Papers by Issahaka Fuseini
Trademark names and symbols are used in an editorial fashion with no intention on infringement of... more Trademark names and symbols are used in an editorial fashion with no intention on infringement of trademark or copyright laws. We regret any errors or omissions that may have been unwittingly made.
www.start.org www.start.org This assessment report presents the ndings of a knowledge assessment ... more www.start.org www.start.org This assessment report presents the ndings of a knowledge assessment on urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) for the city of Tamale, Ghana, that was conducted in 2012. The assessment 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 aaect the long-term sustainability of UPA, and what response options are needed to address existing and emerging challenges. This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit services without special permission from the copyright holder, provided acknowledgement of the source is made. UNEP would appreciate receiving a copy of any publication that uses this publication as a source. No use of this publication may be made for resale or any other commercial purpose whatsoever without prior permission in writing from the United Na...
This working paper is the product of the Living Off-Grid Food and Infrastructure Collaboration. I... more This working paper is the product of the Living Off-Grid Food and Infrastructure Collaboration. It is designed to bring together our thinking on how infrastructure can shape the food and nutritional security of urban marginalised populations. Infrastructure assemblages include the material (physical and technological), as well as the political and systemic factors that ‘govern’ how infrastructure is developed and used. Urban food systems are made up of public and private actors, and market and governance processes that shape the cost and availability of food in different urban contexts. At the intersection of urban food systems and infrastructure assemblages lies the food and nutrition security of urban dwellers. The framing of contemporary debates and policy priorities with respect to both nutrition and infrastructure are heavily conditioned by presumptions – in favour of formality and griddedness, for example, or of the need to raise agricultural productivity – which fail to refle...
Transforming Urban Food Systems in Secondary Cities in Africa
Urban transformations in secondary cities in sub-Saharan Africa have sparked renewed interest in ... more Urban transformations in secondary cities in sub-Saharan Africa have sparked renewed interest in local food. This chapter is based on a desktop study to explore the urban agriculture (UA) experiences of three very different secondary urban centres (Ndola, Nakuru, and Karoi). In the three urban centres while poverty is the driving force for some low-income urban farmers, other households have engaged in the activity for entrepreneurial purposes. UA in the open spaces in these three secondary urban centres is creating tension between urban developers and both resource-rich and resource-poor households. Also, rapid secondary urbanization is presenting food insecurity challenges through the displacement of urban food producers on one hand and the disruption of urban food production systems on the other hand. Urban planners in African secondary cities should find ways to understand and address these tensions in locally responsive ways that can optimize the benefits to poor households and...
African Studies
ABSTRACT At a time of intensifying urbanisation in Ghana, ineffective spatial planning is one of ... more ABSTRACT At a time of intensifying urbanisation in Ghana, ineffective spatial planning is one of the symptomatic challenges of urban growth in the country. In the Ghanaian context, traditional authorities (chiefs) play a disproportionate role in urban land management due to the fact that a vast proportion of the country’s land is held in customary tenurial arrangements. The role of the traditional authorities in (urban) land management is given legal status by national constitutional provisions that recognise chiefs as fiduciaries of the land held under customary tenure. The state-supported customary land secretariats (CLSs) perform these responsibilities in conjunction with the local government structures. They are largely being operationalised through urban land-use planning. However, the complex factors and processes of rapid urban growth have had unintended consequences. These include increased urban land values, speculative and informal land markets, and overlapping governance/power structures. The outcome has been the reported commodification and administration of urban land by chiefs for personal gain. These complex processes evolve at the intersection of traditional and modern governance structures which are opportunistically interpreted and applied to achieve certain ends. This article demonstrates how these changes in customary land administration are evolving in Tamale, Ghana. Qualitative interviews were undertaken with participants from relevant statutory land sector institutions, local government officials and traditional authorities. Using the lens of urban governance and planning practices, the article explores the outcomes of chief-led spatial planning and customary land administration practices and associated land markets in Tamale. These are social, economic and spatial inequalities, as well as urban governance challenges.
Water Science and Technology Library, 2014
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Habitat International, 2016
Urbanisation involves growth and transformation of settlements into increasingly large spatially ... more Urbanisation involves growth and transformation of settlements into increasingly large spatially sprawling cities. By encroaching upon agricultural land, taxing water resources and enticing rural people away from farming, urbanisation poses a threat to agriculture within both the built-up and peri-urban areas. Growing climate variability, an apparent sign of climate change, exacerbates the threat. At the same time, through an increased demand for food, the potential for affordable organic manure from urban waste and a need for efficient intensive land use urbanisation may encourage agricultural production and, thereby, enhance urban food security. Preliminary findings of an on-going inter-institutional, inter-disciplinary assessment focused on Tamale, a rapidly growing city in Ghana, show that farmers seek to manage the agricultural threats and opportunities by various ingenuous survival strategies, notably livelihoods diversification, new cultivars, and land use intensification. Th...
Water Science and Technology Library, 2014
Land Use Policy, 2015
This study provides a review of spatial planning in the context of Ghana's socio-economic develop... more This study provides a review of spatial planning in the context of Ghana's socio-economic development trajectory. Spatial planning has been integral to the economic policies of the country since colonial rule. Yet, its role has been overshadowed by the domain of socio-economic planning. Drawing from published literature, policy documents, legislative frameworks and interviews, this study reveals the different context and scope within which spatial planning has been implemented in Ghana, and the successes and failures thereof. While the colonial governments employed spatial planning on limited scale and for exploitative purposes, post-colonial governments have implemented broad-based planning grounded in the 'genuine' aspiration to promote a spatially balanced development. This study argues that postindependence planning has not been successfully implemented compared to pre-independence planning due to a myriad of factors including rapid urban growth, inadequate staffing, low capacity, lack of institutional coordination, political interference in planning, complex land tenure and evolving land markets among others. Consequently, urban centres in Ghana are beset with problems such as poor environmental conditions, poor infrastructure and service delivery, and uncontrolled growth; and these are inimical to sustainable urban development. The study lauds renewed efforts to transform planning in the spirit of sustainable development through the national urban policy framework and a proposed land use and spatial planning bill; the latter proposes planning based on spatial development framework, and a repeal of an obsolete 1945 planning ordinance that has underlain planning since. It is argued that if supported and harmonised the two initiatives present the best planning framework in the 21st century Ghana.
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Papers by Issahaka Fuseini