Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
helpful if propitiated or harmful if degraded. Land was inherited from the
ancestors. Chiefs and priests entrusted with ensuring that ancestors and gods
received proper respect, exercised control over the land and its resources to
promote conditions which were beneficial to the environment and sustainable
for communities (Ministry of Works & Housing, 1998; Opoku-Agyemang,
2001).
In adherence to these rules, surface water was considered a communal good
that could be freely and openly accessed. Every individual possessed the
right to its use (FAO, 1998; Ministry of Works & Housing, 1998). The
overarching customary principle applying to surface water permitted water
users to take as much water as they could personally carry so long as enough
water remained for others (Opoku-Agyemang, 2004). While there is some
uncertainty surrounding the right to consumptive use of groundwater, it
appears that in most communities a person with a right to a piece of land
was allowed to tap the water beneath that land. Sustainable use of ground
and surface water enabled communities to fulfill their livelihoods, which
usually consisted of subsistence farming or cattle herding (Lentz, 2006).
The practice of customary water law is still existent in the rural parts of
Ghana and is the common knowledge among water users. Even though the
religious belief that rivers belong to gods is fading out due to the spread of
Christianity and other non-traditional religions into the rural areas, the
general perception of water being a communal good is still strong in the
fabric of the society. By virtue of this water users believe they have every
right to access surface water so far as they are members of the community
and tap groundwater beneath any land they have legal access to. Knowledge
on the modern water law regarding the ownership of water and regulations
regarding water use in Ghana is yet to reach many water users.
Land Rights in Ghana
This section briefly describes the land rights system in Ghana and focuses on
Northern Ghana. A plurality of land tenure and management systems (i.e.
state/public and customary) prevails in Ghana (Kasanga and Kotey, 2001).
Land tenure in Ghana is therefore complex. There are over 80 formal legal
instruments regulating land tenure, some of which are contradictory. They
co-exist with various forms of customary land tenure (Ministry of Lands and
Forestry, 2003). Likewise, the institutions in charge of land administration
are manifold. In spite of the decentralization, central government, especially
the Lands Commission, is responsible for land administration. Traditional
authorities - the Chiefs and the tendanas - are also recognized by modern
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