This is naive in assuming that traditional male control over land and other assets will not extend to newly acquired natural resources. Trying to give women authority within isolated projects without taking into account their restricted property rights is almost bound to fail. Legal changes guaranteeing women independent property rights and increased political representation are needed at the national level. But such reforms take time. They also need to be complemented at the local level by building up women's capacity to claim the new rights attained.
Women have more chance of exercising rights as a group than as individuals.
They also build on women's greater use rights over common property than on privatised lands. Support for women's collective actions in addressing natural resource management problems is one instance of a general strategy to strengthen women's bargaining power in their relations with men. Other examples need to be found to develop the policy relevance of this approach to a broad range of environmental problems. Communal forestry in Ghana biased towards men The two major uses for wood in rural Ghana are construction, a predominantly male activity, and fuelwood. With few exceptions, the provision of fuelwood is women's responsibility.