Nana Ama Yirra
The Executive Director of Community Land & Development Foundation (COLANDEF), Nana Ama Yirra, says the acquisition of large tracts of land by investors is impoverishing locals.
Speaking at a recent workshop in Accra on land use in the country, Nana Ama indicated that with the exception of chiefs, small holder farmers, especially women, were being impoverished due to the development.
The workshop at the Miklin Hotel was under the theme ‘Achieving gender equality and social inclusion in land based investment in Ghana.”
Women who are ignored when it comes to such negotiations are equally left out when it comes to the payment of compensation, Nana Ama Yirra said.
Nana Ama observed that the improper negotiations in the acquisition of large tracts of land negatively affect the less privileged in society.
According to her, COLANDEF is poised to lead the way through this project to encourage stakeholders to develop guidelines and modalities to guide the processes in land acquisition in the country.
She said, “We need the stakeholders, especially the Land Commission, the private sector players, chiefs and queen mothers, including policy makers, to make their inputs.”
The land acquisition guidebook, she said, has become very imperative to reduce gender inequality.
“In most cases, rural women who engage in inter cropping or subsistence farming surfer the most, because they are not included when compensations are discussed with the men and the chiefs.”
Nana Ama said the land guidebook could be incorporated into the Land Commission Guidelines and LI for the land bill to guide policy direction.
According to her, the completion of the guidebook would benefit customary land owners, women, the youth, undocumented land right holders and the peri-urban smallholder land users as well.
“We, at COLANDEF, would continue to solicit inputs,” she said.
By Emmanuel Kubi