Acta Univ. Agric. Silvic. Mendelianae Brun. 2016, 64(6), 1889-1897 | DOI: 10.11118/actaun201664061889

The Environmental Effect of Land Use in the Tenure Systems in Ghana

Libor Grega1, Emmanuel Kofi Ankomah2
1 Department of Regional and Business Economics, Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic
2 Department of Regional Development and Public Administration, Faculty of Regional Development and International Studies, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 1, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic

This paper examines the land tenure system in Ghana and its impact on the environment. The main forms of land tenure systems are explained and the positive and negative impacts of each of these forms on the environment analysed. Specific attention is devoted to deforestation and soil depletion. The complex problems of land acquisition in Ghana, and the inherent insecurity effects on farming, which is considered to be the most important economic activity in the rural areas are examined. The analyses and the result proved that the insecurity of land tenure system has a direct relationship with the environment. Cross-sectional data analyses establishes that traditional forms of land acquisitions, ownership and land use form part of the main causes of environmental degradation in Ghana.

Keywords: land tenure, farming systems, deforestation, soil depletion, rural areas
Grants and funding:

The paper has arisen within the solution of the research project "Long-term land lease and marginalization of family farming", solved in 2014 within the framework of Internal Grant Agency of Mendel University in Brno.

Prepublished online: December 21, 2016; Published: January 1, 2017  Show citation

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Grega, L., & Ankomah, E.K. (2016). The Environmental Effect of Land Use in the Tenure Systems in Ghana. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, 64(6), 1889-1897. doi: 10.11118/actaun201664061889
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