Effects Of Redd+ Political Economy On Agrarian Land Access In The Offinso Forest District Of Ghana

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2022-12

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University Of Ghana

Abstract

Climate change mitigation, security of agricultural livelihoods, and possible carbon financial benefits to forest fringe communities are among the list of benchmarks (known as “safeguards”) based on which the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) action would be assessed after implementation in REDD+ countries. However, evidence after decades of the REDD+ implementation in the global south reveal that forest dependent people are being displaced from the forest commons by powerful timber plantation developers who although are beneficiaries of a REDD+ funding window, have competing policy interests, thereby reinforcing the idea of political economy in climate change processes. Meanwhile, some researchers propose that in order to properly diagnose the claim of community forestland struggles due to the REDD+, there is the need to situate the phenomenon within the proper context of political economy, due to the large variety of formal and informal interest groups and actors involved. However, little empirical studies have been conducted in that regard. This study is therefore carried out mainly to ascertain the presence and effect of the REDD+ political economy on agrarian land access within the off-reserve forests. Principal Component Analysis is employed together with multivariate Linear Regression to assess the linkage between REDD+ Political Economy and Agrarian Land Access by farmers. The finding reveals that REDD+ political economy is not responsible for displacing farmers from the off-reserve forestlands in the Offinso forest district of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. On the contrary, three socio-economic factors (namely, cost of land, total annual household income and squatting on forestlands) statistically determine a farmer’s chances of access to land within the off-reserve. Access to credit was also found to be the most pressing constraint facing farmers within the district. Finally, even though many of the respondents (81%) have never heard of Ghana’s REDD+ action, about 100% of the farmers have a very good understanding and appreciation of the need for reducing deforestation and forest degradation, and conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks which overlaps entirely with the UNFCCC REDD+ mission and vision. It is therefore the recommendation of this study that apart from Government of Ghana incentivizing Rural and Micro Finance Institutions (RMFIs) to patronize rural financing especially in cocoa growing landscapes, the key outcome of COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, UK in 2021 to honor the 2009 pledge to invest US$100billion in Climate Change mitigation in less wealthy nations such as Ghana be effectuated to help provide financial impetus for securing agricultural livelihoods.

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MPhil. Agricultural Economics

Keywords

Political Economy, Offinso Forest District, Ghana, Redd+, Effects

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