Role of tenure insecurity in deforestation in Ghana's high forest zone

Abstract

Land tenure insecurity is one of the underlying causes of deforestation in Africa. However, how land tenure arrangements influence deforestation in Ghana's high forest zone is not well understood. Only a few studies have empirically examined the effects of land tenure on deforestation. This knowledge gap is addressed by examining the nexus between deforestation, land tenure arrangements and local rules in Ghanaian communities. Data were collected through interviews with 756 randomly selected households and analyzed using descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression techniques. Of the different tenure arrangements reported by 441 respondents, 42%, 25%, and 33% were customary freehold, sharecropping, and leasehold arrangements, respectively. Under arrangements such as sharecropping and lease-holdings, farmers who engaged in short-rotation farming systems were hesitant to undertake long-term investments, such as tree planting. In many cases from this study, the local tenure system contributes to deforestation because the rules governing land holdings create adverse effects. In dealing with this problem, policy reform is required that should target benefit sharing schemes, including future benefits from Payment for Environmental Services (PES), which until now has only benefited land owners.

Introduction

Although Africa holds only 16% of the global forest area, from 2000 to 2005 it annually lost about 4 million hectares of forests (FAO, 2009). In Ghana, the tropical high forest zone (HFZ) is approximately 8.5 million hectares (GFC, 2002). It covers seven forest types (Hall and Swaine, 1981) and consists of reserve forests and outside reserve forests (off-reserves). The present study is focused on the off-reserves, which are 5.482 million hectares of the HFZ where timber is also produced (TBI-Ghana, 2009). Of these off-reserves, farmlands (i.e. food crops, cocoa farms, and newly cleared farms) cover 48%; fallow lands cover 26%; natural and secondary forests cover 15%; and grasslands and other lands comprise 11% (Hansen et al., 2009). Among these lands, a larger proportion of the timber trees are located on farmlands and fallow lands (Kotey et al., 1998). The concentration of the tree resources in these two places is attributed to the farming systems that require trees to replenish soil nutrients, provide shade and enable a microclimate for the growth of farm crops (Dumenu, 2010).

The farming systems in the off-reserves of Ghana consist mainly of two types, cocoa farming and food crops farming (Asare, 2010). Furthermore, there are two main methods used in cocoa farming, traditional shade grown and sun grown. Although it appears that the sun-grown method is the only cause of deforestation in these off-reserves, the unsustainable farming practices must also be included because of the traditional farming methods (e.g., shifting cultivation and the slash and burn techniques) that are employed (Anyomi et al., 2011; Mann et al., 2010).

Logging, shifting cultivation, and land and tree tenure arrangements are among the important causes of deforestation in Ghana (Appiah et al., 2007). In Ghana, Adjei-Nsiah et al. (2006) suggested that land tenure arrangements are a priority cause of deforestation. Therefore, understanding land and tree tenure systems of local communities is critical to the success of PES¹ and REDD,² which are mitigation measures against deforestation. Saunders et al. (2008) argue that economic incentives generated from these schemes are only part of the solution, and other critical factors, such as land and tree tenure systems, would also need to be addressed as part of the solution to deforestation.

Appiah (2001) described the main land ownership systems in Ghana as a traditional customary system of communal ownership. Although it has been recognized that the land and tree tenure arrangements under this ownership system often lead to deforestation in the HFZ of Ghana (Hansen et al., 2009), how these arrangements influence deforestation in the HFZ is not well understood. With both the emerging science of REDD as a climate change mitigation effort and the need to sustain timber supplies from both the farming lands and forest reserves in the HFZ of Ghana (TBI-Ghana, 2009), addressing the linkages between these tenure arrangements and the forest environment is crucial. Problematically, only a few studies have considered the effects of tenure arrangements on deforestation at the rural household level (Owubah et al., 2001; Afikorah-Danquah, 1997). However, these studies do not adequately address the relative effect of the tenure arrangements on farm level deforestation. The goal of this study is to determine how land and tree tenure arrangements impact forest availability, with a particular focus on providing information to support forest policy decisions that are aimed at minimizing the effect of deforestation. Specifically, this paper seeks to: 1) identify informal (not statutory or formal) rules governing holdings of farmlands that promote deforestation and 2) to determine the effects of different tenure arrangements on perceived environmental problems related to deforestation.

Based on the nature of the land and tree tenure arrangements in the off-reserves, the hypothesis of this study is that non-titled land owners in the rural farming communities in the HFZ of Ghana, who have insecure land-use rights, are more likely to engage in farming practices that lead to deforestation, compared to those that have secured land-use rights. The assumptions under this hypothesis are that: 1) non-titled land owners are unable to acquire land that would enable them to make long term investments on such lands and 2) non-titled land owners depend on short- to medium-term land tenure for their farming purposes.