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Sustainable Urban Agriculture in Ghana: What Governance System Works?

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  • Eileen Bogweh Nchanji

    (Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Georg-August Universität, 37073 Göttingen, Germany)

Abstract

Urban farming takes advantage of its proximity to market, transport and other urban infrastructure to provide food for the city and sustain the livelihoods of urban and peri-urban dwellers. It is an agricultural activity which employs more than 50% of the local urban population with positive and negative impacts on local and national development. Urban agriculture is an informal activity not supported by law but in practice is regulated to a certain extent by state institutions, traditional rulers, farmers and national and international non-governmental organisations. Tamale’s rapid population growth, exacerbated by the unplanned development system and institutional conflicts, are factors contributing to the present bottlenecks in the urban agricultural system. In this paper, these bottlenecks are conceptualised as problems of governance. These issues will be illustrated using ethnographic data from land sales, crop-livestock competition, waste-water irrigation, and markets. I will explain how conflicts which arise from these different situations are resolved through the interactions of various governance systems. Informal governance arrangements are widespread, but neither they nor formal systems are always successful in resolving governance issues. A participatory governance does not seem possible due to actors’ divergent interests. A governance solution for this sector is not yet apparent, contributing to food and nutritional insecurity.

Suggested Citation

  • Eileen Bogweh Nchanji, 2017. "Sustainable Urban Agriculture in Ghana: What Governance System Works?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-18, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:11:p:2090-:d:118714
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Gaëlle Petit & Gwenola Yannou-Le Bris & Claudia Eckert & Yan Liu, 2021. "Facilitating Aligned Co-Decisions for More Sustainable Food Value Chains," Post-Print hal-03640243, HAL.
    2. Gaëlle Petit & Gwenola Yannou-Le Bris & Claudia Eckert & Yan Liu, 2021. "Facilitating Aligned Co-Decisions for More Sustainable Food Value Chains," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-16, June.
    3. Tibesigwa, Byela & Ntuli, Herbert & Muta, Telvin, 2022. "We can incorporate agriculture ecosystems into urban green economy in Tanzania: Dar es Salaam households are willing to pay," EfD Discussion Paper 22-19, Environment for Development, University of Gothenburg.
    4. Huidan Xue & Yujia Zhai & Wen-Hao Su & Ziling He, 2023. "Governance and Actions for Resilient Urban Food Systems in the Era of COVID-19: Lessons and Challenges in China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-25, August.
    5. Adams, Faizal & Ullah, Ayat & Quaye, Jonathan & Mensah, Amos, 2024. "Understanding residents’ choice of urban farming systems in the Kumasi metropolis of Ghana: Land use policy implications," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    6. Nchanji, Eileen Bogweh & Bellwood-Howard, Imogen, 2018. "Governance in urban and peri-urban vegetable farming in Tamale, Northern Ghana," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 205-214.
    7. Mawuna Donald Houessou & Mirte van de Louw & Ben G. J. S. Sonneveld, 2020. "What Constraints the Expansion of Urban Agriculture in Benin?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-16, July.
    8. Agyapong, Nana Ama & Annan, Reginald A. & Apprey, Charles & Aryeetey, Richmond, 2022. "A review of Ghana’s food system and its implications on sustainability and the development of national food-based dietary guidelines," African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND), African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND), vol. 22(02).

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