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The nexus of land grabbing and livelihood of farming households in Ghana

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Abstract

This study examined the effects of land grabbing on the livelihood of smallholder farming households in Ghana using the Livelihood Effect Index. A structured questionnaire was administered to 560 randomly selected farming households across six regions of Ghana. Analysis of variance was conducted to determine the significance difference in the effects among farming households in the regions and among the livelihood indicators. The empirical results revealed that land grabbing has a significant negative effect on the livelihood of smallholder farming households. Results of the LEI indicate that financial capacity and natural resource of smallholder farming households are the most affected livelihood indicators for the smallholder farming households due to land grabbing activities. Also, the Brong Ahafo region had the highest LEI (0.61), indicating that it is the most affected region by land grabbing. Intervention programmes in the affected regions should be tailored towards strengthening the financial capacity of farming households to minimize the effect of land grabbing on the livelihoods of the smallholders.

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Fig. 1

Source: Department of Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana, 2020

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Notes

  1. The farming households in the regions were as follows: Central, 254,987; Volta, 271,017; Eastern, 354,296; Ashanti, 398,868; Brong Ahafo, 324,778; and Northern, 230,452.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics, Faculty of Agribusiness and Communication Sciences, University for Development Studies, P.O. Box 1350, Tamale, Ghana

    Suhiyini I. Alhassan

  2. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – Animal Research Institute (CSIR-ARI), P.O. Box TL 52, Tamale, Ghana

    Mohammed T. Shaibu

  3. Department of Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness and Extension, University of Energy and Natural Resources, P.O. Box 214, Sunyani, Ghana

    John K. M. Kuwornu

  4. Department of Climate Change and Food Security, Faculty of Agribusiness and Communication, Sciences, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana

    Osman T. Damba & Joseph Amikuzuno

Authors
  1. Suhiyini I. Alhassan
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  2. Mohammed T. Shaibu
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  3. John K. M. Kuwornu
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  4. Osman T. Damba
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  5. Joseph Amikuzuno
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Correspondence to John K. M. Kuwornu.

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Alhassan, S.I., Shaibu, M.T., Kuwornu, J.K.M. et al. The nexus of land grabbing and livelihood of farming households in Ghana. Environ Dev Sustain 23, 3289–3317 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-00719-9

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