The limited document on land tenure arrangements in Ghana poses a major challenge to food security in the country. A recent GSS survey found that 82.6% of the land used by holders is not covered by any form of documentation on the tenure arrangement.

The USAID argued that the relationship between land tenure and property rights (LTPR) and food security may be direct or indirect. Directly, it enables investment in land, labor, and capital in food production. On the other hand, selling agricultural produce or securing property rights for businesses provides wages, earnings, or incomes that enable farmers, owners, and workers to buy food.

Lack of documentation of agricultural lands will most often result in land litigations which may culminate into wars that will disrupt general economic activities. Moreover, it will also disrupt the constant supply of agricultural produce to the market which may eventually result in food shortages. But once there is a food shortage, prices will rise leading to food insecurity and higher inflation.

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GSS Survey

Also, the Ghana Statistical Service found that only 13% of land parcels have complete documents, with 3.2% having partial documentations.

However, the proportions of parcels under freehold, share-cropping, and leasehold tenure arrangements covered by documents are relatively higher. For these land tenure arrangements, 16%, 15.7%, and 13.4% are covered by documents respectively.

Interestingly, male holders use three-quarters, about 74.7%, of the total number of parcels of land. This further points to the fact that despite women being the major participants in the agriculture sector, they still hold only limited lands.

Generally, males have higher documentation for their lands than females. The proportion of parcels with documents used by males under leasehold and share-cropping are 14.7% and 16.3% respectively. This is substantially higher than for females.

For females, only 4.5% and 2.9% have documentation for leasehold and share-cropping respectively. Nonetheless, the proportion of documented parcels used by male and female holders under freehold and inheritance are almost the same.

Significance of land documentations

The limited documentation of agricultural lands is worrying. This is because secure land rights are an important pillar for agriculture.

Research has shown that secure land titles provide incentives for farmers to invest in their lands. It also enables them to borrow money for agricultural inputs and to improve their land. Also, it makes it possible for land sale and rental markets to ensure full utilization of land.

Meanwhile, empirical research found the existence of food insecurity among smallholder farmers who have both fewer and weaker land rights. The research conducted in Northwest Ghana found landowners who possess numerous and stronger rights to be more food secure. Nara, Lengoiboni, and Zevenbergen conducted this research in 2020.

Also, the findings show that the weak and unequally skewed land rights lead to uncertain tenure durations and reduce farm sizes. This affects the farmed area, farm output, food availability, accessibility, and food security.

Generally, secure property rights and efficient land registration provide tremendous benefits to both individuals and the state. They do not only give confidence to individuals and businesses to invest in these lands but also allow them to borrow, using land as collateral, to expand job opportunities.

Meanwhile, well-established property rights enable the government to collect property taxes, to finance its expenditure. Unfortunately, the World Bank noted that only 30% of the global population has legally registered rights to their land and homes.

Recommendations

This calls for investment in legal reforms and institutions that secure individual and group rights to land and property. This will give farmers the courage to make proper use of the lands to increase their food supply.

The government at all levels must broaden access of women and other vulnerable groups to land and property. This is because women play significant roles in the entire agriculture value chain.