Sustainable Urban Agriculture in Ghana: What Governance System Works?
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Urban Farming in Tamale
1.2. Notion of Governance
“the object of investigation is understood as an emergent pattern or order of a social system, arising out of complex negotiations and exchange between ‘intermediate’ social actors, groups, forces, organisations, public and semi-public institutions in which state organisations are only one—and not necessarily the most significant amongst many others seeking to steer or manage these relations.”
“As a set of interactions (conflicts, negotiations, alliance, compromise, avoidance, etc.) resulting in more or less stabilised regulations, producing order and disorder (the point is subject to diverging interpretations between stakeholders) and defining a social field, the boundaries and participants of which are predefined”.[12]
1.3. Forms of Governance
2. Material and Methods
2.1. Case Study Location and Context
2.2. Methods
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Insecure Access to Land
“If chiefs inform the farmers that they want to sell the land, they will buy the land. What chiefs do is that they will just sell the plot of land out to another person and you will only know this when the person is ready to build. In Buipela they don’t sell lands to farmers.”
“I have always been saying that, hmmm in Ghana we are underdeveloped because of our land tenure system. It is part of the problem. Here is the case where there is a sitting chief. Land is money and government can task land and raise a lot of money for development. An area becomes ripe for development then a chief goes in and zones the place. If we have about fifty plots and you are selling each plot ten thousand Ghana Cedi, multiple it and see how much money the chief can raise from these sales. You see, but he sells the land and then spends the money on himself and the immediate people around him, without being held accountable for how he spends the money. There is no law compelling him to account, except that, one enlightened person in the family or in the palace may ask; where is the money? If you go to the palace, you may find a child who is unable to pay his school fees. I hope you understand. If you go to Accra, it is worse what they do. He sells the land; the next thing to do is to marry another wife. I am not saying all the chiefs are bad, some of them are good. The sad thing is that you know the money that is accrued from the sales; he does not use it for the development of the area. He would sell the land without any development and then expect the government to come in to provide the infrastructure services; road, water, electricity. Do you think this is fair? Is not fair I can tell you that when you go to Accra, chiefs are getting a lot of money they are selling lands, for millions of dollars but where do these monies go…, they are not being held accountable.”
3.2. Conflict between Crop Farmers and Livestock Owners
“The problem is that even the farmers over there when the Zagyuri chief them to fence their fields, they would not listen to him. if they do not listen to him what of somebody from here. The people farming there do not listen to anybody's advice or anybody’s suggestions on how to keep their fields. When the chief sometimes call on them to advise them, they talk to him as if he is not a chief. Sometimes, nobody would answer the palace call, so the chief just leaves alone.”
3.3. Wastewater Irrigation
“Anytime the market women take the vegetables to the market, the retailer would ask the woman where she bought it. If the market women make a mistake and mention that theybought it from Zagyuri, because of the nature of the water they use to water it, alot of retailers will either buy the vegetable at a low price or reject it. So when market women are asked where the vegetable was bought, they don't tell the retailers or consumers that they get it from here they would rather tell them they get it from a different source so they can sell it easily or fast. Some of the sources mentioned are government irrigation sites like Libga Irrigation Scheme.”
3.4. Imperfect Marketing Opportunities
4. Conclusions—Formal or Informal Governance?
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
- Smit, W. Urban governance and urban food systems in Africa: Examining the linkages. Cities 2016, 58, 80–86. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Prain, G.; Lee-Smith, D.; Karanja, N. African Urban Harvest; Springer: New York, NY, USA, 2010. [Google Scholar]
- Giweta, M. Mainstreaming Wastewater Management in Urban Planning: A Case Study of Tamale Metropolis, Ghana. Master’s Thesis, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands, Montpellier, France, 2011. [Google Scholar]
- Fuseini, I. Urban Governance and Spatial Planning for Sustainable Urban Development in Tamale, Ghana. Ph.D. Dissertation, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa, March 2016. [Google Scholar]
- Danso, G.; Drechsel, P.; Obuobei, E.; Forkuo, G.; Kranjac-Berisavljevic, G. Urban vegetable farming sites; crops and cropping practices. In Irrigated Urban Vegetable Production in Ghana: Characteristics; Benefits and Risk Mitigation, 2nd ed.; Drechsel, P., Keraita, B., Eds.; International Water Institute (IWMI): Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2014; pp. 7–27. [Google Scholar]
- Gyasi, E.A.; Fosu, M.; Kranjac-Berisavljevic, G.; Mensah, A.M.; Obeng, F.; Yiran, G.A.B.; Fuseini, I. Building Urban Resilience: Assessing Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture in Tamale, Ghana; Padgham, J., Jabbour, J., Eds.; United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP): Nairobi, Kenya, 2014. [Google Scholar]
- Eaton, D.; Hilhorst, T. Opportunities for the managing of solid waste flows in the periurban interface of Bamako and Ouagadougou. Environ. Urban. 2003, 15, 53–64. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Gyasi, E.A.; Kranjac-Berisavljevic, G.; Fosu, M.; Mensah, A.M.; Yiran, G.; Fuseini, I. Managing Threats and Opportunities of Urbanisation for Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture in Tamale, Ghana. Secur. Water Food Energy Liveability Cities 2014, 71, 87–97. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Crush, J.; Frayne, B. Supermarket Expansion and the Informal Food Economy in Southern African Cities: Implications for Urban Food Security. J. S. Afr. Stud. 2011, 37, 781–807. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Nugent, R. The impact of urban agriculture on the household and local economies. In Growing Cities, Growing Food: Urban Agriculture on the Policy Agenda; Bakker, N., Dubbeling, M., Gundel, S., Sabel-Koschella, U., de Zeeuw, H., Eds.; Deutsche Stiftung für Internationale Entwicklung (DSE): Feldafing, Germany, 2000. [Google Scholar]
- Centre for the Future State. Are Informal Institutions Good for Local Governance? Institute of Development Studies: Brighton, UK, 2010. [Google Scholar]
- Blundo, G.; Le Meur, P.-Y. Introduction: An Anthropology of Everyday Governance: Collective Service Delivery and Subject-Making. In The Governance of Daily Life in Africa: Ethnographic Explorations of Public and Collective Services; Blundo, G., Le Meur, P.-Y., Eds.; Brill: Leiden, The Netherlands; Boston, MA, USA, 2009; Volume 19, pp. 1–38. [Google Scholar]
- Foucault, M. Governmentality. In Power: Essential Works of Foucault, 1954–1984; Faubion, J.D., Ed.; New Press: New York, NY, USA, 2001; pp. 201–222. [Google Scholar]
- Ferguson, J.; Gupta, A. Spatializing States: Toward an Ethnography of Neoliberal Governmentality. Am. Ethnol. 2002, 29, 981–1002. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- De Sardan, J.P.O. The Eight Modes of Local Governance in West Africa. Inst. Dev. Stud. Bull 2011, 42, 22–31. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Hermet, G.; Kazancigil, A. Introduction. In La Gouvernance. Un Concept et Ses Applications; Hermet, G., Kazancigil, A., Prud’homme, J.F., Eds.; CERI-Karthala: Paris, France, 2005; pp. 5–14. [Google Scholar]
- Hermet, G. La Gouvernance serait-elle le nom de l’apres-démocratie? In La Gouvernance. Un Concept et Ses Applications; Hermet, G., Kazancigil, A., Prud’homme, J.F., Eds.; CERI-Karthala: Paris, France, 2005; pp. 17–47. [Google Scholar]
- Coase, R. The New Institutional Economics. Am. Econ. Rev. 1998, 88, 72–74. Available online: https://campus.fsu.edu/bbcswebdav/orgs/econ_office_org/Institutions_Reading_List/02._Institutional_Quality_and_Growth/Coase,_R._H.-_The_New_Institutional_Economics (accessed on 8 February 2017).
- Williamson, O.E. The Institutions of Governance. Am. Econ. Rev. 1998, 88, 75–79. Available online: http://www.edegan.com/pdfs/Williamson%20(1998)%20-%20The%20Institutions%20of%20Governance.pdf (accessed on 8 February 2017).
- Rose, N.S. Powers of Freedom: Reframing Political Thought; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK; New York, NY, USA, 1999. [Google Scholar]
- Woodhouse, P.; Bernstein, H.; Hulme, D. Africa’s Wetlands in Drylands. From Commons to Enclosures? In African Enclosures: The Social Dynamics of Wetlands in Drylands; Woodhouse, P., Bernstein, H., Hulme, D., Trench, P., Eds.; James Currey: Oxford, UK; Africa World Press: Trenton, NJ, USA, 2000. [Google Scholar]
- Latour, B. Changer la Société; Refaire de la Sociologie; La Découverte: Paris, France, 2006. [Google Scholar]
- Harrison, G. The World Bank; Governance and Theories of Political Action in Africa. Br. J. Politics Int. Relat. 2016, 7, 240–260. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Söderbaum, F. Modes of Regional Governance in Africa: Neoliberalism; Sovereignty Boosting; and Shadow Networks. Glob. Gov. Rev. Multilater. Int. Organ. 2004, 10, 419–436. [Google Scholar]
- World Bank. Strengthening World Bank Group Engagement on Governance and Anticorruption; World Bank: Washington, DC, USA, 2007. [Google Scholar]
- Amanor, K. Participation, Commercialisation and Actor Networks: The Political Economy of Cereal Seed Production Systems in Ghana; Future Agricultures Consortium Working Paper 016; Future Agricultures Consortium at the University of Sussex: Brighton, UK, 2010; pp. 1–29. [Google Scholar]
- Benda-Beckmann, K.V. Forum shopping and shopping forums: Dispute processing in a Minangkabau village in West Sumatra. J. Legal Plur. Unoff. Law 1981, 13, 117–159. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Lund, C. Twilight Institutions: Public Authority and Local Politics in Africa. Dev. Chang. 2006, 37, 685–705. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Gluckman, M. The Judicial Process among the Barotse of Northern Rhodesia; Manchester University Press: Manchester, UK, 1955. [Google Scholar]
- Bierschenk, T.; de Sardan, J.-P.O. ECRIS: Rapid collective inquiry for the identification of conflicts and strategic groups. Hum. Organ. 1997, 52, 238–244. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- De Sardan, J.-P.O. État, bureaucratie et gouvernance en Afrique de l’Ouest francophone. Politique Africaine 2004, 96, 139. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ubink, J.M.; Quan, J.F. How to combine tradition and modernity? Regulating customary land management in Ghana. Land Use Policy 2008, 25, 198–213. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- De Sardan, J.-P.O. A Moral Economy of Corruption in Africa? Mod. Afr. Stud. 1999, 37, 25–52. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Mahama, I. Murder of an African King: Ya-Na Yakubu II; Vantage Press Inc.: New York, NY, USA, 2009. [Google Scholar]
- Arthur, I. From “Owo Crisis” to “Dagbon Dispute”: Lessons in the Politicization of Chieftaincy Disputes in Modern Nigeria and Ghana. Commonw. J. Int. Aff. 2008, 97, 47–60. [Google Scholar]
- Diamond, L.J. Toward Democratic Consolidation. J. Democr. 1994, 5, 4–17. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Godsäter, A.; Söderbaum, F. Civil Society in Regional Governance in Eastern and Southern Africa. In Civil Society and International Governance: The Role of Non-State Actors in the EU; Africa; Asia and Middle East; Armstrong, D., Bello, V., Gilson, J., Spini, D., Eds.; Taylor and Francis: London, UK, 2010; pp. 148–165. [Google Scholar]
- UNDP Partnership Bueau. Africa Forum on Civil Society and Governance Assessments: Concept Note; UNDP: Dakar, Senegal, 2011. [Google Scholar]
- Helmke, G.; Levitsky, S. Informal Institutions and Comparative Politics: A Research Agenda. Perspect. Politics 2004, 4, 725–740. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- De Soysa, I.; Jütting, J. Informal Institutions and Development: Think Local, Act Global? Informal Institutions and Development–What Do We Know and What Can We Do? OECD: Paris, France, 2006; Available online: http://instruct.uwo.ca/economics/317b-570/Institutions_worldbank.pdf (accessed on 13 November 2017).
- Armstrong, D.; Gilson, J. Introduction: civil society and international governance. In Civil Society and International Governance: The Role of Non-State Actors in Global and Regional Regulatory Frameworks; Armstrong, D., Bello, V., Gilson, J., Spini, D., Eds.; Routledge: London, UK, 2011; Volume 10, pp. 1–12. [Google Scholar]
- Kiwanuka, M. Decentralization and Good Governance in Africa: Institutional Challenges to Uganda’s Local Governments. J. Afr. Asian Local Gov. Stud. 2012, 1, 44–59. [Google Scholar]
- Schneider, H. Participatory Governance: The Missing Link for Poverty Reduction; OECD Development Centre: Paris, France, 1999. [Google Scholar]
- Lee, J.A. “Can You Hear Me Now?” Making Participatory Governance Work for the Poor. Harv. Law Policy Rev. 2013, 7, 405–441. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ghana Statistical Service. 2010 Population and Housing Census; District Analytical Report: Tamale Metropolis; Ghana Statistical Service: Accra, Ghana, 2014. Available online: http://www.statsghana.gov.gh/docfiles/2010_District_Report/Northern/Tamale%20Metropolitan.pdf (accessed on 13 November 2017).
- Drechsel, P.; Graefe, S.; Sonou, M.; Cofie, O.O. Informal Irrigation in Urban West Africa: An Overview; Research Report 102; IWMI: Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2006. [Google Scholar]
- Nchanji, E.B.; Bellwood-Howard, I.; Schareika, N.; Chagomoka, T.; Schlesinger, J.; Axel, D.; Rüdiger, G. Assessing the sustainability of vegetable production practices in northern Ghana. Int. J. Agric. Sustain. 2017, 15, 321–337. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Parlett, M.; Hamilton, D. Evaluation as illumination: A new approach to the study of innovatory programs. In Evaluation Studies Review Annual; Glass, G., Ed.; SAGE: Beverly Hills, CA, USA, 1976; Volume 1. [Google Scholar]
- Sinkovics, R.R.; Alfoldi, E.A. Progressive Focusing and Trustworthiness in Qualitative Research. Manag. Int. Rev. 2012, 52, 817–845. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Morse, J.M. Data were saturated…. Qual. Health Res. 2015, 25, 587–588. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Drechsel, P.; Dongus, S. Dynamics and sustainability of urban agriculture: Examples from sub-saharan Africa. Sustain. Sci. 2010, 5, 69–78. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Yaro, J.A. Customary tenure systems under siege: Contemporary access to land in Northern Ghana. GeoJournal 2010, 75, 199. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ubink, J.M. Traditional Authority Revisited: Popular Perceptions of Chiefs and Chieftaincy in Peri-Urban Kumasi; Ghana. J. Leg. Plural. 2007, 39, 123–161. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Woodhouse, P. African Enclosures: A Default Mode of Development. World Dev. 2003, 31, 1705–1720. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Gumbihini Farmer. Farmer’s Management Practices and Access to Land; In Depth Interview: Gumbihini, Tamale, 2014. [Google Scholar]
- Zagyuri Farmer. Farmer’s Management Practices and Marketing; Key Informant Interview: Zagyuri, Tamale, 2014. [Google Scholar]
- Yuksel, N. Achieving a Uniquely African Green Revolution: Report and Recommendations from a High-Level Conference and Seminar at the Salzburg Global Seminar 2008; IDS: Brighton, UK, 2008. [Google Scholar]
- Dempsey, J.; Campbell, R. A Value-Chain Approach to Coffee Production: Linking Ethiopian Coffee Producers to International Markets. 2006. Available online: http://www.eap.gov.et/sites/default/files/a%20value%20chian%20approach%20to%20coffee%20production.pdf (accessed on 13 November 2017).
© 2017 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Nchanji, E.B. Sustainable Urban Agriculture in Ghana: What Governance System Works? Sustainability 2017, 9, 2090. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9112090
Nchanji EB. Sustainable Urban Agriculture in Ghana: What Governance System Works? Sustainability. 2017; 9(11):2090. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9112090
Chicago/Turabian StyleNchanji, Eileen Bogweh. 2017. "Sustainable Urban Agriculture in Ghana: What Governance System Works?" Sustainability 9, no. 11: 2090. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9112090