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Land Dispossessions And Water Appropriations: Political Ecology Of Land And Water Grabs In Ghana

Author

Listed:
  • E .D.Kuusaana
  • E .A.Adams
  • B.B Campion
  • A .Ahmed

Abstract

Recent land grabs in Sub-Saharan Africa are influenced by not only land availability but also access to water resources beyond seasonal rains. However, much of literature decouples land grabs from water resource appropriations, treating the two as separate phenomena. This paper examines the complex interplay of land grabs and water appropriations in large-scale plantation agriculture in Ghana. Using mixed methods (actor interviews, focus groups, and smallholder farmer surveys), three case studies, and theoretical insights from political ecology and the hydro- social cycle, it explores the local conditions, actor interests, motivations and power relations; decision making; and institutional lapses that enable water appropriations to go in tandem with land grabs. The results show that although land and water grabs were intricately intertwined, negotiations rarely addressed water use rights. Investors were motivated by the notion of abundant, unused water, and they carefully negotiated access to water, including offering social benefits to communities in exchange for unrestrictive water use. Traditional leaders were mostly oblivious to national legislation and institutional arrangements for land and water use and sometimes unknowingly sanctioned unlimited water appropriations by investors. Farmers were more concerned about land dispossessions than water appropriations, and their concerns on investor water use centred more on water quality decline from agrochemicals, not water-rights abuse. The paper ultimately bridges the land and water grabs literature by exposing often- overlooked forms of water appropriations enabled by land grabs and highlighting potential hydro-social ramifications of water grabs from climate-induced drought in the savannah belt of Ghana.

Suggested Citation

  • E .D.Kuusaana & E .A.Adams & B.B Campion & A .Ahmed, 2019. "Land Dispossessions And Water Appropriations: Political Ecology Of Land And Water Grabs In Ghana," AfRES 2019-080, African Real Estate Society (AfRES).
  • Handle: RePEc:afr:wpaper:2019-080
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    File URL: https://afres.architexturez.net/doc/oai-afres-id-2019-080
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Kathleen C. Stosch & Richard S. Quilliam & Nils Bunnefeld & David M. Oliver, 2022. "Catchment-Scale Participatory Mapping Identifies Stakeholder Perceptions of Land and Water Management Conflicts," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-20, February.
    2. Abdul-Hanan Abdallah & Michael Ayamga & Joseph Agebase Awuni, 2023. "Large-Scale Land Acquisition and Household Farm Investment in Northern Ghana," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-36, March.
    3. Bélair, Joanny, 2021. "Farmland investments in Tanzania: The impact of protected domestic markets and patronage relations," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    4. Bin Yang & Jun He, 2021. "Global Land Grabbing: A Critical Review of Case Studies across the World," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-19, March.
    5. Sanz-Hernández, Alexia & Jiménez-Caballero, Paula & Zarauz, Irene, 2022. "Gender and women in scientific literature on bioeconomy: A systematic review," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    6. Anika Trebbin, 2021. "Land Grabbing and Jatropha in India: An Analysis of ‘Hyped’ Discourse on the Subject," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-21, October.
    7. Ahmed, Abubakari, 2021. "Biofuel feedstock plantations closure and land abandonment in Ghana: New directions for land studies in Sub-Saharan Africa," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    8. Jing Han & Mengying Jiang & Xupeng Zhang & Xinhai Lu, 2021. "Knowledge Mapping Analysis of Transnational Agricultural Land Investment Research," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-15, December.
    9. Yaoben Lin & Danling Chen, 2022. "Functional Zoning and Path Selection of Land Comprehensive Consolidation Based on Grey Constellation Clustering: A Case Study of Dongying City, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-16, May.
    10. Nyantakyi-Frimpong, Hanson, 2020. "What lies beneath: Climate change, land expropriation, and zaï agroecological innovations by smallholder farmers in Northern Ghana," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    11. Xiaoyu Jiang & Yangfen Chen, 2020. "The Potential of Absorbing Foreign Agricultural Investment to Improve Food Security in Developing Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-19, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Ghana; land grabs; political ecology; water grabs; water rights;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R3 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location

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