Housing development and customary land tenure systems in Ghana: A case study of peri-urban Kumasi

Abstract

This research examines the ways in which the rapid commoditisation of land in Ghana’s peri-urban areas is transforming local customary tenure systems. The research focuses on two selected research sites in Ghana’s peri-urban Kumasi, namely Aburaso and Kromoase. Rapid urbanisation has resulted in an increase in demand for housing land. Consequently, wealthy migrants are moving to peri-urban areas in search of relatively affordable residential land. This has accelerated the commoditisation of customary land in most peri-urban areas of Ghana. Customary forms of tenure are increasingly being converted into individual or private systems of land ownership. Evidence from this study shows that traditional authorities are increasingly alienating customary land without the consent of their subjects. The commoditisation of customary land in Aburaso and Kromoase has resulted in the decline of agrarian production as agricultural land is parcelled out to wealthy outsiders.