Land administration and GIS: the case of Ghana

In June 1999, the government of Ghana launched a new National Land Policy document that sought to address some fundamental problems associated with land administration and management in the country. One proposed solution was the adoption of computer-aided information systems in the ‘lands sector’. In 2001, the government made proposals to prepare and implement a Land Administration Programme to provide a better platform for evolving an effective and efficient land administration that would translate, within a holistic environment, the National Land Policy into action. The proposed project is consistent with the World Bank’s Country Assistance Strategy of March 2000 for Ghana. As expected, an up-to-date land information system that supports good management of land records is to be constructed. These developments provide the context for this paper, which examines some key characteristics of Ghana’s lands sector, explains why geographic information systems are needed and suggests how they might be introduced.