Customary land transfer and rural development in Ghana

With a particular focus on the Wasa Amenfi West district in Ghana, the author discusses, with empirical data, the need for well-defined customary land transactions to enhance the utility from customary land to landowners, land seekers, and local governors. Settler farmers have since the 1920s acquired large tracts of land in the district. On one hand, the customary land transfers generate significant resources for landowners, migrants/settlers, and the development of the local economy. On the other hand, the land transactions are ill-defined and this have impacted social institutions in Wasa Amenfi. In this book, the author attempts to explain how land transactions can be clearly defined and enforced, and the gains that can be made for all actors in the transactions and for local development.