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afrol News, 8 April - Together with the Ghanaian Ministry of Lands and Forestry, the World Bank is evolving a Land Administration Project to reform the fragmented land tenures in the country. The establishment of "good land records" and "transparent transactions in land" are essential parts of the planned project, following newly presented development theories. Present land tenure in Ghana is fragmented as result of a various historical influences. The World Bank assessment holds: "The different types of land tenure and the land administration system prevailing in Ghana today evolved over time from the interplay of the socio-political organisations of the various tribes, clans and families through trade, wars and incorporation; the advent of colonial rule and subsequent introduction of tree crop agriculture as well as commercial exploitation of timber and mineral resources; post independence politics; and urbanisation." A number of issues that required "immediate attention" had been identified in many previous land administration-related studies, the project study says. These were summarised in a 1999 National Land Policy document. On this background, the main sector issues were characterised by World Bank officer Solomon Bekure as: inadequate policy and legal framework; fragmented institutional arrangements and weak institutional capacity; and underdeveloped land registration system and inefficient land market. The project is estimated to cost about US$ 40 million. Of this, the World Bank agency IDA is expected to contribute with US$ 25 million, while other Ghanaian development partners are to pay the rest. This is however only to cover a five-year-period in which the foundation of a long-term program would be laid. In this time, "a cadastral mapping, land titling, registration and land records management system would be developed and implemented in selected pilot areas that would be representatives of the prevalent land tenures in Ghana," the World Bank's Project Information Document says. The Land Administration Project is supposed to be an instrument for implementing the government's land policy. The specific objectives of the project would be to establish a consistent set of land administration policies and laws; formal recognition of the rights of all categories of land holders the recording of these rights; an efficient decentralised land administration system operating throughout Ghana; an up to date efficient land information system that supports good land records management and transparent transactions in land; and a well functioning land market operating in both urban and rural areas. Also the environmental prospects are seen as positive. The proposed project "will facilitate more secure land tenure arrangements and dynamic land markets, that are conducive to investment in land improvement and better land management techniques," Bekure holds. "Transparent and efficient land administration systems and coherent and transparent land management policies will provide incentives for investment in improved long-term land use such as soil conservation and tree crop production in rural areas and investment in environmental infrastructure such as improved kitchen and bathrooms in urban areas." The projected Ghanaian reform has several aspects resembling to the new and popular theories presented by Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto in his famous book 'The Mystery of Capital'. De Soto claims that the world's poor are not as poor as they may seem, they only lack capital - in its correct definition - because their assets (land, housing, etc.) are not properly and legally registered. Without these assets assured, they cannot function as capital - for example as a basis for loans - and enter into the formal economy. Several countries are trying to implement de Soto's theories and institutionalise property registration, but if Ghana is trying to do this, it would be the first sub-Saharan country to do so. Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Ghanaian Minister of Finance, earlier this year reportedly had a luncheon with Mr de Soto in Accra, however. Sources: Based on World Bank and afrol archives
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