Gatekeeping Access: Shea Land Formalization and the Distribution of Market-Based Conservation Benefits in Ghana’s CREMA

Mengina Gilli, Muriel Côte and Gretchen Walters
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Mengina Gilli: Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
Muriel Côte: Department of Human Geography, Lund University, Sölvegatan 10, 223 62 Lund, Sweden
Gretchen Walters: Global Forest Program, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Rue Mauverney 28, 1196 Gland, Switzerland

Land, 2020, vol. 9, issue 10, 1-15

Abstract: Community Resource Management Areas (CREMAs) in Ghana combine conservation and development objectives and were introduced in the year 2000. In some cases, they have connected collectors of shea ( Vitellaria paradoxa ) nuts with certified organic world markets, which can be understood as a ‘market-based’ approach to conservation. This paper examines how the benefits of this approach are distributed and argues that shea land formalization is crucial to this process. It makes this argument by drawing on interviews within two communities bordering Mole National Park. One community accepted to engage with, and benefitted from this approach, while the other did not. The paper analyzes narratives from different actors involved regarding why and how the market-based approach was accepted or rejected. It shows that, contrary to the neoliberal principles that underlie market-based conservation, a utility maximization rationale did not predominantly influence the (non-)engagement with this conservation approach. Instead, it was the history of land relations between communities and the state that influenced the decisions of the communities. We highlight the role of traditional authorities and NGOs brokering this process and unpack who in the communities profited and who was left out from benefits from this market-based conservation initiative.

Keywords: community based natural resource management; Ghana; formalization; shea; certification; conservation; market-based conservation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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