V.K. Agyeman, K.A. Marfo, K.R. Kasanga, E. Danso, A.B. Asare, O.M. Yeboah and F. Agyeman
V.K. Agyeman is in the Forest Plantations Development Centre, Ejisu, Kumasi, Ghana.
K.A. Marfo is in the Crops Research Institute, Fumesua, Kumasi, Ghana.
K.R. Kasanga and F. Agyeman are in the Ministry of Lands and Forestry, Accra, Ghana.
E. Danso and A.B. Asare are in the Resource Management Support Centre, Forest Services Division of the Forestry Commission, Ghana.
O.M. Yeboah is in the Institute of Land Management and Development, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana.
Recently approved arrangements for the taungya system – involving interplanted food crops and timber trees – are designed to entitle all stakeholders to the plantations’ benefits and give them a long-term interest in maintaining trees.
Plantation development has for a long time been identified as one of the important strategies required to meet the demand for wood resources in Ghana, where the rate of forest cover loss remains high (1.7 percent per year in the 1990s [FAO, 2001]).
In the 1930s the Government of Ghana launched a plantation development programme using the taungya system, devised in Myanmar, in which farmers are given parcels of degraded forest reserves to produce food crops and to help establish and maintain timber trees. The intention was to produce a mature crop of commercial timber in a relatively short time, while also addressing the shortage of farmland in communities bordering forest reserves. About 75 percent of Ghana’s current total area of commercial public and private forest plantations of 35 000 ha were established using the taungya system.
Food crops, especially annuals such as plantain, cocoyam and vegetables, were interplanted with determined tree species. The food crops were normally cultivated for three years, after which the shade from the trees impeded further cultivation of the crops.
Under the traditional taungya arrangements, Ghanaian farmers had no rights to benefits accruing from the planted trees (Milton, 1994) and no decision-making role in any aspect of forest management (Birikorang, 2001). As a result, farmers tended to neglect the tree crops and to abuse the system. For example, farmers
Other problems included lack of supervision by the Forestry Department (now the Forest Services Division of the Forestry Commission), inadequate financing mechanisms and abuse of power by public officials, especially in farm allocation (Agyeman et al., 2003).
The system was suspended in 1984. However, in spite of the problems, forest-adjacent communities still viewed the taungya system as potentially one of the most beneficial forest tenure systems, and they requested its reintroduction, albeit with changes.
A one-year old taungya plot in Ghana; at this point, the food crop (plantain) still dominates over the trees |
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V.K. AGYEMAN |
A proposal for a revised taungya system, which would be self-financing and sustainable, was designed through an 18-month consultation process (July 2001 to December 2002) initiated by the Government of Ghana, with support from FAO and the World Bank. The dialogue involved key stakeholder groups including farmers, landowners, local communities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
In the proposed system, farmers would essentially be owners of forest plantation products, with the Forestry Commission, landowners and forest-adjacent communities as shareholders. Previously, the Forestry Commission was the owner of plantations established using the taungya system, and only landowners, not farmers, received benefits from the tree crops.
All participants in the modified taungya system, including farmers, would be eligible for a share of the benefits accruing from the plantation. The consultation process devised an equitable benefit-sharing framework based on the contributions of the participants:
The consultation process also recommended specific policy and legislative reforms to strengthen tenure and resource use rights and to secure greater participation for disadvantaged groups (land-poor and land-insecure households, tenant farmers, women, migrants, farm labourers and nursery operators).
The new proposals have been approved by the Cabinet. They are expected to lead to increased revenue and other benefits to farmers and landowning communities in line with the objectives of the 2001 Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy.
Analysis of the estimated value of stakeholder contributions to plantation investment was used to propose the following benefit-sharing framework, adjusted according to stakeholder expectations regarding the benefits they would receive: farmers and the Forestry Commission should each receive 40 percent of benefits accruing based on their inputs, while landowners should receive 15 percent (i.e. traditional authorities 7 percent and tribal landowners 8 percent) and forest-adjacent communities should receive 5 percent. The estimated costs and suggested benefits of the four key stakeholders at discount rates of 6 and 10 percent are presented in the Figure.
The benefit-sharing frameworks under the old taungya system and the modified taungya system are compared in the Table.
Most stakeholders (with the exception of the Forestry Commission) were of the view that the Forestry Commission, farmers and landowners, including forest-adjacent communities, should receive one-third of the revenue accruing from the system. Therefore the scenario more than meets farmer expectations, but landowners would benefit less than they hoped.
A number of stakeholders felt that these benefit-sharing arrangements should be further negotiated between the parties on a case-by-case basis, but that care should be taken to protect the rights of the disadvantaged groups.
There was general consensus among stakeholders that for the modified taungya system to be sustainable, there should be a continuous flow of benefits to participating farmers after the harvest of food crops at the end of the third year, as well as some bulk payment at the time of harvesting of logs. The short-term benefit flows should further attract farmers to invest labour on a continuous basis, while the bulk payment at the end would make the farmer and investor share risks.
Estimated costs and suggested benefits (40% for farmers, 40% for the Forestry Commission, 15% for landowners and 5% for local communities) at discount rates of 6% and 10% |
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Land tenure arrangements need to provide sufficient security for sustainable tree plantation investments. Farmers need to feel confident that their rights will not be taken away in the medium and long term.
When forest reserves were created in the 1930s, different resource rights were envisaged, aimed at developing a revenue base for chiefs and resource-owning communities. These included the rights of farmers who already had farms in the reserve area to continue to farm in designated areas; customary rights of individuals or communities to the forest reserve land (including indigenous cultural or religious rights), if not considered harmful to the forest; and the right of forest-adjacent communities to access forest resources in the forest reserve for domestic purposes (e.g. medicinal uses, home consumption, poles for construction).
However, despite the intent, there was no legislation to ensure these rights or to ensure an equitable flow of benefits to landowners and local communities or their consultation on decisions influencing resource utilization and management.
The Timber Resources Management Amendment Act, 2002, and the Forest Plantations Development Fund Amendment Act, 2002, strengthen the ownership rights of farmers and would provide for incentives for the modified taungya system.
An elaborate institutional framework has been proposed, intended to ensure, among other things:
The highlight of the institutional arrangements is the establishment of Land Allocation and Taungya Management Committees at the community level, headed by the Forestry Commission but predominantly comprising farmers, for the development of forest plantations within degraded forests. These committees would be responsible for allocation of degraded lands to farmers, monitoring farmer and Forestry Commission performance, instituting sanctions and settling disputes. The committees would also be responsible for ensuring the compliance of all parties within the contract agreement.
The Forestry Commission is expected to keep a detailed register of participants. Copies of benefit-sharing agreements, which may be in the form of bonds, should be lodged with the Attorney-General’s Department and other relevant institutions. At present, the Forestry Commission’s capacity to compile and store these elaborate records is doubtful. However, the Government of Ghana, with the support of the World Bank, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the African Development Bank, is working to strengthen capacity in all districts, including the supply of equipment and staff responsible for dealing with communities; these ongoing efforts provide some basis for optimism.
The formation of Land Allocation and Taungya Management Committees at the local community level should enable all stakeholders to consult each other and coordinate their efforts to address the major issues and impediments to implementation of the system. It will be a challenge, however, to accommodate the diverse, sometimes conflicting interests of the numerous stakeholders so as to engage and sustain their good will, their commitment and in some cases their active participation.
A financial analysis was carried out based on projections of two investment scenarios, the modified taungya system and smallholder forest plantation development without food crops. The analysis was based on actual costs and revenue and covered a project cycle of 25 years, which is the maturity period of Tectona grandis, the most commonly planted tree species. The analysis showed an estimated internal rate of return (IRR) of 16.2 percent for the modified taungya system and an IRR of 13.6 percent for smallholder forest plantation development.
The modified taungya system has potential to lead to a win-win situation for all participants. However, several possible constraints need to be addressed:
Bibliography
Agyeman, V.K., Kasanga, K.R., Danso, E., Marfo, K.A., Whiteman, A., Asare, A.B, Yeboah, O.M. & Agyeman, F. 2003. Equitable forest reserve plantation revenue sharing in Ghana. Report for FAO.
Birikorang, G. 2001. Wood industry and log export ban study. Consultancy report for the Ministry of Lands and Forestry.
Butcher, C. 2001. Social appraisal of Government of Ghana and African Development Bank support to forest plantation development project. Consultant’s report submitted to the Department for International Development (DFID), UK.
FAO. 2001. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000 – main report. FAO Forestry Paper No. 140. Rome.
Milton, R. 1994. Some issues and observations arising from District taungya studies … for use in discussion for development of FP4 – Forest Reserve Rehabilitation. Forestry Commission memo.
