The Effect of Land and Tree Tenure on The Management of Shea Trees in Ghana

This research was conducted in Ghana to assess the impact of land and tree tenure conflicts and other related factors on the management and conservation of shea trees. A multi-stage sampling design was used to select 540 farmers for the study. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel were used to analyze responses of the administered questionnaire and the relationships between socio-demographic factors and willingness to continue managing shea trees were investigated using Pearson correlation and cross-tabulation in SPSS. Results of the analyzed data were presented in the form of tables and pie-charts. Findings of the research indicate that almost all the farmers (85%) willing to continue managing shea trees were natives who inherited farmlands from their parents or clans. These farmers own and have authority over their lands and shea trees but are more willing to continue managing the trees that are less than 3 km away from their homes. Willingness to continue managing and conserving shea trees is significantly (p ≤ 0.05) influenced by whether the farmers are natives, how the land is acquired, distance of farm from home, who owns the farmland and the shea trees, who has authority over the land and benefits derived from the trees.