Chiefs and nexus of challenges in land deals: An insight into blame perspectives, exonerating chiefs during and after Jatropha investment in Ghana

Large scale land acquisition has led to land related problems in many countries. Various studies have blamed chiefs as the primary cause of the problems associated with large scale land investments without critical analysis of their viewpoints on such land deals. This paper has therefore examined the challenges affecting chiefs in large scale land acquisitions by valuing their perspectives using jatropha investments and its transformation in Ghana. A mix of qualitative methods including interviews and review of documents on five large scale jatropha investment sites in Ghana was embraced. The findings of the study indicate that the problems in large scale land acquisitions are to be attributed to several actors connected to the land deals rather than blaming only the chiefs. The study has identified three key challenges affecting chiefs, which have resulted in problematic land deals: [i] state non-interference policy; [ii] insecure nature of land ownership; and [iii] land annexation by brokers. Based on the findings, the study recommends that measures need to be put in place to help value and tackle issues blaming chiefs as the cause of land related problems in Ghana. The findings also present lessons on the need for the state and other concerned stakeholders to develop comprehensive guidelines which inculcate third party lease contracts to guide chiefs’ decisions and actions in the lease of lands for large scale projects