In partnership with COLANDEF and Cadasta, smallholder farmers in forest fringe communities of Ghana are leveraging GIS technology to transform land governance for traditional land rights holders. This project, which is part of the UK-funded Land for Climate and Forest Rights program, enables farmers to secure legal recognition of their land rights, adopt sustainable agricultural practices, and safeguard against land grabs and environmental degradation. Over 657 land parcels have been mapped, benefiting 553 households in the Obogu Traditional Area, one of Ghana’s key agricultural regions. By focusing on capacity building and community engagement, this collaborative effort promotes long-term land tenure security and sustainable farming. 

This partnership is more than just a land documentation exercise. It’s a long-term investment in sustainable land management, helping farmers integrate traditional knowledge with modern technology. The community now has the tools and data to not only secure legal recognition of their land, but also to improve their livelihoods through improved farming practices, impacting agricultural yields and incomes while protecting against environmental degradation. 

Commenting on the community-centered approach, COLANDEF noted,

“To ensure the success and sustainability of land rights interventions, it is essential to build local capacity. Project level stakeholders need to be engaged not only as project beneficiaries. They need to be engaged as partners in the achievement of the project outcomes. This puts their commitment at another level!!! In Obogu, we adopted a holistic approach in the engagements. We spent time to get the buy-in of all stakeholders, conducted (a) series of training and capacity-building sessions—starting with traditional authorities, extending to several groupings of the inhabitants in each community, and further focusing on selected data collection volunteers and CLS (Customary Land Secretariat) staff. This comprehensive strategy has helped us to get everyone feeling included in the project’s implementation.”

Traditional elders, local farmers, and data collectors deploy advanced yet easy-to-use survey tools to ensure accurate community mapping. Despite weather and terrain challenges, the team continued its work, offering capacity-building workshops and intensive training for local volunteers to support land governance and documentation efforts. 

This transformative project is part of the global Land for Climate and Forest Rights Program—funded by UK International Development—which supports land tenure recognition for Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples, and local communities across 12 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.  For a deeper dive into the lessons learned and challenges faced during this initiative, read COLANDEF’s reflections on undertaking a successful land rights documentation process in Ghana here, and the success story of securing land and forest rights in Obogu here.