Water implications of large-scale land acquisitions in Ghana
This paper examines the water dimensions of recent large-scale land acquisitions for biofuel production in the Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo and Northern regions of Ghana. Using secondary sources of data complemented by individual and group interviews, the paper reveals an almost universal lack of considerat...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/34589 |
| _version_ | 1855541783679729664 |
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| author | Williams, Timothy O. Gyampoh, B. Kizito, Fred Namara, Regassa E. |
| author_browse | Gyampoh, B. Kizito, Fred Namara, Regassa E. Williams, Timothy O. |
| author_facet | Williams, Timothy O. Gyampoh, B. Kizito, Fred Namara, Regassa E. |
| author_sort | Williams, Timothy O. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | This paper examines the water dimensions of recent large-scale land acquisitions for biofuel production in the Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo and Northern regions of Ghana. Using secondary sources of data complemented by individual and group interviews, the paper reveals an almost universal lack of consideration of the implications of large-scale land deals for crop water requirements, the ecological functions of freshwater ecosystems and water rights of local smallholder farmers and other users. It documents the factors responsible for this apparent oversight including the multiplicity of land and water governance systems, sharp sectoral boundaries between land and water policies, property rights and institutions, outdated statutes, poorly resourced and ineffective regulatory agencies, and unequal power relations in land acquisition deals. The paper shows that due to a lack of an approach that jointly considers land and water management policies and institutions in acceding to large-scale land deals, the benefits derived by local people were insufficient to cover the involuntary permanent loss of their water rights and livelihoods and the risks posed to ecosystem services. Options for establishing alternative institutional arrangements that will allow water availability, use and management as well as social and environmental standards to be factored, ex ante, into large-scale land deals are explored. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace34589 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publishDateRange | 2012 |
| publishDateSort | 2012 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace345892025-12-02T10:59:51Z Water implications of large-scale land acquisitions in Ghana Williams, Timothy O. Gyampoh, B. Kizito, Fred Namara, Regassa E. land ownership water resources ecosystems water rights smallholders governance policies rights institutions government water management This paper examines the water dimensions of recent large-scale land acquisitions for biofuel production in the Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo and Northern regions of Ghana. Using secondary sources of data complemented by individual and group interviews, the paper reveals an almost universal lack of consideration of the implications of large-scale land deals for crop water requirements, the ecological functions of freshwater ecosystems and water rights of local smallholder farmers and other users. It documents the factors responsible for this apparent oversight including the multiplicity of land and water governance systems, sharp sectoral boundaries between land and water policies, property rights and institutions, outdated statutes, poorly resourced and ineffective regulatory agencies, and unequal power relations in land acquisition deals. The paper shows that due to a lack of an approach that jointly considers land and water management policies and institutions in acceding to large-scale land deals, the benefits derived by local people were insufficient to cover the involuntary permanent loss of their water rights and livelihoods and the risks posed to ecosystem services. Options for establishing alternative institutional arrangements that will allow water availability, use and management as well as social and environmental standards to be factored, ex ante, into large-scale land deals are explored. 2012 2013-11-21T05:04:47Z 2014-02-02T16:39:50Z 2013-11-21T05:04:47Z 2014-02-02T16:39:50Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/34589 en Open Access Williams, Timothy Olalekan; Gyampoh, Benjamin; Kizito, Fred; Namara, Regassa. 2012. Water implications of large-scale land acquisitions in Ghana. Water Alternatives, 5(2):243-265. |
| spellingShingle | land ownership water resources ecosystems water rights smallholders governance policies rights institutions government water management Williams, Timothy O. Gyampoh, B. Kizito, Fred Namara, Regassa E. Water implications of large-scale land acquisitions in Ghana |
| title | Water implications of large-scale land acquisitions in Ghana |
| title_full | Water implications of large-scale land acquisitions in Ghana |
| title_fullStr | Water implications of large-scale land acquisitions in Ghana |
| title_full_unstemmed | Water implications of large-scale land acquisitions in Ghana |
| title_short | Water implications of large-scale land acquisitions in Ghana |
| title_sort | water implications of large scale land acquisitions in ghana |
| topic | land ownership water resources ecosystems water rights smallholders governance policies rights institutions government water management |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/34589 |
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