Africa-Press – Ghana. The Langtaa Cooperative Farmers Association (Langtaa) has engaged stakeholders in the Nandom Municipality on women’s access to land as part of efforts to address the challenges associated with women’s landholding rights in the Municipality.
Langtaa, a Farmer-based Organisation in the Nandom Municipality, organised the stakeholder engagement as part of the Forest and Farm Facility project funded by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
The forum brought together traditional authorities, representatives from the Nandom Municipal Assembly and 30 farmers from 13 communities, comprising 23 females and seven males.
Speaking at the dialogue in Nandom, Mr Godwin Kuuim Tietaah, the Executive Director of Langtaa Cooperative Farmers Association, stated that the patriarchal land tenure system in the municipality, characterised by male dominance and patrilineal inheritance, restricted women’s access to landholding rights.
“These practices perpetuate gender inequality, restrict women’s economic opportunities and autonomy, and create land insecurity, making it difficult for women to access credit, invest in their farms, or fully benefit from their labour,” he explained.
Mr Tietaah noted that these limitations not only affected individual women but also contributed to slow economic growth, persistent poverty, and food insecurity.
He called for an open and constructive dialogue at all levels to create pathways that would enhance women’s access to productive lands in the municipality and beyond.
Mr Gaeten Bomansaan Baligi, the Nandom Municipal Director of Agriculture, described the limited access to land for women as a major challenge to food production in the Municipality.
He emphasised the need for a collective and deliberate approach to expanding access to land for women, as fragmented landholdings in the area made it difficult to secure larger tracts of land for agricultural use.
Mr Baligi commended Langtaa for acquiring about 15 hectares of farmland for its activities, which he said demonstrated the strong credibility of cooperatives in improving land access opportunities for its members.
He encouraged women to build strong and active groups to position themselves for similar benefits and support.
Mr Mohammed Jamal, the Head of the Business Resource Centre, Nandom Municipal Assembly, stressed the importance of land access for women to enhance their economic independence and reduce financial pressures on men.
“Enabling women’s access to productive lands will lead to increased agricultural output, as men alone cannot fully utilise the available land resources,” he explained.
Mr Osman Amadu, who represented the Nandom Municipal Coordinating Director, underscored the importance of gender inclusion in land access and reaffirmed the Assembly’s commitment to supporting Langtaa in its activities.
Naa Sylvester Yelvieli, the Chief of Kambaa, emphasised the benefits of women’s access to land to their personal, families and community development, and appealed to traditional leaders in the area to allocate productive lands to women.
David Aasonaa Delle, the Regent of Nandom, assured the people of his support for the project’s implementation and his commitment to sensitising other chiefs within the traditional area to improve women’s access to productive lands.
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