All over the world, there are similar stories on women land rights: We till the land, we produce the food, yet we are the ones with limited access to productive resources such as land. We are the ones who face increasing threats to secured land rights. According to a research conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), it is estimated that women are responsible for over 50% of food produced across the world. Yet land ownership by women is estimated to be less than 10%. In Ghana, women make up approximately 39% of the agricultural labor force. Yet they are marginalized when it comes to access to and ownership of land. They are often excluded in benefit sharing in proceeds from customary lands and in decision making.

Our work around the country has shown that getting customary land rights documentation done is one way to secure the land rights of the teaming women farmers and customary land rights holders in Ghana whose efforts on the farm feeds their households and the country at large.

COLANDEF, through its various initiatives advocates for equal opportunities for women and men in the access to, ownership of, security of, and benefit sharing from, landed resources. We share in the sentiment of this year’s theme for International Women’s Day, of #balanceforbetter, as it aptly reflects the motivation for our interventions in Ghana’s land sector.

Happy International Women’s Day to all women across the world!