Browsing by Author "Mogre, Diana"

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    Assessing gender, tenure relations and Income Distributions in the Shea Business in the Bole District
    (2015-11-03) Mogre, Diana
    The study assesses gender, tenure relations and income distribution in the shea business in the Bole District of the Northern Region of Ghana. The data employed in the study was obtained from 120 local indigenous shea nut pickers, processors and retailers in Bole and its environs. It was revealed that communal land tenure is generally practiced in the study area with community lands entrusted to the chief and landlords serving as spiritual heads of the land and advisors to the chief on land issues. Women are not traditionally allowed to own farmlands in the study area. Farm lands are owned by their husbands and sons. Women‟s main form of land acquisition is to plead for land from their husbands or their husband‟s family members or to rent. Women can also buy some lands although not all communities sell lands. . Men were found not to be main pickers of shea but rather support their wives in shea picking. Majority of the people pick shea from the uncultivated lands followed by leased land. Picking of shea from someone‟s family or leased land is a problem and not allowed. There exist significant differences in the various activities in the shea business among gender. There are significant differences between income from shea picking, processing and retailing. The income from shea business is unequally distributed among single women, married women and children. The shea business favours women with low income in the study area compare to men. Shea picking favours the women with low income whereas shea processing and retailing favours the rich women, indicated by the positive gini correlation coefficient. The shea income from women leased land and from the bush or uncleared land favours the women with low income in the study area. Individuals‟ access to family or leased land does not mean they don‟t operate on the uncultivated lands.