Farming within a dual legal land system: An argument for emancipatory food systems planning in Accra,Ghana

Contestation over land is a central element of urban food systems. This paper examines how Ghana’s dual legal land system affects urban farmers. Situated within the “emancipatory planning” discourse, the paper investigates how farmers navigate customary and statutory land rules using tactics that include compliance, opposition and adaptation. Based on field work conducted in urban and peri-urban areas of Accra, the study demonstrates that farmers access land by working around, outside, and within the rules of the dual legal land system. The landowners on whom urban farmers depend also both comply with and violate these same rules. This system perpetuates inequities. Food systems policy and planning must address the structural and systemic inequities that are reinforced by the rules of the land game. The paper concludes with some reflections on how local and national policy and planning can do a better job in supporting urban food production in contexts characterized by complex, dual legal land systems.     

Tenure security,land registration and customary tenure in a peri-urban Accra community

The study examines the strategies that people use to secure their interests in land in a peri-urban Accra customary community. In a contested chieftaincy, customary leaders sell agricultural and virgin land to strangers for residential purposes, causing conflict and altering traditional livelihoods, and the proceeds of the sales do not flow to members of the lineage group. Violence and murder, involving land guards hired to defend different land claims or to drive farmers off their land, have occurred. The case confirms theory describing the behavioural patterns to be expected during major social change typically found in peri-urban areas when government is unable or unwilling to enforce the law. The flexible, negotiable rules characteristic of customary systems can be manipulated by individuals seeking power and control over land. Accepting that customary land administration is here to stay, the case supports the view that the customary system needs major reform to incorporate local-level checks and balances on land administration to make customary leaders accountable as fiduciaries. In terms of registration usage theory customary landholders in the study area saw title deeds as marginally useful in their agricultural lands but not in family compounds, whereas for strangers registration is essential.     

Registration of private interests in land in a community lands policy setting: An exploratory study in Meru district,Tanzania

Current Tanzanian land law offers registration of private interests in land in the form of Certificates of Customary Rights of Occupancy (CCROs) within a broader community lands approach. We conducted qualitative research on the issuance of CCROs along a mountain slope transect in Meru district in northeast Tanzania. This area features intensified smallholder agriculture that evolutionary theory suggests is well adapted for registration of private interests in land. It also features strong customary authorities of the sort that legal pluralism theory suggests may lead to property relations that are not singular and evolving but multiple and co-existing. We found that tenure was highly individualized and local demand for CCROs was expressed in a context of both agricultural intensification and nascent urbanisation. Nevertheless, due to high cost and coordination constraints, this demand did not deliver widespread registration. While CCROs were perceived as useful to resolve land conflicts and put up as collateral for loans, they were not essential as a variety of alternative approaches were in place. In this forum shopping, plurality was not in itself a problem and individuals increasingly chose quasi-formal paper authorisations over customary rituals. Based on our findings, we recommend that land administration systems more explicitly build on existing quasi-formal practice, and that community lands approaches include a diversity of national programmes tailored to different local community circumstances.     

Organizing anarchy: The food security–biodiversity–climate crisis and the genesis of rural land use planning in the developing world

Shortfalls in global food production, coupled with the growing visibility of climate change's disruptive effects, have underlined for many observers the importance of devoting rural lands to their ‘optimal’ use, where they can make maximal contributions to the global imperatives of feeding the human population and maintaining vital environmental services. In this context observers have endorsed rural land use planning as a way to insure that, at least in theory, lands get devoted to their best uses. In practice, land use planning in the developing world has resembled ‘organized anarchy’. Small landholders with insecure land tenure, overseas investors seeking large land deals, NGOs representing indigenous peoples, government officials, and staff from international environmental NGOs and multilateral organizations have come together in strategic action fields to struggle over and sometimes negotiate land use plans for contested landscapes. These plans represent a strategic, spatially explicit response to the climate change–biodiversity–food security crisis.     

Lineage and land reforms in Malawi: Do matrilineal and patrilineal landholding systems represent a problem for land reforms in Malawi?

Based on government statistics and interviews with villagers across Malawi this article argues that customary matrilineal and patrilineal land tenure systems serve to weaken security of land tenure for some family members as well as obstructing the creation of gender-neutral inheritance of lands. Data from the National Census of Agriculture and Livestock 2007and the 2008 Population and Housing Census are used to characterize marriage systems and landholding patterns of local communities. Marriage systems correspond to customary land-tenure patterns of matrilineal or patrilineal cultures. The differences between the two ways of land holding represent a challenge for land reforms aimed at unifying rules for land tenure and land devolution. Drawing on an analogy of the resilience of the patrilineal land holding system in Norway, we argue that it will be difficult to remove the preferential rights of lineage members directly. We recommend that, instead of creating a unified national system, existing land rights should be formally recognized and circumscribed by fair procedures. A well-designed landholding system should aim to ease the transitions of diverse customary tenure systems towards the requirements of a modern large-scale society.     

Land use controls and residential land values in the Offinso South municipality,Ghana

Land use controls may have positive, negative or neutral impact on urban land values. The Offinso South Municipality (OSM) employs conventional zoning in its land management practices. This article investigates the land use control regime in and its impact on land values and the living standards of residents of the municipality. Empirical data were obtained from physical developers in the municipality via self-administered questionnaire. It also collected data from occupiers of amenity lands via guided interviews. It finds that there exist large scale violations of planning controls in the municipality. It also finds that amenity lands are generally encroached upon sometimes with connivance of officials from the planning outfit. It suggests that the planning authority should dialogue with developers to ensure voluntary compliance. The planning authority should also build its capacity to enforce its land use plan.     

Conversion of agricultural and forest land to other purposes in the context of land protection: Evidence from Polish experience

The protection of agricultural land and forests is a relatively new concept in Poland, and it began with forest protection in the 1920s. The first regulations on the protection of agricultural land were introduced only in the 1960s. Agricultural land and forests received comprehensive protection pursuant to the provisions of the Act of 26 October 1977 on the protection of agricultural land, forests and land recultivation. This legal act set the foundations for the protection of farmland and forests in successive decades.The aim of this study was to determine the influence of farmland and forest protection on spatial planning and to highlight the loss of agricultural and forest land resulting from conversion to other purposes. Legal regulations pertaining to spatial planning and the protection of agricultural and land forests were analysed. The scale of the problem was identified, and future land-use types were forecast based on the data developed by Statistics Poland (GUS). The existing spatial plans (municipal master plan - MMP) were analysed to determine the conversion loss index (CLI) associated with the conversion of agricultural land and forests to other uses. Legal regulations pertaining to the protection of agricultural land and forests were also analysed, and the extent of the relevant conversion measures was determined. The study demonstrated that urban development and the inevitable urbanization of rural areas contribute to the loss of agricultural and forest land that are converted to other uses.     

Dynamics of youth access to agricultural land under the customary tenure regime in the Techiman traditional area of Ghana

This paper investigated youth access to agricultural land under customary land tenure in Ghana. Using Techiman Traditional Area as a case study, the study applied multiple sampling techniques in a multi-stage sampling process to select the study communities and respondents. A total sample of 455 youth respondents and 23 elders were covered in twenty peri-urban and rural communities. The study revealed that irrespective of whichever mode (market or non-market) the youth employed to access agricultural land, in rural or peri-urban areas, there were constraints to their land sizes. Majority of the youth, both indigenes and migrants, held small land sizes of 1–3 acres for farming purposes. The underlying causes were two-fold: demand-related such as high cost of accessing land and competition from residential developers and supply-related such as unwillingness of the elders to release land and increasing scarcity of productive family land, among others. It is thus the conclusion of the paper that more research should be conducted across the country into youth access to agricultural land under customary tenure as a means of formulating an evidence-based youth agricultural land access policy for the country. There is also the need for public education of customary authorities to sensitize them on the need for making land accessible to the youth for agricultural purpose.     

Urban agriculture and land use in cities: An approach with the multi-functionality and sustainability concepts in the case of Antananarivo (Madagascar)

Urban planners are increasingly interested in agriculture around cities and have to decide whether to maintain or not areas of agricultural land use within and close to growing cities. There is therefore a need for researchers to design tools to guide public decision-making on land use. Various approaches, originating from different disciplines, may be adopted in this respect. We designed an interdisciplinary research program in order to test two related concepts: the “sustainability” and the “multi-functionality” of agriculture. We show that these concepts provide a useful framework for obtaining appropriate knowledge about urban agriculture, which urban planners could apply in real situations. In close collaboration with urban planners, we applied an interdisciplinary research methodology, based on common farm surveys and territorial approaches, to the Antananarivo area (Madagascar). The main functions analyzed were the food production and environmental roles of urban agriculture. Two aspects of sustainability were assessed: the farm sustainability and the territorial sustainability, with expert scores. This approach identified a wide diversity of farming systems that performed differently, depending on their intra- or suburban location. The food supply function appeared to be important not only for fresh produce but also for rice consumption. The function of protection against flooding is now important and this importance will increase with climate change. A diagnosis of sustainability was made and discussed with urban planners: several farming systems and zones were identified in which agriculture was considered important as a means of maintaining or developing the food supply, employment and incomes, and even landscape or environmental quality. We also identified other areas in which poor production conditions and/or the negative effects of urbanization on agriculture jeopardized its sustainability. This methodology appeared to be useful for determining the most appropriate role of urban agriculture in the land-use planning of this city. Our study raises new questions on the subject and should lead to more focused research programmes. We discuss several points of interest and the limitations and possible extension of this method.     

Abandoned agricultural land and its potential for short rotation woody crops in Latvia

Abandoned agricultural land in Latvia offers high potential for renewable energy production, especially for short rotation woody crops (SRWC). The objective of this study is to understand the main reasons why agricultural lands remain abandoned, and whether these reasons could pose any obstacles to the establishment of SRWC. The study was carried out in the Latgale planning region, with estimated 75,530 ha of abandoned agricultural land suitable for SRWC. Qualitative methods of data collection and analysis were used to study the phenomenon. The results show that the primary reason for agricultural land abandonment is the absentee landowners who do not reside in the municipality (e.g., heirs, urban dwellers, intermediaries, and/or investors). Other reasons are: (1) perception of a greater future value from other types of land use; (2) environmental and biophysical characteristics of the land; (3) policy obstacles; (4) social behavior; and, (5) financial and economic constraints. The study also reveals that the establishment of SRWC on abandoned agricultural lands will depend on policies guiding land acquisition and agricultural land use, as well as social and economic policies that encourage small holder production, especially in Latgale.     

The interrelations of land ownership,soil protection and privileges of capital in the aspect of land take

The novelty of this study lies in the analyses of legislation concerning land use policies by examining the specific boundary between land ownership and land take. The basic motive was that the European Commission (EC) withdrew the Soil Framework Directive (SFD) in 2014 following the objections of certain Member States (MS) who countered that as most lands are privately owned, they should not fall under the remit of public governance. Since the withdrawal of the SFD land take is an issue receiving more attention. The legal content of ownership rights has been subjected to constant debate in the context of land-use policies and planning practices, which raises the questions of who decides how the land can be used and whether administrative authorities give priority to non-agricultural uses. Our study seeks to explore these issues through the lens of property law by comparing different legislations on access to land on three levels of policy implementation: the EU, the national, and the local levels. MS legislations are highlighted through the example of Hungary in two aspects: (1) regulation regarding Access to Land and Land Ownership Rights (ALOR), and (2) legislation and results of the LANDSUPPORT decision support system concerning Land Take Changes (LTC). We designed figures to demonstrate how policymakers can use the new LANDSUPPORT platform to show the gaps and inconsistencies among the above aspects. We found that the legislative regulations concerning private land use to achieve soil protection objectives remain the weakest link in the environmental protection legislation of the EU. Anxieties concerning built-in legal guarantees on each of the studied levels actualise our research. Currently, global land management is not on the political table although common European legislation might be able to preserve land for agricultural use.     

Ideal type theories and concrete cases in land science: A multi-step appraisal of the evolutionary theory of land rights in Madre de Dios,Peru

The relationships of regional integration, land tenure and land use have all received substantial previous attention. Nonetheless, existing theoretical frameworks tend to presume ideal types of land tenure in understanding the impacts of regional integration on change in institutions and land use. We therefore evaluate the evolutionary theory of land rights (ETLR) for the case of Madre de Dios, Peru. This is a useful case since tenure for agricultural lands is private individual as the ETLR theorizes, but other characteristics, such as the presence of forest extractivism, depart from the assumptions of the ETLR. We pursue a multi-step analysis of key relationships of the ETLR, focusing particularly on the linkages between highway paving as an indicator of regional integration, titling as a measure of tenure formality, multiple indicators of land market engagement, and land uses with diverse ramifications for ecological sustainability. Findings for the different steps partially support the ETLR for the case of Madre de Dios. Disconfirmation however sometimes occurs due to geographic accidents rather than due to truly contrasting findings. We conclude by discussing the need to identify characteristics of empirical cases that do and do not fit the expectations of theories in order to better evaluate the applicability of theory for analysis and policy.     

Agricultural land use sustainability in Southwest Iran: Improving land leveling using consolidation plans

In recent years, sustainability has always been one of the most important approaches in policy making and program development in general, especially in the agricultural sector. On the other hand, land leveling and consolidation programs are usually implemented as the development programs of the agricultural sector in different regions of Iran. Thus, the aim of this study was to compare the agricultural sustainability in two different regions (with and without land leveling and consolidation) in Zarghan District, Fars Province, Iran. In this research, a quantitative research approach has been used, and data were collected in two phases using a researcher-made questionnaire. The results of the first phase of the study showed that in the leveled and consolidated lands, the ecological dimension is potentially in a good status of sustainability, but social and economic dimensions are in a moderate status. In the unleveled and unconsolidated lands, the ecological dimension is potentially in a good status, while the social dimension is in a moderate, and economic dimensions are in a potentially weak status of sustainability. In addition, comparing the results of the two groups of lands demonstrated that there is a significant difference between them in terms of ecological and economic sustainability, and in consolidated and leveled lands, ecological and economic sustainability are in a more favorable status. Furthermore, the results of the second phase of the research indicated that agricultural activities in both categories of land are beneficial. However, the net present value of agricultural activities revenues in the leveled and consolidated lands is higher than those of the areas outside the coverage of this plan. Therefore, it can be concluded that agricultural activities in leveled and consolidated lands, not only have a better status in terms of sustainability but also have a higher economic justification.     

Planning consistency and implementation in urbanizing China: Comparing urban and land use plans in suburban Beijing

The evaluation of the extent to which urban and land use planning have achieved their objectives is crucial to better management of urban land development. China’s urban and land use plans have the common purpose of controlling urban sprawl. This research aimed at comparatively assessing the consistency and implementation of these plans, considering the Changping District in suburban Beijing as a case study. Three main findings were obtained: (1) each plan used different strategies to control new developments, and there were several quantitative and spatial conflicts between the two plans; (2) neither plan has been well implemented or effective in controlling urban sprawl, despite the slightly better performance of the land use plan; (3) core-periphery decreasing trends were revealed in land quota allocation and effectiveness of planning implementation. Remote regular towns received the least land resources from the top-down planning system but also developed fast, mainly through informal and illegal approaches. Further investigation into the double failure of China’s current spatial planning system in quantitative and spatial control over urban land development requires a deeper integration of various spatial management systems, a fundamental transformation of planning philosophy, and a higher respect for peripheral areas in urban-rural integration. The planning assessment approach and reform recommendations developed on the basis of the Chinese practice are probably referable for other developing countries facing similar processes of rapid urbanization and imperfect spatial management.     

Patterns of development and conservation in agricultural lands—The case of the Tel Aviv metropolitan region 1990–2000

Until the 1990s Israel was implementing a strict agricultural land preservation policy program, rooted in Zionist ideology. This was changed when shifts in Israeli planning and land policy towards the end of the 20th century brought about accelerated growth and sprawling development in agricultural lands at the urban–rural fringe, particularly in the Tel Aviv metropolitan region (TMR). In this article we describe the background for policy shifts and the resulting impact on metropolitan growth, and then proceed to identify patterns of development in former agricultural lands and their impact on conservation, based on a study of statutory land use plans converting agricultural land to built-up uses within the TMR. It was found that most of the plans were converting large tracts of agricultural land to residential uses, characterized by low-density suburban-type family housing, thus reducing considerably the spatial conservation potential. In addition, only relative small portions of land were conserved as public open space within plans’ boundaries, and even then only about half of that was actually effective for active open space uses.     

The impact of urban expansion on agricultural land use intensity in China

China's urbanization has resulted in significant changes in both agricultural land and agricultural land use. However, there is limited understanding about the relationship between the two primary changes occurring to China's agricultural land – the urban expansion on agricultural land and agricultural land use intensity. The goal of this paper is to understand this relationship in China using panel econometric methods. Our results show that urban expansion is associated with a decline in agricultural land use intensity. The area of cultivated land per capita, a measurement about land scarcity, is negatively correlated with agricultural land use intensity. We also find that GDP in the industrial sector negatively affects agricultural land use intensity. GDP per capita and agricultural investments both positively contribute to the intensification of agricultural land use. Our results, together with the links between urbanization, agricultural land, and agricultural production imply that agricultural land expansion is highly likely with continued urban expansion and that pressures on the country's natural land resources will remain high in the future.     

Evaluating the effectiveness of land use master plans in built-up land management: A case study of the Jinan Municipality,eastern China

China has implemented land use master plans to strictly control built-up land usage. The effective evaluation of land use master plan on controlling construction land is the premise of monitoring and early warning of planning implementation. It is also the basis for planning revision and further implementation of territorial spatial planning. In this study, we established a comprehensive index system based on three aspects: scale management, annual growth rhythm control, and spatial layout. We then analyzed the consistency between the actual situation for built-up land and the previous land use master plan of the Jinan Municipality in the Shandong Province of eastern China. The results showed that the master plan effectively controlled the scale of built-up land sprawl, such that the annual growth rhythm control level periodically increased over time. They also indicated the low efficiency of the built-up land spatial layout control. Overall, the previous land use master plan in Jinan had notable impacts. We recommend that land policy makers should adjust control standards and implementation intensity for spatial planning in the future to achieve scientific and effective planning for the management of construction land.     

Integrating decentralised land administration systems with traditional land governance institutions in Ghana: Policy and praxis

The aim of the Land Administration Project (LAP) policy reform for supporting the establishment of the Customary Land Secretariats (CLSs) is to formalise and strengthen customary land administration and management within the context of decentralised land administration. With the prospects of the CLSs becoming the legal local land administrative units, the paper assessed how traditional land governance institutions may have contributed to the decentralisation of land administration in Ghana. The research used case study strategy within the qualitative research paradigm and un-structured questionnaires were used to collect data. The analyses show that, simple land registries exist with traditional local governance institutions through the CLSs. The maintenance and effectiveness of this however depends on continuous improvement of records keeping, quality of office personnel and suitable office accommodation. This should be devoid of local power struggles among current and successive chiefs. Also, collaboration with public land sector agencies especially in areas of sharing information on rights, uses, disputes and preparation of planning layouts is paramount. These registries are mere extension of the state land administration apparatus as service units under the deconcentration of land administration powers. The paper concludes that the current policy focus on strengthening decentralised land administration through the CLSs may fail if attention is not given to the maintenance of the local registries. Revenue generation capacities of the CLSs need to be enhanced in order for them to recruit and maintain quality office staff, and acquire technical logistics. Decentralising land administration to the CLSs under the deconcentration of powers should be maintained in the interim because of the teething problems identified with this current system.     

Values and attitudes of the urban public towards peri-urban agricultural land

Peri-urban agricultural landscapes around the world are undergoing rapid transformation due to urban expansion. While some landscape values are being protected by current land-use planning frameworks, we know little about the broader values and attitudes of the urban public shaping this transformation. The structure of the values assigned to peri-urban agricultural landscapes by residents of Melbourne, Australia was explored and related to stated landscape preferences and people's underlying values. Exploratory factor analysis was used to categorise assigned values in multifunctional, food and native biota groups, and stated preferences for photographs into four landscape categories: intensive landscapes, extensive landscapes, high tree cover and plantations. The structure of underlying personal values closely resembled other studies of environmental value orientations. Multiple regression analysis revealed that preferences for all landscape categories were predicted strongly by multifunctional assigned values. Significant relationships were also evident between all assigned value groups and the biospheric underlying value orientation. Attitudes towards residential development approaches were also related significantly to assigned but not underlying values. Assigned values appear therefore to mediate between underlying values and attitudes towards peri-urban landscapes. This research demonstrates that peri-urban agricultural landscapes are perceived as multifunctional systems by the urban public and are valued for a range of functions not typically included in land use policies. This study also suggests that in the context of rapid land use change, a variety of landscape types should be retained on the urban fringe for their benefit to the urban public, and synergies promoted between landscape functions.     

An assessment of stakeholders’ participation in land use planning process of Luapula Province Planning Authority

The legal framework of Zambia has laws that support participatory land use planning process but there are no guidelines on how it should be done. Thus, the research aims at assessing if the Luapula Province Planning Authority (LPPA) has a land use planning process that incorporates effective stakeholders’ participation.The research is based on secondary data, especially the land use planning process in the Urban and Regional Planning (URP) Act No. 3 of 2015 of the Laws of Zambia and the participatory land use planning process of Kilimanjaro Region.The data analysed show that there is lack of effective stakeholders’ participation in the LPPA land use planning process; the LPPA land use planning process does not have the provision to capacity build stakeholders during the land use planning process; lack of participatory land use planning guidelines; the institutional framework under customary authority is not part of the land use planning process and the LPPA land use planning process is a top-down approach.The conclusions state that the legal and institutional frameworks in existence are inadequate for effective stakeholders’ participation in land use planning process of LPPA. In addition, the stakeholders are not incorporated in the LPPA land use planning process in terms of decision making but incorporated as reactants to the decisions made by the public authorities.The recommendations are that a National Land Use Planning Commission composed of representatives from stakeholder groups needs to be established. In addition, some sections of the URP Act No. 3 of 2015 of the Laws of Zambia need amendment inorder to have continuous feedback between the land use plan makers (planning firm(s) and planning authority) and the stakeholders. Furthermore, Village Councils must be given power to make decision by establishing them as Village Planning Authorities.