Changing Face of Institutions and Actors in Commons Management in Peri Urban Ghana in Neoliberal Age

This paper investigates how the formalisation of customary land rights transforms the institutions and actors in commons management during land commoditisation. It also examines the ways participatory customary land administration can be implemented to promote the ‘commons we want1’ in peri-urban areas in Ghana. The study deployed a New Institutional Economics (NIE) from the perspective of Social Anthropology as a theoretical lens. A qualitative research method was also used to collect data from two communities in peri-urban Ghana. Data was collected from key informants using key informant interviews, and life history interviews were used to collect data from the households. Results show that the formalisation of customary land rights creates institutional pluralism in commons management and strengthens chiefs’ position in land delivery. The chiefs employ state agencies and higher traditional leaders to legitimise their claims over customary lands during land commoditisation. The chiefs’ conduct in land delivery precipitates the eviction of their subjects from their ancestral lands. The paper recommends that to protect the livelihood of peri-urban dwellers and sustain the ‘commons we want’; participatory customary land administration should be encouraged in peri-urban areas in Ghana.