Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Land use – Ghana'

The return to the customary or integration of customary and statutory tenure systems to continue gain currency in both contemporary policy and academic discourses on land tenure as an alternative pathway towards enhancing security of access and tenure in the sub-Saharan African context. Central to the debates are issues concerning the relevance of customary land tenure arrangements and appropriate pathways to successfully engineer the process of harmonization toward improved tenure security whilst preserving of the communitarian principles of local tenure systems. Using two case studies in rural Ghana, this study investigated the prevailing land tenure arrangements, practices and socio-political dynamics that underpin them, highlighting the challenges and opportunities that need to be addressed for the successful adaptation of customary tenure rules and institutions into the statutory system towards improved tenure security and sustainable land management. The research employed a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods including interviews, focus group discussions and questionnaires to collate and analyse data from sampled respondents in Kakum and Ankasa in southern Ghana. The results of the investigation revealed that contrary to the mainstream view that customary tenure arrangements are incapable of providing tenure security in the face on ongoing transformations, the perceived tenure security of respondents was generally high in the study areas. This notwithstanding, it was observed that the emerging patterns of access and control (occasioned by increasing land scarcity and commodification) have resulted in social differentiation and inequalities in land access and distribution amongst the poor and vulnerable members of the landholding groups including women and the youth. The research also showed that aside from tenure security, other important contextual factors including access to credit, modernised agricultural inputs and targeted extension service support significantly influence households' investment decisions regarding adoption of sustainable land management practices. These findings have far-reaching implications for current land tenure interventions aimed at harmonising customary and statutory tenure structures for improved tenure security and sustainable land management. Results of the investigation were used to develop a three-phase incremental framework on formalisation of customary land rights which could serve as bespoke framework to guide the design of land tenure intervention strategies and implementation towards addressing local tenure insecurity in the specific context of the study areas and sub-Saharan Africa generally. The major conclusion of the research is that balancing the market efficiency and social equity considerations is necessary and should be pursued under the ongoing land tenure reforms for inclusive and equitable outcomes at the local level. This derives from the fact that the existing tenurial challenges are complex and context-specific, equally requiring well-balanced and nuanced solutions to effectively address them.

Mineral resources are essential to the functioning and wellbeing of human societies. There is mounting concern, however, about the environmental degradation and social impacts typically resulting from mineral extraction. As a result, the mining industry is increasingly embracing the sustainability agenda, that is, pursuing development which ostensibly balances economic, social and environmental interests. In recent years, escalating anxiety over climate change in particular has propelled forest conservation to the top of the sustainability agenda which, in the case of mining, has increased attention on the loss of forest cover associated with activities, the success of reclamation and the manifold social conflicts often associated with resource-use. The hegemonic neoliberal approach to environmental governance has led to a burgeoning of strategies to manage forests using carbon finance as a conduit for investment. Although these schemes purportedly facilitate the mitigation of carbon emissions on a global scale while simultaneously delivering economic benefits to poor local communities, there is apprehension regarding the prospect of projects being implemented in contexts in which the dynamics of resource-use are not adequately understood. Cross-sectoral issues are among the concerns which have yet to receive sufficient attention. The purpose of this thesis is to broaden understanding of the interactions between the poorly articulated and understood relationship between mining, forests, climate change and development. Using the case of Ghana, where conflicts and trade-offs between mining and forests proliferate, an interdisciplinary and exploratory approach is taken to investigate the impact of mining on forest carbon stocks, survey the perspectives and influence of key stakeholders on mining-forest conflicts, and determine how these cross-sectoral issues are governed. Findings reveal that public and policy discourse on mining in forest areas focuses on formal activities in forest reserves and the relative success of reclamation. An examination of carbon stocks under different land-uses shows that reclamation does not completely restore carbon stocks to levels found in forests, but that it can restore approximately 10% of carbon on decadal timescales. This underscores the limitations of pursuing a purely technocratic approach to policy-making: although science is a necessary component of sound governance it is it not sufficient per se. The results further demonstrate the potential for carbon-finance to support reclamation activities in both the large- and small-scale mining sectors.

The importance of Agricultural Supply Response (ASR) modelling cannot be over emphasised. Knowledge of its size provides a roadmap for designing a tailored agricultural policy based on suppliers’ responses to price and non-price incentives. In spite of its policy importance, limited amount of studies exist for Ghana. This study seeks to fill the gap and also sheds some light on how future agricultural policies in Ghana should be formulated. This study is conducted on a regional (ecological) group basis and at a crop-level. Apart from price and non-price factors, we have also accounted for technical inefficiencies, a problem that impedes the growth of agricultural production in Ghana. We employed the duality modelling technique (based on the profit function). This technique provides a more intuitive way of modelling and interpreting ASRs. We used the fourth wave of the Ghana Living Standard Survey (GLSS4), a cross-sectional dataset collected between 1998 and 1999. The analysis is based on six crops, grouped into industrial (cocoa and groundnut), food (maize, rice and cowpea) and staple (sorghum and millet combined and termed migso in the study). A sensitivity analysis is carried out to check the robustness of results. We found high national and ecological technical inefficiency scores. Nationally, technical inefficiency is in the neighbourhood of 53%. At the ecological levels, groundnut (industrial crop) farmers in the Coastal zone recording the highest inefficiency (83%) with the least inefficiency score coming from cowpea (food) farmers in the Savannah zone (30%). In a related outcome we found that technical inefficiency estimates and patterns are sensitive to the structure and composition of the dataset. Our supply elasticities support claims that farmers in Ghana will respond to both market (price) and non-price incentives. In terms of price incentives we found that, with or without technical inefficiency, farmers of food crops in the Coastal zone will respond the most to changes to outputs prices. Farmers in the Savannah zone for all crops but staples will be the least to respond to output price change. We found, however, that with production inefficiency accounted for, supply responses were relatively lower, reinforcing the arguments that earlier supply response estimates from other studies could have been inaccurately estimated especially where analysis failed to account for non-price factors. Moreover, the study estimates revealed that farmers in Ghana are would record a larger output supply responses to changes in inputs prices than output prices. Besides price, the study also found that all four non-price incentives - plot size, animal capital, family labour and education of household head - are important to the development of an effective agricultural policy regardless of whether technical inefficiency is accounted for or not. In some cases, output supply responses from non-prices factors outweighed price elasticities, again supporting the argument that ASR estimates are likely to be biased if non-price factors are omitted. These findings provide two policy signposts for the design of Ghana’s future agricultural policies. Firstly, the policy - aimed at increasing output and/or improving the sector’s competitiveness - must identify and address technical inefficiencies among smallholder agricultural farmers. Failure to address such inefficiencies would lead to suboptimal performance - operating on a lower production frontier. Secondly, the differences in crop-level ecological supply elasticities support regional-based agricultural policies rather than a one-size-fits all centralised agricultural policy.

Many authors have blamed African land tenure systems for the poor agricultural production and environmental degradation in sub-Saharan Africa, and therefore the resulting hunger, environmental refugees and the lack of socio-economic progress. The aim of this investigation was to investigate the customary and statutory tenure practices in north-east Ghana and their implications for agricultural production and environmental degradation and recommend ways of improving tenurial practices. The study revealed that contrary to the mainstream view that lack of security of customary land tenure is the main cause of the poor agricultural production and environmental degradation, stakeholders’ perceptions of their security of tenure was generally high. Stakeholders’ religious background, gender, levels of education, age, occupation and community membership status were important factors influencing their perceptions and attitudes to land tenure, and land and environmental management practices. Yet poor agricultural production and environmental degradation characterised the study area. Interviewees perceived the main causes to be due to non-tenurial factors including lack of finance, poor soil fertility, inadequate and unreliable rainfall, pests and diseases, inadequate farmlands, bush burning and excessive tree cutting. It was also shown in the study that women and strangers generally had little or no power and control over land use decision-making and management under customary land tenure. These findings have negative implications for tenurial conditions, environmental and livelihood sustainability in north-east Ghana since most women are involved in food production. Results of the investigation were used to develop a participatory and holistic approach to land use and management and developed an integrated framework of customary and statutory tenure as a way forward in sustainable land management and the provision of sustainable livelihoods in north-east Ghana in particular, and sub-Saharan Africa generally. The study has contributed to an understanding of the political ecology of north-east Ghana and concludes that the emerging changes in land resource access and use have conflicts as an inevitable element of the process, which broad-based stakeholder participation provides a useful solution.

International technical assistance today supports pro-poor intervention managed and implemented by a number of organisations working in partnership together located in several countries. They may include funding organisations, governments, non-governmental organisations and community groups. This thesis explores the meaning of aid sector partnership and some of the ways in which they work to support community development in Africa. The study is of the ways in which partners interact and learn from each other, the contextual issues that influence the process and the implication of this for what is achieved. Believed to be the first of its kind, the study compares two bilaterally funded projects implemented by Ghanaian NGO counterparts. The British Department for International Development (DFID) financed an adult literacy project in the North, while Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) supported a maternal and child health care project in the East of Ghana. The study examines the quality of relations between partners in the two projects and then the ways in which these are informed by incidental learning experiences. A fieldwork was conducted in Ghana, UK and Japan. Data are largely narrative derived from in-depth interviews with more than 100 informants. Critical incident analysis is employed as the main interpretative strategy. The thesis conceptualises instances of inter-organisational learning (TOL) in terms of theories of principals and agents, prisoners' dilemmas and women's place in community development. It shows (i) that IOL can be used to maintain and modify relations of control and dominance in partnership hierarchies, and (ii) that IOL serves as a by-product of horizontal relationships and be increased or reduced in the competition between partners for resources and identity. The influential role of individuals, beyond the boundaries of organisations is stressed through social networks and trust-based relations, as are instances of resistance to learning as a consequences of personal conflict. However, structural constraints in the aid system, as demonstrated by asymmetric access to resources, expertise, knowledge, status and networks, ultimately determine the quality of funding management schemes and an environment that stimulates mutual individual learning, which is advantageous circumstances may lead to organisational learning and inter-organisational learning.

Agriculture is arguably the greatest threat to tropical forest species. Conservation scientists disagree over the relative importance of two opposing strategies for minimising this threat: enhancing on-farm biodiversity, through wildlife-friendly farming practices, or sparing land for nature by using high-yielding farming methods on the smallest possible area to reduce the need to convert natural habitats. Previous theoretical work shows that understanding the relationship between population density and yield for individual species is crucial for determining whether one of these strategies, or a mixed strategy, will maximise their populations for a given food production target. In this thesis, I aim to identify what land-use strategy will permit increases in food production with least impact on species in the forest zone of Ghana. Farm-fallow mosaic landscapes with shifting cultivation and native canopy trees produced only around 15% as much food energy per hectare as the highest-yielding oil palm plantations. In farm mosaics where perennial tree crops dominate, food production and profits were higher, but did not reach those of oil palm plantations. I surveyed birds and trees in forest, farm mosaic, and oil palm plantation, and combined these data with information on yields to assess the likely consequences of plausible future scenarios of land-use change. My results provide evidence of a strong trade-off between wildlife value and agricultural yield. Species richness was high in low-yielding farming systems, but there was considerable turnover between these systems and forests, with widespread generalists replacing narrowly endemic forest-dependent species. Species most dependent on forest as a natural habitat, those with smaller global ranges and those of conservation concern showed least tolerance of habitat modification. For virtually all species, including even widespread generalists, future land-use strategies based on land sparing are likely to support higher populations of most species and minimise their risk of extinction compared to land-use strategies based on wildlife-friendly farming. If food production is to increase in line with Ghana‘s population growth, a combination of efforts to improve forest protection and to increase yields on current farmed land is likely to achieve this at least cost to forest species. Efforts to better protect forests, which require further restrictions on human use, might be most effective if they can be closely linked to support for farmers to improve their yields. In the long term however, this strategy will only delay and not avert biodiversity loss, unless global society can limit its consumption.

Buruli ulcer (BU) is an environmental bacterium caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. Modes of transmission and hosts of the disease remain unknown. The purposes of this study are to explore the environmental factors that are possibly explain the spatial distribution of BU, to predict BU cases by using the environmental factors, and to investigate the impact of land use and land cover change on the BU distribution. The study area covers the southwest portion of Ghana, 74 districts in 6 regions. The results show that the highest endemic areas occur in the center and expand to the southern portion of the study area. Statistically, the incidence rates of BU are positively correlated to the percentage of forest cover and inversely correlated to the percentages of grassland, soil, and urban areas in the study area. That is, forest is the most important environmental risk factor in this study. Model from zero-inflated Poisson regression is used in this paper to explain the impact of each land use and land cover type on the spatial distribution of BU. The results confirm that the changes of land use and land cover affect the spatial distribution of BU in the study area.

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is urbanising at a phenomenal rate, although largely on unplanned and unsustainable basis. This has resulted in the creation of negative externalities of urbanisation such as slums with an estimated 7 in 10 urban dwellers living in haphazardly designed settlements. Whereas some commentators attribute this state of affairs to the customary land tenure practices, others cite institutional ineptitude as the cause of the failed state of planning delivery. The aim of this thesis is to search for a more comprehensive understanding of the linkages between customary land tenure systems and other factors such as the institutional framework, and how these contribute to the defective state of land use planning regime in SSA. The first part of the research methodology reviewed the relevant literature in order to identify the theoretical issues relevant to the aim and objectives of the study. The literature survey also provided the basis for designing a methodology for the empirical research. In conducting the empirical research, the mixed method strategy (thus both quantitative and qualitative methods) was employed. A combination of questionnaire survey, interviews, focus group discussion and documentary materials were employed to examine the nature of relationship between customary land tenure, the state of planning institutions and land use planning in SSA using Ghana as the case study. In terms of the institutional setback for planning delivery, four challenges were identified as follows. Firstly, it was established that there is high incidence of political manipulation of the planning process for electoral gains. Secondly, it was also established that planning laws are generally obsolete and hardly ever relevant to the demands of modem conditions. Inadequate funding for planning activities was also found to be a major institutional setback for planning delivery. Finally, it was also identified that there is shortage of the needed human resource capacity to meet the growing demand for planning services. In terms of how customary land tenure practices contribute to ineffective land use planning, the study established that chiefs and tribal elites who are responsible for the management of customary lands unilaterally prepare 'land use plans' without the knowledge or endorsement of the designated planning authorities. In other instances too, chiefs alter duly prepared and approved land use plans. In both cases, they rely on unprofessional planners and surveyors. Therefore, plans prepared by unprofessional planners become the basis for guiding human settlement growth. The study also established that land title under customary tenure is generally insecure. This is because duly acquired land which is vacant may either be encroached upon, or may be allocated to other prospective developers by customary landholders. Therefore, developers hurriedly build on their land in an attempt to secure their land rights. In the process, these developers generally fail to comply with existing land use planning regulations. Based on findings from the study, it has been argued that there is the need for culture change in order to improve planning delivery. In this regard, the study recommends that future planning reforms should be pursued through public-private land management strategy such as land pooling. Other recommendations to ameliorate the institutional challenges are also offered.

As developing countries experience substantial urban growth and expansion, remotely sensed based estimates of population and demographic characteristics can provide researchers and humanitarian aid workers timely and spatially explicit information for planning and development. In this exploratory analysis, high spatial resolution satellite imagery, in combination with fine resolution census data, is used to determine the degree to which spatial features are able to identify spatial patterns of demographic variables in Accra, Ghana. Traditionally when using satellite imagery, spectral characteristics are used on a per-pixel basis to produce land cover classifications; however, in this study, a new methodology is presented that quantifies spatial characteristics of built-up areas, and directly relates them to census-derived variables. Spatial features are image metrics that analyze groups of pixels in order to describe the geometry, orientation, and patterns of objects in an image. By using spatial features, city infrastructure variations, such as roads and buildings, can be quantified and related to census-derived variables, such as living standards, housing conditions, employment and education. To test the associations between spatial patterns and demographic variables, five spatial features (line support regions, PanTex, histograms of oriented gradients, local binary patterns, and Fourier transform) were quantified and extracted from the imagery, and then correlated to census-derived variables. Findings demonstrate that, while spectral information (such as the normalized difference vegetation index) reveals many strong correlations with population density, housing density, and living standards, spatial features provide comparable correlation coefficients with density and housing characteristics. The results from this study suggest that there are relationships between spatial features derived from satellite imagery and socioeconomic characteristics of the people of Accra, Ghana.

Unsustainable urbanization in Ghana has resulted in poor environmental conditions in urban settlements in the country. Solid waste disposal, in particular, has become a daunting task for the municipal authorities who seem to lack the capacity to tackle the mounting waste situation. This study investigates the nature of the solid waste problem in two Ghanaian cities, Accra and Sekondi-Takoradi. It describes the waste situation in the study areas and identifies the causes of the problem from the perspective of key stakeholders in the waste sector. The delivery of solid waste collection services across different socio-economic groups of the urban population and the siting of waste disposal facilities are also examined in relation to the concepts of social justice and environmental justice respectively. For the empirical investigation, a mixed methodology was used which combined questionnaire and interview data from stakeholders in the waste sector, together with documentary and observational data, to examine the issue of solid waste disposal in the two study sites. The key issues identified by the study include: that Ghanaian cities are experiencing worsening solid waste situations but the municipal governments lack the capacities in terms of financial, logistical and human resources to cope with the situation; that while several causes of the urban waste crisis can be identified, the lack of political commitment to urban environmental management is the root cause of the worsening solid waste situation in Ghanaian cities; and that social and environmental injustices are being perpetuated against the poor in the delivery of waste collection services and the siting of waste disposal facilities in Ghanaian cities. Based on these findings, it has been argued that the solution to the worsening environmental conditions in Ghanaian cities lies in the prioritization of urban environmental management and commitment of Ghana’s political leadership to urban settlement development and management.

This thesis examines how family background, measured as parents education, and household access to amenities affects children’s school enrolment, and how parents education affects earnings. I also examine how education and family background affects performance of unregistered urban businesses. In the first empirical study, rural educated parents’ effects on biological children’s enrolment were stronger, with educated fathers’ effects positive for boys and girls. Educated mothers helped boys, perhaps indicating more “traditional” values among women. Urban educated parents’ effects were weaker, which is plausible, given the weaker influence of “traditional” values. For non-biological urban children, educated mothers effect were adverse, suggesting that children fulfil a servant-type role to facilitate the educated mother’s market work. Poor access to amenities reduces enrolment. In the second empirical study, while family background was important for education, there were also direct effects of family background on earnings given education for urban individuals, implying that “connections” and nepotism may be important. The final study shows that education is important for performance of unregistered businesses without workers. Among firms with workers, education is insignificant, a result admittedly difficult to explain. Parental business ownership assists performance, an implication that parental business owners can effectively train children to business ownership.

The deficiency of sub-Saharan Africa urban land use planning regimes has received extensive discussion in the literature. As yet, little is known of the extent and magnitude of the economic impact of these planning regimes on the economic wellbeing of individuals and the society. This situation is further compounded by the lack of simplified and bespoke methodologies for calibrating economic impacts of planning policies even in the developed world where there are relatively huge volumes of organised data. This study aims to prescribe a simplified quantitative methodology, which is subsequently employed to gauge the economic impacts of these regimes. It proceeds on the central argument that planning regimes in the sub-region are weak with low compliance with planning regulations, partly because they do not provide incentives for property owners/developers/land users. The study adopts a cross-sectional survey strategywith questionnaires and administrative data extraction to procure the requisite data from Accra, Ghana to feed the devised methodological framework. The study establishes that Ghana’s urban land use planning regime, in its current form, imposes huge cost on residential property owners compared to its benefits; it creates a disincentive for property owners. A substantial amount of this cost emanates from pipe-borne water, and tarred roads and concrete drain infrastructural facilities. It is further established that the cost of title formalisation requirement constitutes a huge portion of the cost on express requirements under the planning regime. A major portion of this cost results from the cost other than official fees. However, on individual basis the requirement generates marginal net benefit. Incidental costs for the other express requirements, architectural design and building permit are also substantial. In terms of benefits, tarred roads and concrete drains, formalised title, electricity and pipe-borne water, individually, are found to generate the most benefits under the planning regime. The study makes a number of recommendations. These include formulation of planning policies on the basis of providing incentives to property owners/developer/land users, strategies for reduction of infrastructural and amenities costs, as well as incidental cost relating to compliance with the subject planning regime express requirements.

Small enterprises are a major source of livelihood for most people in the developing world. Their ability to grow is however, undermined by credit constraints. This has often been attributed to the lack of registered property ownership which is argued to make property insecure and unacceptable to lenders. Though several studies have been conducted on the relationship between property registration and credit access, the focus is usually on the demand side mainly involving households and the agricultural sector. Furthermore, no studies have compared the developed and developing countries. Finally, the exact nature of , the credit constraint amongst businesses in countries such as Ghana for instance is not known. This research therefore, set out to conduct a demand-side study into the nature of the credit constraint amongst small businesses in Ghana and a supply-side investigation of the influence of registration on small businesses access to credit. The multi methodology was deemed most suitable approach for the investigation of the objectives of the study. The quantitative approach was first used to investigate the objectives. Part of the initial findings was validated through the quantitative approach whilst the other part was validated through the qualitative approach. The results show amongst other things that the existing credit constraint is almost entirely a supply side problem. The supply side study showed that in Ghana, unregistered property is not eligible for use as collateral but this is applicable only to the universal banks (UBs) and not the microfinance institutions (MFIs). That said, the possession of registered property title was not found to influence the loan terms that businesses are offered neither was there evidence that it guarantees access to credit. Even though in England the eligibility of property was not dependent on whether it is registered or not, lenders also did agree that the possession of registered property does not guarantee credit access neither does it influence the credit terms businesses are offered. It was concluded that since majority of small businesses in Ghana seek credit from MFIs, the lack of registered property titles does not constitute a major barrier to credit access. The I main barriers to credit access identified are the poor repayment ability and high risk of default amongst others.

This thesis is a product of a case study on how innovation transfer affects women‘s participation in cowpea production in two communities in northern Ghana. The study addresses issues relating to how gender relations modify technological development, impact upon innovation transfer, dissemination and adoption among local farmers and how they affect the inclusion of women in agricultural development programmes. The context of the research is the growing awareness of the importance of involving women in agricultural development programmes. This change has occurred due to the realisation of women‘s key contribution to the agricultural sector and the need to focus technological development on both men and women. The thesis draws upon primary data produced during 12 months fieldwork in northern Ghana. This fieldwork utilised three research tools: interviews, observations and focus group discussions. Data for the interviews was collected by purposive sampling and included 65 male and female cowpea farmers, living in three villages. In addition, seven observations were undertaken in two villages and focusing on their cowpea storage practices. Finally, eight staff from The Savanna Agricultural Research Institute, The Ministry of Food and Agriculture and World Vision Ghana were also interviewed in order to gain the views and perspectives of agricultural development agencies. It is argued here that that gender equality is crucial for effective agricultural development because women are hugely involved in the agricultural sector. It is also argued that if women‘s role in ensuring effective development of cowpea production is not taken into account, the consequences will not only affect the lives of women but will also have negative consequences for the communities in which they live. Debates in technological advancement in the agricultural sector indicate that the participation of farmers in the processes of innovation development and diffusion enhances innovation adoption. The thesis argues that the development of agricultural innovations is not based on a comprehensive analysis of gender roles and as a result does not offer equal opportunities for women and men to participate and benefit. It offers further explanations on how the national agricultural development agencies are working around to actively involve both men and women in the processes of innovation development and transfer. Furthermore, the thesis argues that, notwithstanding farmers‘ interest in new and improved agricultural innovations, they are most likely to incorporate their traditional norms and values when using new or improved agricultural innovations. Thus it offers insights on how new innovations that bear similarities to older ones, are widely adopted.

Le premier chapitre documente l'évolution de la ségrégation résidentielle à Nairobi, Kenya, entre 1989 et 2009 en s'appuyant sur les données du recensement. Comparée à celle des européens pendant la période coloniale, la ségrégation résidentielle ethnique et économique est modeste. Si la ségrégation tend à diminuer selon la dimension économique, elle reste stable selon la dimension ethnique. La ségrégation ethnique est également modeste dans les bidonvilles, même si elle est plus importante que dans les quartiers affluents. La croissance non-planifiée de Nairobi semble donc avoir fait de la ville un creuset de mixité ethnique et économique. Le deuxième chapitre analyse l'impact de l'insécurité des droits de propriété sur les marchés fonciers urbains. Un modèle mono-centrique standard modifié permet de prendre en compte l'arbitrage des ménages entre l'accessibilité et un continuum de droits fonciers offrant différents niveaux de sécurité. Ce travail montre (i) qu'il y a une ségrégation spatiale de la ville selon le niveau sécurité foncière; et (ii) que le marché foncier est segmenté selon le niveau de sécurité mais que ces segments sont interdépendants. De ce fait, toute politique destinée à augmenter la sécurité foncière des ménages qui en sont démunis affecte à la fois l'ensemble du marché et la structure de la ville par des effets d'équilibre général. Les troisième et quatrième chapitres quantifient l'utilisation des terres agricoles au Ghana en s'appuyant sur une comparaison de plusieurs sources de données. Ces travaux montrent qu'entre 1992 et 2005, la surface de terres cultivées au Ghana a été multipliée par deux, suggérant qu'en 2005 la limite malthusienne sur les terres cultivées n'avait pas été atteinte. La soutenabilité de ces tendances est difficile à évaluer car la stabilité des rendements, alors même que la population ghanéenne se tourne vers des activités non-agricoles, nécessite une augmentation de la productivité dans le secteur non-agricole
The first chapter documents the evolution of residential segregation in Nairobi, Kenya, between 1989 and 2009 using the complete population census data. Compared to those experienced by Europeans during the colonial period, the levels of residential segregation in Nairobi today remain modest whether along ethnic or economic lines. If economic segregation has slightly decreased over the period ethnic segregation has remained stable. Levels of ethnic segregation are also modest in slums, although slightly higher than in affluent neighbourhoods. This work suggests that the unplanned expansion of Nairobi has created a melting pot of ethnic and economic mixity. The second chapter analyses the impact of tenure insecurity on urban land markets. The standard mono-centric urban land market model is modified to account for households' tradeoff between centrality and a continuum of land rights which grant different levels of security. This work shows that (i) there is spatial segregation according to the level of tenure security; and (ii) the land market is segmented according to tenure, but that these segments are interdependent. Therefore, any policy targeting households at the lower end of the tenure security continuum affects both the structure of the city and the land market as a whole. The third and fourth chapters assess the use of agricultural land in Ghana by comparing different, independent sources of data. These pieces of work show that between 1992 and 2005 the surface of land farmed in Ghana doubled, suggesting that in 2005 the Malthusian constraint on land had not yet been hit. In per capita terms, this expansion has been driven by the recovery of the cocoa sector. The sustainability of these trends are difficult to assess as the stability of yields and simultaneous movement of labour out of the agricultural sector, mean that there have been productivity gains in the agricultural sector

The Lake Bosomtwe impact crater is located in the Ashanti region of Ghana, West Africa. The impact crater diameter from rim to rim is approximately 10.5 km wide with a lake located at the center. Three different districts touch the lake containing 155,000 hectacres of land. There are approximately 7,500 people from 24 villages, and 12 of those villages reside within walking distance of the lake shore. Within the last ten years, the lake has been subjected to overfishing and environmental degradation. The health of the lake has declined due to overfishing and algae blooms caused by improper fertilization rates. Because of these factors, residents of the area have been forced to transition to subsidence farming as their main vocation. According to the Ghana Statistical Service group, 97.6% of the population participates in some form of rural crop farming (Ghana Statistical Service, 2010). Experience with common practices such as crop rotation, fertilizer use, and erosion control is extremely limited. The lake has not been recommended for recreational use due to the excess runoff in the form of agrochemicals, liquid, and organic waste. Caged aquaculture and traditional fishing within Lake Bosomtwe is currently illegal.

A comprehensive Institutional Review Board (IRB) survey was developed for the six primary research questions to be examined. From these six research questions, 147 specific questions were developed. Three of the 147 questions were to obtain Global Positioning System (GPS) data for community households, pit latrines, and water wells or boreholes. This study sought to interview 10-15 farmers per village, for each of the 12 villages located along the shore of Lake Bosomtwe of their perspective on land use change/cover in the Lake Bosomtwe area, current farming practices, current water sanitation and hygiene practices, and current fishing practices. These surveys were collected in the form of oral responses, for which 118 small-holder farmers were interviewed. Of the participants surveyed, 66% were qualified to answer all questions, and 100% of participants completed the survey.

Some specific statistical tests were conducted based of market assessment survey. It was determined that no association between gender and level of education existed. Meaning, that female participants interviewed have just as many opportunities as male participants to pursue education beyond Junior High School (JHS). Yield averages between the villages on the north side of the lake with road access and villages on the southern portion of the lake with limited to no road access were determined to be significantly different. It was determined that road access does affect village yield. When comparing average usable yields between villages located on the northern side of the lake with road access or between villages on the southern side of the lake with limited to no road access, these results were not statistically significant. No significant difference in the scores for villages with road access on the northern side of the lake and villages with limited to no road access on the southern side of the lake existed. Therefore, road access does not affect village usable yield. Through statistical analysis an association was determined between people who practice bathing and washing in the lake and those who practice fishing as a form of livelihood.

Four decision matrices were created to prioritize the following items: Farm Components, technologies to showcase at an appropriate technology center, improved farming practices to showcase through Demonstration Plots, and extension outreach topics. The top three results for the Farm Components were: Appropriate Technology Center (ATC), Demonstration Plots, and a Micro-Credit Union. The top three technologies to showcase as part of the ATC are: PICS Bags, Moisture Meters, and Above-Ground Aquaculture. The three demonstration plots recommended terracing/erosion control, crop rotation, and cover crops. The highest priority extension outreach topics were: basic home/farm finance, improving health through washing stations, and post-harvest loss prevention. The top three priorities of each decision matrix will be the focus of further study, so that these topics can be developed and programs focusing on these needs can be implemented in collaboration with the community partners.