Integrating Gender Perspectives into Landscape Management and Land Restoration for Equitable Outcomes in the Parklands of Northern Ghana.

Abstract

Summary
This thesis investigates how Gender-Transformative Approaches (GTAs) can be operationalised and scaled to advance equity and effectiveness in land restoration initiatives, particularly within the socio-ecological contexts of northern Ghana and southern Burkina Faso. The research is grounded in the recognition that persistent gender inequalities especially those related to access, control, and decision-making over land and tree resources undermine restoration outcomes and exclude key actors, particularly women, from meaningful participation. Through a multi-method, multi-scalar research design, this study addresses a critical gap in the literature by demonstrating how GTAs can be practically applied to challenge restrictive gender norms, reconfigure household and community dynamics, and inform landscape-level restoration planning.
The research began by examining how gender norms shape access to land and tree resources (Chapter 2). This revealed deeply entrenched disparities in control of tree resources that influence land-use practices and restoration potential. Chapter 3 used gender-disaggregated focus group discussions to identify and score local land uses based on their perceived importance, level of degradation, and current restoration activities. The findings revealed a mismatch between areas of degradation and ongoing restoration efforts, suggesting that restoration interventions risk reinforcing or exacerbating existing gender and spatial inequalities. These results underscore the need for gender-responsive and spatially informed planning to ensure equitable restoration outcomes.
Chapter 4 introduced and assessed the application of Gender Transformative Negotiations (GTNs), which proved effective in generating household-level change through facilitated dialogue and reflection on gender roles. This chapter demonstrated that GTAs can initiate “scaling deep,” where relational and behavioural transformations lay the groundwork for broader social shifts. These findings were expanded in Chapter 5, which explored how GTAs can be scaled out across communities and up through policy, institutions, and programmatic frameworks. This chapter argued that sustainable gender equity in restoration requires aligning legal, institutional, and governance structures with the normative shifts initiated at the local level.
Collectively, the thesis shows that GTAs when embedded within a landscape restoration framework, offer a viable and necessary strategy for addressing gender inequality while enhancing ecological outcomes. It argues for a multi-scalar, iterative scaling process that moves beyond isolated interventions toward systemic change. This contribution advances both the theoretical and practical frontiers of gender and restoration research, providing new tools, concepts, and evidence for development practitioners, policymakers, and researchers committed to inclusive and sustainable land governance.

Date of Award	5 Nov 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Bangor University
Sponsors	World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Kenya
Supervisor	Tim Pagella (Supervisor) & Fergus Sinclair (Supervisor)