Large tracts of land being acquired for bio-fuel production in Ghana

A day sensitization and awareness creation on alienation of communal land and its implications on livelihood and forms of rights and interests has been held at Koforidua.

The workshop brought together  traditional authorities, land owners,staff of various government departments and agencies, religious groups and all stakeholders of land administration in the Region .

It was aimed at creating awareness on bio-fuel feedstock production and its associated effects, effective land use practices and  natural resources governance to ensure improvement in the livelihood of land owing communities in the Region.

Addressing the participants, Mr Mark Kakraba-Ampeh, Executive Director of Civil Society Coalition (CICOL), on Land, organizers of the workshop, said a report prepared by the coalition on bio fuel commercial production had revealed that  production of bio-fuel feedstock which included jetropha, curcas, sugarcane and soya were on the ascendency in Ghana.

He said the report indicated that, large tracks of communal land were being taken over by companies and organization for bio-fuel plantation in Ghana with clear evidences in the Northern and Eastern Regions.

Mr Kakraba- Ampeh said the acquisition of large tracts of land for bio-fuel plantation had a lot of effects which include vulnerability in land rights of poor male and female lands users with women and children at extreme disadvantage, threatening of livelihood and food security of rural households and lack of sustainable management of the natural resources of the people in  communities  where such  plantations exist.

He said a quantitative inventory of five African countries such as Ethiopian, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali and Sudan compiled by the International Institute of Environment and Development indicated that, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Fund for Agriculture and Development (IFAD) documented that, a total of 2,492,684 hectares of land had been acquired from 2004 to 2009.

According to him, in Ghana, more than 70 per cent of bio-fuel development had been identified by some research works.

Mr Kakraba-Ampeh appealed to traditional authorities and land owners to respect land resource rights to ensure food security and also consult all those materially affected by large land acquisition.

He also appealed to organizations and investors to ensure that social responsibilities were also paid to the affected communities, especially farmers whose lands were taken for the project or mining.

At the end of the workshop, participants urged traditional authorities and land owners to ensure that all land allocations conform to state law and policy and that all transactions for over three years are properly documented in writing and finally, all stool lands grants must receive government concurrence through the Lands Commission.

Source: GNA