Krobo Huza System
This is a traditional Land purchase system of the Krobo people that enabled them to purchase and in future lay claim to vast amounts of Land. This was the same system that inspired the Akwapem Migrant Cocoa farmers.
The Idea was that a Krobo person who had the knowledge and know how zugbanyadalo will contact sellers, negotiate price and purchase large parcels of Land on behalf of a group of farmers. These people will then work to pay off their share and then be given a parcel of Land out of the large plot. Sometimes the payment for this parcel did include some ‘interest’ for the person who originally purchased the land – which could either be in the form of money, labour (clearing their land for example) or the chief selling the land ‘dashing’ him a piece as a thank you.
The organisation went deeper than this the zugbanyadalo would elect a Huzatse (Father of the Huza) who will organise communal labour pertaining to a particular parcel of land and where necessary arbitrate cases. If there were a large number of people in the Huza there will also be a Dadetsa (father of the cutlass) who will be an assistant to the Huzatse.
Their approach was very systematic, they would also strategically buy land following streams and rivers and would reinvest their profits into buying more land – significantly expanding Krobo territory. This was their strategy for almost 150 years for which the Krobo people became known for their hard working nature and entrepreneurial spirit. Kilson even described their system of land acquisition as a ‘bloodless conquest’.