This report presents the findings of a knowledge assessment on urban and peri-urban agriculture
(UPA) for the city of Tamale, Ghana, that was conducted in 2012. It examines the state of UPA
in the city through the lens of intensifying urban pressures and increasing climate risks with the
objective of identifying how these and other drivers potentially interact to affect the long-term
sustainability of UPA, and what response options are needed to address existing and emerging
challenges. The assessment is intended to:
1) describe the dominant characteristics of urban and peri-urban agriculture, and identify key
knowledge gaps in these UPA systems;
2) explore the array of stressors that contribute to vulnerability of UPA systems to climatic and
other environmental changes; and
3) identify critical areas for strengthening policies and institutional capacities that contribute
to sustaining the UPA sector within the larger context of resilient cities and food systems.
The city of Tamale, an important urban hub in the semi-arid savanna region of northern Ghana,
is experiencing rapid expansion resulting from internal population growth and in-migration
from surrounding rural areas as well as from neighbouring regions. The resulting urban sprawl is
encroaching on land used for agriculture, which is a dominant livelihoods source in peri-urban areas
of Tamale.
Urban pressures on the peri-urban landscape are being further aggravated by increased land insecurity
driven by changes in the traditional land distribution system of the indigenous people of Tamale (the
Dagombas). Under this system, land is held in trust for the people by chiefs and distributed to family
heads who in turn distribute it among individual family members. In recent times, the high demand
for land for more lucrative ventures other than agriculture has enticed chiefs to allot and sell lands
previously given to family heads and individuals for farming purposes, to developers; this is usually
done without consulting with farmers. Urban expansion into the valleys bottoms around Tamale is
of particular concern as this is productive land for agriculture and these lands also play an important
role in helping manage stormwater runoff from the city.
Enforcement of relevant laws and regulations that are meant to protect lands for agriculture is weak.
Thus, there is a strong need for clarification of rules and regulations governing agricultural land use
in urban and peri-urban areas, and greater coordination of the disparate departments and agencies
of the Tamale Metropolitan Authority. There are currently no provisions for setting aside land for
agriculture in the city’s zoning plans, and following from that, no by-laws to protect agricultural
zones from encroachment. There are unused public lands within Tamale that could be allocated for
agriculture if authority to release those lands could be granted.
As agricultural land is becoming increasingly scarce and tenancy weaker in the face of urbanization,
cereal cultivation has begun to be deemphasized in favour of market gardening within the city and its
periphery. Similarly, livestock keeping is beginning to show signs of shifting from extensive towards
more intensive practices, such as in the case of confined poultry production.