Nomadic Fulani pastoralism - A search for greener pastures in Ghana and the law
In his Principles of Civil Code, Jeremy Bentham states, ‘’Property and Law are born together and die together. Before the laws, there was no property; take away the laws and all property ceases’’.
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Ghana’s territorial land of 238,539 square kilometres constitutes one huge landed property. The natural resources inherent in this property constitute the backbone of all our socio-economic activities and the basis of our wealth. In fact our land is our physicality, our spirituality and our essence.
Hence ownership of, access to and use of the land must be regulated by law and order. In the absence of the law, we descend into the Hobbesian state of nature where life becomes raw, nasty, brutish and short.
Migration of the Fulani herdsmen to Ghana
Since the year 2000, we as a nation have been witnessing the migration into the country of Fulani herdsmen from the Sahel to access pasture resources for their cattle. The security, social, economic, and environmental problems arising from these migrations have been forcefully brought to the fore once again with the wielding and use of sophisticated weapons by these herdsmen to kill poor farmers, burning of farms and the pollution of water bodies in some areas of the country.
With these happenings, one wonders if Hobbes is not being proved right after all. Indeed, one cannot be far from wrong to say that ours is simply a failure of institutions.
The migration of these herdsmen to Ghana to access our greener pastures can be said to be one of environmental and economic adaptation to dwindling pasture land resources in the Sahel.
An issue of land laws
To put things in their correct perspective and for all stakeholders to get a clear understanding of issues and find a lasting and sustainable solution to the menace of Fulani herdsmen, the point must be made that at the core of the problem is the ownership of land, access to and use of pasture land rights, as pertains to our land laws.
It is a well-established customary principle as per the writings of Ollenu, Bentsil Enchill and J.B. Danquah that there is not an inch of land in Ghana without an owner. The existing tenurial arrangements have evolved over the years and are governed by customary law practices, religious beliefs, norms and the concepts of landed property rights as introduced by the British colonialists. Basically there are two types of landownership in the country; Customary and Public lands.
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The activities of the nomadic Fulani herdsmen are in typical rural settings where communal land ownership is the norm. Where the lands are communally owned, the allodial or the paramount title which is the highest title beyond which there is no other title resides in the stool, family or clan. A member of the land owning group is entitled to the subject- usufructuary rights to land granted by the stool, family or clan. The subject- usufruct is alienable and inheritable. Where a person is not a member of the land owning group, the stool, family or clan grants such a person the stranger-usufructuary rights. The stranger- usufructuary rights holder pays an annual rent (tribute) or some form of payment in kind, normally a portion of the produce.
The distinction between the subject-usufruct and the stranger-usufruct is important particularly so when the Fulanis from the Sahel are of the mindset that they are availing themselves to open access land resources where restriction to access is almost impossible and everything is up for the take.
Role of Traditional authorities
In our rural areas, traditional institutions play an important role in all land matters. The Fulani herdsmen from the Sahel are strangers. There is therefore the need for them to observe and pass through the hierarchy of the disposing traditional authority to access pasture land for grazing rights to be granted.
In fact, there is the need for the traditional authorities to control the grazing rights so as to avert the tendency of encroaching on and destroying farm lands and polluting water bodies. Adhering to the customary land use practices is a sure way of not violating our customary land law practices and cultural norms.
Land has since time immemorial been a source of conflicts. The activities of the Fulanis can trigger and exacerbate a wider conflict which can only be contained at a heavy cost to the nation. With the menace of terrorist organisations such as Boko Haram constituting one major headache to West African governments, any mis-adventures that have the potential of igniting regional conflicts and give the terrorist groups the excuse to intervene, must be nibbed in the bud before it escalates.
Finding a lasting solution
The issue of the Fulani herdsmen from the Sahel is regional, multi and cross-sectoral. Finding a lasting solution would involve key stakeholders both from Ghana and our neighbouring Sahelian countries.
Fortunately for us, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources is implementing the 15-25 Years Land Administration Project. A component of the Project is the harmonisation of Land Policy and Regulatory framework for sustainable and efficient Land Administration and Management.
An area of the regulatory framework that the Project needs to pay particular attention to is the formulation of a legal regime that would ensure sustainable administration and management of our common pool resources such as pasture lands, rivers, wetlands etc.
In the face of the menace of Fulani herdsmen, it would be appropriate if the Ministry takes up the mantle to initiate and organise a regional stakeholders conference on the Theme: ‘’The Sustainable Administration and Management of Pasture Land Resources in Ghana’’.
This will go a long way to provide the necessary platform for inputs for the promulgation of a harmonised cattle ranching law for our pasture land resources which will be of mutual benefit to all stakeholders.
‘’Come and let us reason together,’’ for as Aristotle puts it, ‘’What is common to the greatest number has the least bestowed on it’’
The writer is a land economist.