Access to and Control over Land from a Gender Perspective - A Study Conducted in the Volta Region of Ghana

Abstract

This report is the outcome of a study undertaken on men and women’s access to and control over land in seven districts of the Volta Region in Ghana. The study evolved out of a need for increased insight into gender differences in access to and control over land and the implications of insecure access to land for households within the Volta Region of Ghana. The objective of the study was to obtain an improved understanding of gender-specific constraints that exist in the Volta Region with regard to land tenure. It was anticipated that such information could contribute to: (i) an enhanced decision making power of women in their efforts to obtain more secure access to land within the framework of existing legal, customary rights, regulations and practices, (ii) increased female utilisation of legal aid and other legal services, and (iii) improved agricultural productivity, of especially women farmers, and improved food security at the household level due to an increased security o f land tenure. This study confirmed that faming activities were the main source of income amongst the communities studied in the Volta Region, a region that is well known for the production of a wide variety of food and cash crops. A clear division of labour existed between men, women and children on the farms. Women had become more involved in farming activities after independence due to changes in the division of labour, their greater involvement in food crop and cash crop farming and their greater involvement in farming related trading activities. This did not necessarily result in a betterment of their socio-economic position or an increased control over their farming activities. It has, however, increased their workload and responsibilities.