LONG-TERM ACCESS TO FERTILE LAND FOR RURAL WOMEN IS BEGINNING TO CHANGE OUR LIVES AND LIVELIHOODS POSITIVELY – Amoribo Peter, Poyamire near Bawku, Ghana Two very significant and important achievements that the people of Poyamire community in the Bawku Municipality always associate with CENSUDI are: (a) Improving women’s access to and control of arable land and (b) improvement in household decision-making. Amoribo Peter tells a story about CENSUDI’s role in improving access to land and control of resources at a community meeting. Amoribo Peter contributing to a discussion on improving women’s access to and control of land during a community meeting Before CENSUDI’s came started working with us, it was unacceptable for women to own property in my village and most villages in this region. Based on this tradition, women were therefore not allowed to own compound farms. Yet it is the compound farms that are most fertile because most organic waste produced in the household is left on those farms. Yields from such farms are usually much better than those further away from the home. Crops on compound farms are usually more resilient to short periods of drought because the organic matter is able to hold water longer for the crops. Before CENSUDI came here, women were given small parcels of land far from the compounds and not very fertile. Without resources to buy fertilizers and other inputs, we women would crop legumes and some vegetables on such infertile land. Legumes restore fertility to the soil. This is one reason why most women generally cultivate legumes such as cowpea, groundnuts, round beans, etc.). These have come to be called female crops. The conversations that CENSUDI helped us and our men to hold has opened our minds to the need for women in our communities to have long term access to fertile land to do what we want. Some husbands including mine have given portions of their compound farms to women to grow crops of their choice. Some households have also widows to cultivate their deceased husbands’ lands. Above all, we can have this land for 20 years and can also give to our girls when God calls us before then, is something that I did not think I would see in my lifetime. This by itself is a good for our lives. CENSUDI has also assisted us with some farm inputs to cultivate those lands. We the women can now boast of our own crops and do not have to depend all the time on our husbands. This has helped to reduce domestic quarrels since we no longer depend heavily on their little income they generate from their businesses. These days, when I need money for personal needs, I simply fetch some of my harvest that I reserved for such purposes and sell it to support myself. Cropping so close to the house also allows me to undertake some other income generating activities. Amoribo Peter showing CENSUDI staff and two CFTs her plot of land that she has farmed for three years now-CENSUDI Field Visit, 2020 “Now we women can flex our muscles, flap our shoulders in community wide meetings to declare that we own land of a certain size which we need assistance to cultivate”. Amoribo Peter at Poyamire Community Meeting 2008 Because of the way that CENSUDI is always advising that women and girls be part of all meetings and discussions, now our men are so used to it that they consult us on everything they have to do at home or at the community level. The Magazia (women’s leader) is usually invited to take part in decisions concerning the community at the Chief’s house and when we get visitors. The community has gone further to nominate me, Amoribo Peter and two other women to contest in the upcoming district level elections. This is great news. Two years before CENSUDI started working with us, we got some training from Zuri Organic Vegetable Farmers Association (ZOVFA) on how to work with families to minimize and prevent domestic quarrels. CENSUDI’s education, assistance and support built on the ZOVFA training and helped us with skills to identify some of the underlying causes of these quarrels. These conversations about conflict and violence have helped to reduce domestic violence but also surprisingly, our workload. This is because some of the men realise that an overworked tired woman is easily angry, does not cook good nutritious food and is no good at bedtime. Some men have started to help out in chores like child bathing, water and fuel wood fetching with bicycles, etc. A woman confidently showing her farm to CENSUDI staff and some community members, Boya 2009 FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS GENDER ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN, PLEASE CONTACT: Ms. Franciska Issaka –Chief Executive Officer Ms. Martina Ngotha – Gender Advocacy Officer Ms. Patience Ayamba – Gender Advocacy Officer Mr. Robert Alagskomah – Head of Campaigns Ms. Margaret Mary Issaka – Campaign Manager The Centre for Sustainable Development Initiatives (CENSUDI) Commercial Street, TUC Building P. O. Box 134, Bolgatanga, UER, Ghana Tel: +233-(0) 38-2022249/2024248/2024137/2021075 Cell: +233-(0) 244609812/244091166/246438251/268467296 ESTABLISHING EQUITABLE COMMUNITY BASED LAND ADMINISTRATION SYSTEMS (ECOBLAS) IN TWO COMMUNITIES IN THE UPPER EAST REGION: PROCESSES, RESULTS AND CHALLENGES 1 1. Introduction Since 2005, the Center for Sustainable Development Initiatives (CENSUDI) 2 has been collaborating with the Ghana offices of CARE International and Christian Aid International, on the Security of Land Tenure (SLATE) 3 and later on the Equitable Community Based Land Administration Systems (ECOBLAS) Projects in two communities in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Both SLATE and ECOBLAS enabled two communities to improve women’s access to and control of arable land. An equitable community-based land administration system (ECOBLAS) describes the participatory learning and action processes, involving a series of design steps and the various out puts from such steps that eventually lead communities to revise their traditional land administration policies and practices in ways that secure long lease (20+ years) tenure rights for women. ECOBLAS is not complete unless it leads to increased yields and productivity, then ultimately to food security, improved relations and power sharing within and between families in the community. Happy families are more creative and able to work in ways that reduce the levels of their poverty. ECOBLAS is also not complete until participating families are enabled to lead advocacy to upscale it within their own communities and communities are leading efforts to replicate this in neighbouring communities, district and regional wide and eventually nationwide. This paper is a summary of the experiences of Poyamire and Boya in the Upper East Region of Ghana where ECOBLAS has been piloted as an action research project. This paper is only a summary of the story so far, highlighting the processes and steps, the achievements and the challenges in five years of implementation 4 2. Background and Rationale Land is an important factor of production in every economy, especially in developing economies where agriculture remains the major economic activity. In Ghana land is one of the most important productive assets for over 80% of the rural population whose major livelihood activity is agriculture. 1 For more information, please contact Ms. Franciska Issaka (CEO), The Centre for Sustainable Development Initiatives (CENSUDI), Box 134, Bolgatanga, UER, Ghana & 3519 West Fork Road, unit 39. Cincinnati, OH 45211-1963 Tel: +1-513-376-8192, + 233-(0) 54-955-1074. Cell: 2 See Annex 1 CENSUDI full profile ‘s 3 SLATE -2005 to 2008: ECOBLAS from 2008 with only 1 year funding from Christian Aid. Project is ongoing with resources from communities and CENSUDI 4 A more detailed write up is yet to be commissioned as soon as resources are secured Nearly 30% 5 (GLSS 2008) of Ghanaians are poor and 70% of the poor are food crop farmers who live and eke a living from the land in rural areas. Therefore, access to land and secure tenure provide the poor with a source of livelihood, food security and opportunity for investment. Insecurity of land tenure has been shown in numerous studies to contribute to decline in agricultural production and entrenches poverty among poor farm families and women who depend on land and natural resources for a living. A Land Administrative Framework that provides equitable rights and security of tenure to rural dwellers, especially women, therefore has the potential of contributing to poverty reduction. This is what CENSUDI set up to demonstrate with 2 communities in the Upper East Region of Ghana 2.1 Poyamire and Boya in the Upper East Region of Ghana Poyamire and Boya are small rural communities in the Bawku East and Bawku West Districts respectively. Both districts are in the Upper East Region. Boya has a population of 2,771 people (2008) 6 . Poyamire has a population of 2168 people (2007) 7 The Upper East Region is the smallest of 10 administrative regions in Ghana, occupying a total land surface of 8,842 square kilometres or 2.7 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. The region is located in the north-eastern corner of Ghana bordered by Burkina Faso in the north and Togo on the East. (Maps) 2.1.1 Land Tenure in Poyamire and Boya In nearly all of Ghana, the allodial (paramount) interest in land is vested in communities represented by chiefs/kings/tindaanas and/or families/clans. These are referred to in the literature as indigenous landholding institutions. In Boya and Poyamire, the allodial interest in land is vested in families represented by Tindaanas 8 or land priests. These families control land, while the power of traditional governance is vested in the tindaana and recently in the Chief. The Tindaanas are the descendants of their ancestors who first discovered, cleared, and settled at the various communities. Even though the allodial interest in land is vested in the tindaana, it is mostly the family heads and farm owners who have acquired the usufruct interest from the tindaana over time, who do the allocation of land to other family members and other prospective users. However, where vacant (virgin) land still exists, the Tindaana controls and allocates such land. Vacant land refers to land in which no usufructory interest has been granted to a member or stranger and there is not much of such land in 5 The report of the 5 th Round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS 2008) shows that roughly one-third (28.5%) of Ghana’s citizens are classified as poor, down from 52% in 1991 and about 40% in 2000. However, the report reveals sadly that 70% of Ghana’s poor live in the Upper West, Upper East and Northern regions and that more than half of these are women and girls. 6 Head count during 2008 Community Action Planning, 1414 female and 1356 male 7 Head count during 2007 CAP 1106 female 1062 male 8 In Poyamire, the Tindaana and the Chief are the same person. Chieftaincy is a recent institution in the Upper East Region having been introduced to the area only in the latter part of the Colonial era. In Boya, the Tindaana wisely agreed to be the Chief and so the two positions are merged. any of the two communities. The tindaanas also have a spiritual authority over all land so that even family and clan heads with usufructory rights still have to defer to them to make necessary sacrifices before any portion of their land is given away and/or leased. Even the tindaana needs to know when a new grave needs to be dug or a new house built 9 . The tindaana offers sacrifices to the ancestors and the gods for anything that has to do with land. The nature of land claims in Poyamire and Boya as indeed most of the Upper east Region is based on oral history because most of these things are not documented anywhere. 3. ECOBLAS Processes and Steps in Poyamire and Boya 3.1 Rapid Appraisal and Community Institutional Mapping ECOBLAS started as SLATE. CARE Ghana had been working with a number of communities in the Dwira Banso forest to establish Community Based Land Administration systems to address the tenure needs and concerns of poor settler farmers mostly male. The Dwira-Banso project had been going on since 2002 and in 2005 CARE and CENSUDI agreed to replicate it from a gender perspective in 3 communities in the Bawku districts. Indeed, the CENSUDI’s attraction to CARE was because we are a grassroots gender advocacy organisation and our work is focused on the northern savannah zone quite different from conditions in Dwira Banso located in Ghana’s high forest zone. As an action research project, SLATE started with 3-tier highly participatory rapid surveys and discussions in 6 communities strategically chosen to represent all the ethnic tribes across the Upper East Region 10 . The main objectives of these surveys were to establish the land tenure arrangements and policies operating across the region as represented by the sample communities, to provoke and engage in gendered conversations around land and also to get preliminary indications of what arrangements out of the ordinary are made by traditional/indigenous institutions to cater for women with respect to land use and ownership. These rapid surveys were followed by more detailed participatory conversations in the three selected communities around traditional institutions and practices in general with particular focus on land management institutions. This process was enabled by the use of the Community Institutional Mapping 11 (CIM) tool. This tool enabled the communities to look more carefully and deeply at themselves and to gather pertinent data about their institutions and systems for managing land. CIM also enabled them to analyse land use rights and responsibilities and the impact that these have on agriculture, productivity, food security and wealth creation. Special effort was made to look at the socio-gender 9 These things are usually divined by the soothsayer or seer 10 See Annex on reports of these surveys 11 See Annex on CIM land use rights, responsibilities and impact. Key findings from the two processes include: 3.1.1 Women’s access to land • According to custom and tradition, the ancestral spirits expect equitable sharing of benefits from land to all members of the family - male and female • All women have access to land because it is believed that the ancestral spirits guarantee access to land by all members of the family, male, female and people with disabilities. However, this is not what happens in practice, and this is partly attributed to increasing population resulting in very high person to arable land ratios. Indeed, past governments have tried unsuccessfully to resettle people from the Upper East in parts of the Northern Region (Damango) and in the onchocerciasis (oncho) free fertile valleys along the Red and White Volta rivers. • In the past, young girls over ten years were given what is termed a ‘ side farm’ to cultivate crops usually sold to raise income for their non-food needs. This access right is lost when she decides to marry, and she cannot also pass it on in old age or death. However, this practice is no longer practiced widely because of some of the reasons already enumerated above • When women continuously use land (10+ years) that has been allocated to them by male relatives or friends, it turns into a quasi-ownership of such land. Even though she does not own the land and the trees on it, confiscations of such lands, are very rare. Such confiscations are shunned by the ancestral spirits who in the past have been known to strike people dead instantly for doing that. (‘ It is forbidden’). However, this is no longer the norm, and male relatives are known to confiscate such land because of shortage of arable land and just out of brute show of power and greed. • A divorced or separated woman who comes back to her father’s home may be given land to construct her own compound and to farm. When she dies and has sons, they may continue to use the land. Where she has no sons, the land reverts to her brothers who gave her the land. Such quasi ownership does not also allow the woman to sell the land or pass it on to her girl child in event of death • Single women who remain unmarried all their adult lives may request and get perpetual use of land around the family home. However, they will always need permission from their male relatives before changing the use of the land or giving it away. • There are certain cultural practices (including sacrifices) that can be done to publicly declare that a piece of land belongs to a woman. Even then she does not own the trees and confiscations of such lands, though rare, are possible. She cannot also sell it or pass it on. • Women do not have access to compound farms because it is from this that the head of the household is able to feed the rest of the family. Women are not heads of households because they are not considered permanent members of their father’s homes or their husband’s homes as they may leave in event of a divorce 3.1.2 Trends that may positively influence female ownership of fertile land in the next decade 12 • Verbal and written wills by husbands and fathers have been honoured especially in urban areas and in literate families. They have also been honoured because of the important roles that most women now play in family food security in rural areas. Many men have had to rely on agricultural produce from women’s farms in the last decade. • Government legislation and policies such as land title registration popularised by the Land Administration Project (LAP). 13 Women in urban centres leasing and registering land for between 45 and 99 years. • Affirmative action has been used to bring equity into the allocation of fertile land around dams built by government for irrigation purposes. Some women have cultivated such lands for over 15 years and some of such women have even passed them on to their daughters without much objection from men. • The role of religion especially Christianity and Islam- Traditionally, land issues are steeped in spirituality. Land is considered a repository of ancestral spirits and power. Men are responsible for sacrifices to the ancestral spirits, and this is one reason why they own land and are the ones who pass it on to their sons. However, in homes and families where both men and women are practicing Christians or Muslims, this requirement can easily be negotiated away to enable women to own land. • Growing Christianity and Islam in rural communities has also made the role of the Tindaana or land priest almost irrelevant. Traditionally, land priests are custodians who must invoke the spirits when land is passed on from one person to the other. However, in Christian and Muslim families and homes, priests, imams and pastors play this role. • Traditionally, heads of families and clan heads hold land in trust for present and future generations. However, due to population growth rates, declining soil fertility and urbanisation, land can now be rented for short periods or leased for very long periods (20-99 years). This trend will make it easier to negotiate on behalf of women. • Changing roles of men and women in the household economy. More women are now the heads of most households out of necessity and this trend may lead to such women owning land to enable them perform these roles better 12 See reports on rapid survey reports attached as Appendices to this summary 13 The Ghanaian government’s 15-year on-going programme of major reforms in land policy and its implementation. There are however many questions in its approach as to whether consultations have been comprehensive enough to represent the views of the poor and whether the interests of all stakeholders are being taken into account. On the basis of these encouraging results from the rapid research, we continued with the following steps. 3.2 Dialogue and Sensitization Dialogue and sensitization sessions were deepened after the research phase by being regular and segmented in ways that allowed all voices to be heard. Selected communities signed Memoranda of Understanding with CENSUDI and were guided to select Community Facilitation Team (CFT) members. 14 The CFTs were strengthened with training in participatory methods to take the lead at his stage. CENSUDI field staff coached, handheld and backstopped the CFTs in their work. Through these sessions, communities began to appreciate in greater detail, the various negative effects of inadequate access and control of land resources by especially women on their families and communities and to suggest ways of addressing these. These sessions also became periodic safe spaces and platforms at which various stakeholders discussed and agreed among themselves first before coming to present and defend their ideas at community wide sessions. S ensitization session s were also used to provide relevant national and international information. For example, information about the National Land Policy enabled communities to provide useful input for the ongoing land administration reform processes. It also empowered them to start thinking about ways to implement the various aspects of the policy based on their customary land administration practices and arrangements. Participatory socio-gender analysis tools enabled these frank discussions and conversations, and these are detailed in an Annex attached to this summary. 3.3 District Stakeholder’s Forum These community level sensitization sessions culminated in a district level stakeholders’ forum to discuss socio-gender gaps in land administration at all levels. Male and female representatives from the various pilot communities including the CFTs came to Bawku to dialogue with representatives from district, regional, national and private sector land agencies. At this forum, ordinary community men and women, chiefs, land priest, women’s leaders and other custodians of land confidently debated the impact of land insecurity on their livelihoods with public and private sector officials. Together they identified opportunities and interventions to address these issues and made various commitments to ensuring secure and equitable access to land by especially women and the vulnerable. At the end of the three-day session, communities, particularly the male custodians of land, renewed their commitment to ensuring equity in land management and administration. The district political office holders 15 committed to supporting the efforts of communities with relevant legislation and policies. They also promised to provide some resources to implement community intentions especially if those intentions could be captured in Community Action Plans (CAP). Regional and national 14 Community facilitators or Community Facilitation Teams (CFT) are between 7 and 9 members selected by the community and trained by CENSUDI to facilitate the whole ECOBLAS process. They must be gender balanced and include 50% persons who are literate in the English language 15 This forum was attended by all three District Chief Executives (DCE) and their Presiding Members (PM) as well as all the relevant elected Assembly members of the pilot communities. level agencies committed to include community efforts, ideas and voices in the ongoing National Land Policy and Land Administration Reform. CENSUDI and CARE committed to complement community and public sector actors with capacity building and resources 3.4 Community Action Plans (CAPs) The Bawku Land Forum strengthened the will of the two communities to establish and operate land management systems that are just to all. This new resolve and commitment, Poyamire, Boya and Bugri 16 developed community action plans (CAP). Key gender responsive elements of these CAPs include: • 150 men willing to release fertile compound farms to their wives for between 20- to-40-year leases. However, CARE drops out of project because of unavailability of funds and • 150 men willing to sign various documents confirming these processes • Because arable land is insufficient in these communities, alternative farmland has already been acquired by Poyamire at Nafkoliga (20 miles away) for 50 men willing to cultivate new farms so that their wives can have the compound farms • Customary land administration institutions in all communities supportive of these processes and carrying out the necessary sacrifices and pacification to pave way for this to happen • 10 hectares (25 acres) of fallow infertile land has been provided in Boya and Poyamire to be reclaimed and distributed to women and other vulnerable land users on a long-term lease basis. District level commitment to ensuring security of land tenure for women and other vulnerable persons has also found tangible expression in the adoption and incorporation of some of the activities from these community action plans in the 2007 and 2010 medium term plans At the national level, ideas and suggestions from these communities have already been used to review the design and implementation of the Customary Land Secretariats. Provision has now been made for the participation of women and vulnerable land users in these secretariats. 3.5 Demarcate land and prepare lease documents By late 2007, support from CARE was coming to an end unfortunately at a time when the communities were very excited about the potential benefits of the project for them. All efforts to get CARE to extend yielded no positive responses. To keep community enthusiasm alive while looking for resources to continue the project, CENSUDI mobilized money from her savings to support five (5) out of the one hundred and fifty (150) men who had offered to lease land to their wives. At this stage, Poyamire was ahead of Boya having finished their CAP and even lobbied to secure some funding from 16 Bugri was later dropped from the project because it was dangerous to visit it after the Bawku conflict broke out. Another CARE partner, the Presbyterian Agriculture Station at Garu took over from there. Bawku Municipal Assembly to roof and furnish a Nursery School in their CAP. It was therefore agreed with the two communities to select the 5 pioneer farmers from Poyamire. CENSUDI then allowed Poyamire to select the five farmers. Criteria used by the community included: spousal relations, number of wives, punctuality and attendance of community activities, level of understanding of and degree of seriousness attached to work with CENSUDI, etc. These five families, the community facilitation team members and other community members were therefore assisted in 2008 to: • Complete negotiations for 5 acres of additional land at Nafkoliga –about 20 km away-so that the men who were literally giving up most of their compound farms, would have alternative farmlands to cultivate (Annex) • Demarcate land at Nafkoliga for the male beneficiaries and also demarcate the parcels of compound farms that the men were willing to give away to their wives (Appendix) • Develop and sign lease documents (Annex) CENSUDI also supported male farmers with small loans to acquire bicycles, and other farm implements to prepare virgin lands acquired at Nafkoliga 20 kilometers away. 3.5.1 Sustainable Agriculture and Food Management Training In collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Zuri Organic Farmers Association (ZOFA) 17 , we also provided training to male and female farmers in sustainable agricultural practices such as appropriate and fertility enhancing land preparation and planting techniques, selection of appropriate seed, weed control, composting, appropriate harvesting and storage techniques, various post harvest preservation and food management techniques. Where necessary, some few farmers were assisted with chemical fertilizers to improve fertility of soil and overall productivity. By December 2008, these community led gender sensitive processes had resulted in: • 30-100% increases in yields and productivity in five participating homes • 15-30% increases in yield for other farmers who benefitted from the sustainable farming techniques training • Increased access to resources in the families that could be used for other things – many participating families reported how useful the bicycle was to them for other things. Other community members also reported that they had been able to borrow these bicycles for critical visits to hospital and market. • The food preservation and management techniques had benefited not just the five farmers but about 50% of community members who participated in the training sessions • Many farmers reported in April and May 2009 that they still had food stocks to last them till July and August all because of better preservation and management of food stocks 17 ZOFA is a community based organisation , a CARE partner focuses on sustainable agricultural training for farmers • Every step of the process requires that men and women, boys and girls discuss and agree on what has happened already and, on the way, forward. This has not only improved gender and power relations but also improved women’s participation in decision-making and their control of resources such as time, land, knowledge, education, food, choice and even respect. As a result of these benefits that helped CENSUDI provide a tangible face to an otherwise intangible advocacy project, the number of men willing to participate in the scheme increased to nearly 500 in the two communities. Then in late 2008, CENSUDI secured funds from Christian Aid to continue the project for only one more year in Boya and Poyamire. This enabled us to increase the number from 5 to 51. Given that we did not have enough resources to support all interested men, the communities were tasked to use earlier criteria to select 51 beneficiaries 18 for the farming season of 2009. By the middle of 2010, this project had achieved the following: • Communities have identified other traditional practices and policies that unfairly discriminate against women and girls and have developed byelaws to eliminate them (Annex). • A revision of community action plans (CAPS) developed in 2007/8 with a revived commitment to implement at least 50% of activities in it. • Increased productivity between 100% and 300% and food security by 3 more months in a year just by giving women 30% of compound farms on 10-20-year leases. • During the 10–20-year land leases, female beneficiaries can pass on the land to their girl children if something prevents them from cultivating or using it themselves • Participating communities have prioritized girl child education by allocating up to 50% of their resources to girls to stay in school • People from participating communities are beginning to minimize expenditure on frivolous items such as alcohol, sacrifice and funerals • This year Boya and Poyamire have nominated seven (7) women to participate as candidates in the December district level elections. • The CFTs of these two communities have been instrumental in the formation of a Community Driven Gender Advocacy Movement (CODRIGAM) 19 Christian Aid resources run out at the end of 2009 and since then, CENSUDI and the communities have been trying to fund the project but with a great deal of difficulty. Not only are we not able to support all the people willing to participate, we are also not able to share the lessons and benefits of this success with other communities. Activities that we are not able to implement due to insufficient resources include: 4. Incomplete ECOBLAS Elements 18 27 from Poyamire and 24 from Boya 19 See Annex on CODRIGAM 4.1 Scale up ECOBLAS within the two communities and with 28 communities that CENSUDI works with. o Replicate all ECOBLAS steps in 28 communities o Assist all men interested in lease arrangements o Provide farm inputs and other support in the form of microloans 4.2 Strengthen the capacity of women to continue to advocate for the equitable distribution of land and other productive resources o Community sensitization meetings o Negotiation and lobbying skills training workshops for beneficiary women o Gender Conversations o Support women candidate in district level elections to District Assemblies and in national level elections to Parliament o Lobby for appointments of women to statutory bodies, commissions and boards 4.3 Support and leverage land advocacy in favour of women by documenting and sharing the ECOBLAS story in ways that lead to a replication of this effort in many more communities • Organise experience sharing/awareness raising fora on ECOBLAS for traditional leaders in 3 project districts o Hold at least 6 meetings with traditional authorities, including women leaders, in project districts, to brief them on project experiences. o Brief the Upper East Regional House of Chiefs o Hold tow • Organise learning visits for women leaders from at least 3 communities adjoining project communities to interact with project participants. o Organise at least 2 learning visits to project communities for women leaders who participated in dialogue with traditional authorities on ECOBLAS. o Support women leaders who participated in learning visits to organise dissemination fora in their communities on their experiences. • Organise 3-tier advocacy workshop on ECOBLAS as part of end-of-project activities o Organise 1 st tier discussions in participating communities to collate advocacy issues and select community reps to advocacy forum o Organise 1-day 2 nd tier workshop for traditional leaders to collate views on equitable land management systems and attendant advocacy issues. o Organise 3 rd tier workshop bringing together reps from 1 st and 2 nd tier workshops, CSOs and institutional reps (land admin agencies, etc.) to discuss presentations from community reps and traditional leaders and agree way forward. • Document and share ECOBLAS successes and lessons learnt through various media o Publish a document on ECOBLAS o Publish two key position papers and press releases on women’s access to land o Attend all meetings of the Civil Society Coalition on Land (CICOL) and use those meetings as platforms for engaging with civil society and private sector organizations interested in promoting equitable land management systems o Use documents and evidence to lobby for equitable land management at all levels o Share findings at meetings of the three participating district assemblies o Conduct two district level forums o Conduct one regional level forum with the regional Coordinating Council o Appear on two radio programmes to share your findings o Appear on national TV to share benefits o Use Mbaa Komo and Standpoint to share and do effective national level advocacy 4.4 Sufficient and appropriate human resources and human resource development to carry out these tasks effectively o Recruitment and retention of Staff –old and new o Salaries, remuneration, benefits and incentives o Training, coaching and mentoring o Consultancies o Conferences, networking 4.5 Provision of sufficient logistics and equipment to carry out these tasks 5. Challenges • Short funding cycles just do not work with creative schemes that work with communities to change mindsets and attitudes. • The process of helping communities change their negative mindsets about women and girls, begins with staff of facilitating organisations themselves changing their mindsets and attitudes. This is more difficult and yet insufficient resources tend to be allocated or this critical part. • Community driven gender advocacy (CODRIGA) work is much more time and resource consuming than regional and policy level advocacy. It seems that the donors themselves do not understand this and so there is a tendency to expect quick results. Donors also unfairly compare the two when in fact regional and national level gender advocacy needs to be built solidly on community driven gender advocacy to be sustainable. • Donors also expect quick scaling up of benefits with CODRIGA, but it is not sustainable to scale up “false results”. When community members are leading the effort, they need to believe, internalise what they believe, change behaviour and mindsets before being advocates for such change. It is now nearly 5 years and only two communities are now ready to go share ECOBLAS- even ready to contribute their own funds to benefit more farmers in their communities. The process of getting 28 more communities to do similar may now be faster because the other 28 will be learning from their peers but it may not necessarily be cheaper because it may involve a lot more travelling, visiting, seeing, etc. • Arable land is a problem in especially the Upper East Region. When arable land is in short supply for men, it is difficult to advocate for land for women. Whilst Agriculture remains the main stay of majority people in the region, it is important that the ministry of Agriculture work with NGOs like CENSUDI to develop intensive agricultural practices as part of their effort at modernising agriculture. Currently it is a challenge to speak about that with farmers when the ministry’s policy is focused on extensive agricultural practices. • Deepening of decentralisation will enable small rural communities to access funds to strengthen and replicate the good work we have enabled them to do. Currently all the 30 communities that CENSUDI works with have agreed to contribute their widows mites to fund their advocacy and development efforts (Appendix) Such funds could easily be matched if decentralisation were intensify and extended vertically to the grassroots. Such intensification will require: o Strengthening of district substructures – communities, unit Committees, Town and Area Councils o Decentralising finances to the community level – this will require a tweaking of the procurement act to allow communities and substructures to manage funds from Government of Ghana consolidated account.