Between co-production and institutional hybridity in land delivery: Insights from local planning practice in peri-urban Tamale, Ghana

This article examines emergent engagements between state and customary actors in planning and land delivery in Tamale, Ghana. In the context of a resurgence of traditional authorities in many African countries and the resulting hybrid and multiple governance arrangements that emerge, the article questions the potential of co-production practices to promote equitable land delivery. In many rapidly urbanising cities in Ghana, increased demand and value for land has precipitated the conversion of peri-urban and hitherto rural lands into urban uses. Consequently, various forms of functional interfaces, formal, semi-formal, and informal negotiations have evolved and flourished in land delivery. These largely take the form of local chiefs making various payments (in cash and kind) to cover the cost of surveying, planning, and sub-dividing customary lands. Drawing on the concept of co-production in public services delivery, we analyse in this paper the drivers and conditions under which chiefs and public servants engage with each other in local planning and land delivery in Ghana. The evidence gathered suggests that although locally adaptive, these emergent engagements are not the panacea to the challenges of land management in Tamale, Ghana. The case studies contradict the largely theorised positive outcomes of co-production as they are driven by motivations that are unduly self-serving, resulting in modest positive and largely negative and inequitable outcomes for indigenous landholders.