Fulani pastoralists, indigenous farmers and the contest for land in Northern Ghana

This paper analyses the land tenure system and the social and economic setting under which migrant Fulani pastoralists and the indigenous farming population obtain farmland and pasture in Northern Ghana. The relationship between the two groups is also discussed in detail. Generally, the destruction of crops by cattle and the rampant loss of cattle to rustlers are identified as responsible for the deteriorating farmer-herdsman relationship. The tense relationship is also heightened by increased competition for the most fertile land along the banks of the Volta lake. Rising conflicts between farmers and pastoralists in Northern Ghana has led to the intervention of both national and local government authorities, ostensibly to maintain law and order and to keep the pastoralists out of the area. Local government officials have also attempted to usurp the powers of the traditional landowners and chiefs by restricting their right to allocate land to the pastoralists. They have also threatened to prosecute chiefs who continue to rent out land to the pastoralists. This sets the stage for the on-going contest for land and power between the local government and landowners in Northern Ghana.