Eric Yeboah & Mark Kakraba-Ampeh REPOSITIONING GHANA’S LAND ADMINISTRATION IN THE CONTEXT OF EMERGING GEOSPATIAL TECHNOLOGIES FOR LAND SURVEY- FRAMEWORK TO SCALE EXISTING LEGAL AND POLICYHURDLES Eric Yeboah & Mark Kakraba-Ampeh Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kumasi, Ghana Land Resource Management Centre, Ghana

The Context The dual land ownership and the case of minimal documentation of land rights Heightening tenure vulnerabilities as a result of multiple pressures Growing demand for spatial documentation of land rights as part of efforts to strengthen tenure security Demand is both rural [migrant farmers, traditional authorities, value chain actors] …..and also Urban [traditional authorities and local government authorities]

An emerging favourable landscape The ongoing Ghana Land Administration Project is creating opportunity to improve documentation of land rights Establishing and strengthening operations/systems of deed offices in all 10 administrative regions Ortho-Photo maps to speed up documentation Customary Land Secretariats Rural Parcel Rights Demarcation Customary Boundary Demarcation Increasing awareness on the part of land users (migrant farmers, traditional authorities, etc)

The Challenge Survey activities are state-led and grounded on existing survey standards which lack the needed flexibility and responsiveness Existing legal and policy environment fuels exclusion of many from the national cadastre Heavy state funding for the various projects. Difficulty in implementing on scale Sustainability concerns after project

The Changing Landscape: Emerging Technologies

Economics of Precision Driving Principle Economics of Precision

Generating the spatial Data Case Study Generating the spatial Data

Tracing Root of Title and Capturing attribute data

The added value of flexible tools Cost Ghana Land Administration Project: USD 420,000 for 3,856 parcels (this excludes endorsement fee by traditional authorities) Average of USD 109 per parcel (not based on acreage although an average farm size is 4-5 acres) Flexible approaches: USD 60-70 per first 5 acres including endorsement by traditional authorities Speed Speed under the Ghana Land Administration Project is sporadic, ranging from 1-6 years Flexible approaches: Within 2 months including state level/traditional endorsements Participatory, Flexibility and local legitimacy

The Hurdles An existing legal and policy environment that lack the needed flexibility to be responsive to emerging dynamics

Qualification of Persons to carry out survey All relevant laws (such as Act 122, 1962; Act 127, 1962 and PNDCL 152) are unanimous that the power to carry out any form of survey is vested in the Director of Surveys. The Director of Surveys in practice tends to delegate this power to authorized agents such as licensed or official surveyors. Maps and plans which are not prepared and executed by approved agents are not recognized There is over-concentration of surveyors in urban centres

Requirement of Permanent Boundary Markers Expensive, burdensome and can result in the exclusion of the aged and physically challenged

No graduated accuracy levels There is a direct relationship between high accuracy levels and cost Ensuring high accuracy is important. However, this must be looked at within the context of the value of the land that is to be surveyed. Economies of precision/accuracy require that, in areas of low land pressures and land values, lower accuracy surveys which are cheaper but fit-for-purpose could be employed As land values rise, corresponding accuracy surveys can then be employed In this way, the cost of survey, as a percentage of land value will be considerably low.

Reflections Customary land administration is dominate in Ghana Customary Land Secretariats are increasingly documenting land transactions although such recordation are not often referenced spatially There is growing demand for spatially documenting land rights Conventional approaches are expensive (up to 70 percent of land value in rural areas) and the processes can be slow Survey methodologies must be responsive both to the social and economic make up of the target group

Recognition of ‘intermediary surveyors’ (such as trained Customary Land Secretariat Coordinators)whose work can be done under the supervision of more qualified surveyors. THANK YOU