The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has funded the Ghana Land Policy Action Node (G-LPAN) to sensitize communities on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in four selected traditional areas in the Northern Region of Ghana under Land Access and Tenure Security Improvement Project (LATSIP).

This is part of AGRA’s dedication to improve grounds in achieving its policy aims of promoting land access and tenure security, reducing food insecurity, increasing smallholder farmers’ incomes and putting African countries on the roadmap towards African green revolution by the year 2020.

The LATSIP aims at increasing land tenure security for smallholder farmers especially women in the Northern Region of Ghana for an improved agricultural productivity and better rural livelihood. This can be achieved through grounds such as public education and awareness creation to the land owners and users in the project area, capacity building of traditional authorities or land sector agencies and promoting and strengthening the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms.

ADR AND CUSTOMARY LAND GOVERNANCE

Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms have been adopted globally and are being integrated into the judicial system of Ghana. This system of dispute resolution is currently gaining fame as a result of its benefits to the people at the local level and its immense contribution in reducing the backlog of cases at the formal court, especially land cases. Customary Land Governance to a greater extent revolves around local customs and traditions.

As such it is embedded with customary mechanisms of resolving disputes over land. Having a good blend of customs and modern approach to dispute resolution is one of the surest way of introducing trust and transparency in customary land governance.

In Ghana, efforts are already on track to institutionalize ADR in the entire judicial service which means ADR will not be organized based on only local customs and traditions but will be integrated with principles of formal adjudication. As a result of this, national guidelines have been developed to steer the implementation of ADR to enhance efficiency.

THE G-LPAN ON ADR SENSITZATION

The Ghana Land Policy Action Node (G-LPAN) has strengthened the capacities of traditional authorities, opinion leaders, Land Management Committee Members, Coordinators and Officers of Customary Land Secretariats and selected community members on Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms and developed a strategic guideline document for its implementation in the four traditional areas. It is to this end the Node sought to sensitize communities on the sound arrangements engineered for Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms in the traditional areas of Gulpkegu in Tamale, Damongo, Bole and North Mo in Bamboi all in Northern Region of Ghana.

The ADR sensitization is part of the G-LPAN central objective of improving the understanding of land owners and users in the project communities on Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms. The sensitization which was carried out by the Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands (OASL) and Community, Land and Development Foundation (COLANDEF) sought to educate communities in the four traditional areas in the Northern Region on the concept of ADR, what ADR mechanisms are, why ADR should be chosen as first option in resolving land disputes and creating awareness of local arrangement for ADR implementation to improve customary land administration in the project area and Ghana at large. The ADR as a component of LATSIP is mainly intended to support and strengthen local means of resolving land disputes after recognizing the extent to which people see the court as the place to get enforceable judgment.

ADR SENSITIZATION DESIGNED WITH LOCAL PEOPLE IN MIND

As part of Node’s general aim of improving the tenure security of smallholder famers in the Northern Region, the sensitization aimed to achieve the following;

• To ensure that participants are well informed about the concept of ADR mechanisms and its implementation procedures.

• To improve the level of understanding of why ADR should be chosen as first option for land dispute resolution and its benefits.

• To increase awareness of the drawbacks and the inconveniences in chosen the court system as the means of resolving land disputes.

• To improve understanding of local arrangements for ADR to enhance easy application.

In view of the above, the Ghana Land Policy Action Node under LATSIP with support from AGRA designed the strategy to sensitize communities in the four traditional areas on ADR and local arrangement for resolving disputes or conflicts especially on land. The sensitization program was strategized to educate land owners and users in the project communities on the overview of conflicts on land and how to manage it with ADR mechanisms to enhance land accessibility in their sphere of operation.

The participants in the project communities were enlightened on the proper procedures of land acquisition and significance of land documentation and record keeping in reducing land related conflicts. The sensitization also covered the aspect of ADR methods (Negotiation, Mediation, Customary Arbitration, and Court-Connected ADR), national framework for ADR and its implication on adjudication at the local level, the local arrangement for ADR implementation in Gulpkegu in Tamale, Damongo, Bole and North Mo in Bamboi and the roles stakeholders (i.e. traditional authorities, customary land secretariat coordinators and community members) must perform to promote effectiveness and efficiency in firming up ADR implementation.

KEY REMARKS / OBSERVATIONS

The sensitization which was programmed to familiarized participants with ADR mechanisms brought together in each community; traditional authorities, opinion leaders, female groups, youth, indigenes and settler farmers as targeted participants in the four selected traditional areas. In all, eight (8) communities were sensitized. Certain issues came into view during the sensitization sessions in the four traditional areas which are recommendable for policy consideration. Documentation of land has been considered as one of the means of securing land use right.

However, it was revealed during the sensitization sessions in all the project communities that, the cost of land registration is high and too bureaucratic which make farm lands documentation difficult for smallholder farmers and therefore needs policy intervention.

A number of activities were outlined by participants to be carried out in their respective communities as their contribution to promote the implementation of ADR since they are the true beneficiaries of the program. Among them include carrying out the ADR message to further educate others who were not able to attend the sensitization sessions, continues to encourage friends and parents to voluntary submit their land cases for ADR application.

Noting from the ideas, comments and suggestions brought on board for further deliberations by the participants of the various communities, it was observed that the causes of land disputes in the four selected traditional areas are informed by poor land demarcation, lack of land documentation and poor records keeping. This as a result called for extra efforts to intensify the education on the proper procedures of land acquisition, importance of accurate land documentation and records keeping in achieving the aim of reducing land disputes to enhance accessibility of land to smallholder farmers, especially women in the traditional areas of LATSIP.

AGRA’S WAY FORWARD

The Land Access and Tenure Security Improvement Project under Ghana Land Policy Action Node (G-LPAN) funded by AGRA, in line with its overall aim of promoting the security interest of smallholder farmers in the Northern Region (the bread basket area of AGRA) has put on track, preparations towards organization of one durbar in each traditional area to further educate stakeholders on proper procedures of land acquisition, importance of land documentation and the potential risks in unsecured land right as a follow-up step of reducing land disputes to enhance the livelihood of smallholder farmers in the project area and Ghana at large.