GENDER ANALYSES OF ACCESS TO AGRICULTURE LAND; EVIDENCE FROM WA MUNICIPALITY, UPPER WEST REGION OF GHANA

Abstract

When it comes to landownership in Ghana especially in the patrilineal areas such as Northern Ghana, there is a high perception that women do not own land and generally perceived that women are discriminated against in terms of their land rights (Bugri, 2008). This notion affects the productivity of women in Agriculture. Therefore, this study uses gender analyses of access to agriculture land; evidence from Wa Municipality, Upper West Region of Ghana. The research was conducted through the descriptive survey design and the sampling technique used was the simple random, which was deduced from the sampling frame of farmers, chiefs and other opinion leaders. The sample size for the study was 200 and data collected using the questionnaire as instrument of data collection. Data analyses was done both quantitatively and qualitatively. Qualitative analyses was done using content analyses whiles quantitative was done using percentages, percentages and means. The results show that out of 200, 40 percent were between the ages of 30 and 40 years, 62% were females and 38% were males and 73 (36%) of the respondents were basic school dropouts. it is realized that land acquisition can be done by anybody regardless of gender, age and membership but women cannot inherit land. In addition, women who want to acquire land must consult their spouse or male family members. Factors that impeded women inheritance to land include belief of re-marriage and customary belief of sacrifice to the land. Lack of access to land by women affected their agricultural productivity. The government, non-government organisations and other gender based advocacy groups should work in concert to improve on the opportunities of women and advocate for gender inclusiveness by ensuring that there is full participation for both men and women at all levels of land use and management decisions.