Securing tree tenure rights

The Ghana Federation of Forest and Farm Producers (GhaFFaP), which was established in 2020 with Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) support, is the national umbrella organisation representing 31 forest and farm producer organisations (FFPOs) across Ghana’s forest, transition and savannah zones. It has over 184,250 members – around 107,250 men and 77,000 women, including 23,400 young people.

GhaFFaP champions the interests of producers managing food crops, cocoa, shea, baobab and diverse agroforestry systems. Its core mandate is to ensure that national policies on tree tenure, agricultural inputs and natural resource governance reflect the realities of smallholders who depend on forests and farms for their livelihoods.

Forest and Farm Facility activities

With FFF support, GhaFFaP launched the National Dialogue Series in 2021, a structured platform enabling inclusive engagement with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), the Forestry Commission, the Tree Crops Development Authority, financial institutions and United Nations agencies. Three major policy outcomes have emerged from the series:

• Influencing tree tenure and benefit-sharing reforms to secure farmer rights over nurtured and planted trees
• Strengthening access to subsidised seed and fertiliser under the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme, and 
• Contributing to national momentum against illegal mining (‘galamsey’) that threatens farms, forests and water sources.

FFF underpinned these gains by strengthening GhaFFaP’s governance structures and building member capacity in policy analysis, negotiation and evidence-based advocacy.

Significance of impact

The tree tenure reform was particularly significant. For decades, state ownership of naturally occurring trees had discouraged farmers from planting or protecting trees on their land.

Sustained advocacy supported by FFF helped shape reforms that now allow farmers to register trees, negotiate benefit-sharing agreements and retain full rights over planted trees – strengthening incentives for agroforestry and climate resilience for thousands of producers.

GhaFFaP is now recognised as a trusted national actor shaping tree tenure, input policy and environmental governance across Ghana.

Conclusion

FFF support has enabled GhaFFaP to drive meaningful national policy reform, securing tree rights, expanding input access and mobilising communities against illegal mining.

These advances create more secure, resilient and sustainable livelihoods for Ghana’s forest and farm producers, and establish GhaFFaP as an enduring, trusted voice for smallholder interests at the national level, with the organisational capacity to sustain its influence long into the future.