon the death of the head of family the land was shared among the three children in such a way that the woman received the lion’s share, whilst the childless men received less than their sister. The men were so peeved about this that they tried to sell their land to avoid that their sister’s children would obtain their portion in the future. The woman took the matter to court and sought an injunction to restrain her brothers from selling the family land. Her application was granted and the men were not allowed to sell their land. By the same court intervention, it was decided that the land of the men would automatically pass on to the woman’s children. The woman was able to pursue her legal rights through resources she obtained from the land allocated to her. This shows that with a better understanding of their legal rights women can increase their access to land.

When women in Anlo manage to obtain land, they often lease out a portion to get money to farm on the remaining part. Whatever women earn, the benefits trickle down directly to the children and then to other family members. Besides, the land could also be used as collateral when sourcing credit either for herself or her family. Generally speaking however, you see more women engaged in trading than in farming. There is a woman in my community who has invested in buildings, which she has rented out to other people. In this manner, the whole community benefits and the rents received are used for the education of the children and feeding the family.

Men have always been supportive of the women in their farming activities. They provide advice and assist with physical work like tilling and planting. Women are not as strong as men and so need their support in farming.

Women continue to have limited rights in decision making. Even high financial standing gives a woman little status in her family and her influence remains limited when it comes to taking decisions of a sensitive nature. She is still excluded from decision-making concerning land and cannot perform certain rites. This remains the prerogative of men.

Land disputes affect land use. A court may place an injunction on a piece of land under dispute, thereby preventing all parties involved from using it. Consequently the land remains fallow which may result in erosion of all investments made on it. However, women suffer more than men in case of a dispute, because of their weaker position in land issues. Where the land in question serves as a main source of income for the family, this would naturally affect food security and bring about loss of income.

Women increasingly take on tasks traditional reserved for men due to an increased awareness of the fact that they can do what men do and even better. In the old days, men dominated almost every sphere of productive activity, with women acting as helpers. In those days, women were mostly traders and assisted on the farm to obtain farm produce to sell. At one point however, women started to fear that men were cheating them when it came to sharing of returns, which is why they decided to branch out into other areas. To cut down on the cost of labour they have adopted a “do it your self” attitude. But it is a fact that men are stronger than women and are able to carry out farm tasks with none or very few paid farm hands. This is not always the case for women. Men are also able to exercise more control over their workers than women, thereby getting more value out of their paid workers.