Context and backgroundColonial legacy and the continuous implementation of neoliberal policies have led to the creation of institutional pluralism in the planning of customary land in peri-urban areas in Ghana. During land commoditisation, peri-urban customary land planning regularly involves physical planning authorities, traditional authorities, and private surveyors. The community members are rarely involved in the planning of their communities, and the planning often leads to the eviction of the community members from their ancestral land.

Mainstreaming land use planning for tenure security in rural areas is a key issue to both scholars, academia and policymakers as well as governments in most developing countries. The need for local land use decision-making for enhancing tenure security as well as trade-offs for deliberative decision-making are crucial to improving local community needs, interests and concerns. Deliberative decision-making seeks to respond to local needs, interests and concerns with legitimate and acceptable social, cultural and institutional practices.

ABSTRACT Amuru district in northern Uganda has had intense land rights violations over the past fourteen years. There have been large scale land investments for commercial agriculture and other activities with limited community engagement, In many families men have sold off family land to ‘investors’ without consultation of their wives.