Production and food security implications of large-scale land deals: Evidence from agricultural households in northern Ghana

Abstract

Although large-scale land acquisition (LSLA) - pejoratively referred to as land grabbing – and its implications on livelihoods have been  extensively studied, the literature is still unclear about how LSLA by different actors affects household’s livelihoods. Using data from 664  households and counterfactual analysis, this study analyses the effects of LSLA by domestic and foreign entities on food production and  food security in Northern Ghana. Our results show that both LSLA by domestic and foreign actors reduce the total value of crop output,  self-sufficiency in food production and food consumption scores thereby decreasing household food access scores. In all cases, however,  the effect of LSLA by domestic entities is higher than that of LSLA by foreign entities. This implies that LSLA by domestic entities reduces  food production and food security as compared to LSLA by foreign entities. The study recommends that concerns among stakeholders on  the effect of LSLA should not only focus on LSLA by transnational corporations.