The impact of artisanal small-scale mining on sustainable livelihoods. A case study of mining communities in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality of Ghana
| Pages | 204-222 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/WJEMSD-09-2016-0042 |
| Date | 10 July 2017 |
| Published date | 10 July 2017 |
| Author | Theresa Yaaba Baah-Ennumh,Joseph Ato Forson |
| Subject Matter | Strategy,Business ethics,Sustainability |
The impact of artisanal
small-scale mining on
sustainable livelihoods
A case study of mining communities in the
Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality of Ghana
Theresa Yaaba Baah-Ennumh
Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology,
Kumasi, Ghana, and
Joseph Ato Forson
Graduate School of Public Administration,
National Institute of Development Administration, Bangkok, Thailand
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) on
sustainable livelihoods in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality of Ghana. The study seeks to answer the
following questions: what is the impact of ASM on livelihoods in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality? What
measures could be put in place to ensure the sustainability of livelihoods in the municipality?
Design/methodology/approach –A case study approach to inquiry was used in the study. The authors
used interview guides (structured and unstructured) to collect primary data from a sample of 400 household
heads, 19 institutions, six ASM firms, six mineral processing companies, and two gold-buying agents, and
traditional authorities from the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality.
Findings –The findings of the study indicate among other things that land has been rendered unproductive
due to the inability of the dominant ASM firms to reclaim lands after mining. The workers’exposure to
cyanide and mercury makes them vulnerable to all manner of health risks, which is a threat to the sustenance
of livelihoods. Owing to the unsustainable nature of mining activities, the future indicates not only increases
in unemployment but also environmental degradation and health concerns.
Originality/value –The paper contains a significant new perspective of knowledge especially by
contextualising sustainable development with ASM. This is an area that has largely been ignored
by development researchers. The paper further emphasises the need for policy makers to evolve and embrace
developmental approach that is intergenerational.
Keywords Ghana, Management, Artisanal small-scale mining (ASM), Sustainable development (SD),
Sustainable livelihood (SL)
Paper type Case study
1. Introduction
Considerable efforts have been made by the mining industry to highlight its commitment to
protecting the environment and addressing the needs of affected communities. Many companies
in the gold mining sector have also made attempts to engage all stakeholders through dialogue
and negotiation backed by formalised agreements with local communities and local and national
governments to address areas of concern. Large-scale gold mining companies, including
Goldfields Ghana Limited, have indicated their commitments by supporting affected
communities to address the social and environmental concerns, which include but are not
limited to access to land, concerns on all forms of pollution injurious to human health, limited
employment opportunities for local people, limited livelihood alternatives and increased social
vices associated with their operations (Akabzaa and Darimani, 2001; Akabzaa et al., 2007).
Clearly, the searchlight is on large-scale mining (LSM) activities that are formalised and
appear to bewell regulated. Consequently,the LSM companies havepromised better economic
World Journal of
Entrepreneurship, Management
and Sustainable Development
Vol. 13 No. 3, 2017
pp. 204-222
© Emerald PublishingLimited
2042-5961
DOI 10.1108/WJEMSD-09-2016-0042
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2042-5961.htm
204
WJEMSD
13,3
conditions in the mine-host communities. The promises of better economic conditions are
however notfulfilled. The communities in whichminerals are exploited end up being the least
developed areas. The exploration, extraction and processing of mineral resources are observed
to be environmentally and socially disruptive activities in the country, with few of the populace
benefiting while the masses languish in abject poverty (Lu and Lora-Wainwright, 2014).
The situation gleamingly downplays the link between mining and development and thus
points to the fact that the relation remains contentious. As a result, lots of agitations have
characterised the operations of LSM companies. Typical examples in Ghana are the various
demonstrations and petitions against the operations of Adamus Resources Limited by some
youth and concerned citizens of Nkroful,Teleku-Bokazo, Anwiaand Salman in the Ellembelle
district in the Western region of Ghana (Amevor, 2008). As argued earlier, the aggrieved
persons also decide to reduce their poverty by engaging in the miningactivities often through
artisanal small-scale mining (ASM).
LSM companies are perceived to be environmentally destructive and socially
disruptive. However, ASM which by law is the preserve of only Ghanaians appears to be
more destructive, and it poses a lot of environmental problems as well as livelihood
challenges to local communities. Unlike the LSM, the operations of the ASM are often
unregulated. They are therefore without plans to reclaiming the lands after exhaustion of
theminerals(Styleset al., 2006) while the human capital is affected through the unsafe
methods of mineral exploitations.
Many of the mineral-dependent states in Sub-Saharan Africa are threatened by mass and
intractable poverty and social deprivation. This is evident in contemporary research which
identifies a str ong negative correlation between the lev el of mineral dependence an d its Human
Development Index ranking (Feeney, 2002). Thus, the more the states rely on exporting
minerals, the worse their standard of living is likely to be due to the inequality in the
distribution of the wealth coupled with the sector’s adverse environmental ramifications.
The apparent negative correlation between mining and development is explained by the
naturalresource curse hypothesis. Theframework posits thatnatural endowmentstend to be a
curse as the expected impact of mining on the livelihoods of the people on whose
lands resources are situated seems to keep these people constantly in perpetual poverty
(see Forson et al., 2015, 2016, 2017; Obeng, 2012: Odoom, 2012). The impact of mining on
local communities has therefore been an area of growing concern and attention, and one that
mining companies, non-governmentalorganisation and governments are grappling with.As a
result of the concerns expressed by the communities, civil society organisations and other
stakeholders have been entreated to evolve programmes and projects to mitigate its effects.
Thus, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a priority concern in the mining
industry. Examples of CSR initiatives being carried out by mining companies include the
implementation of Local Economic Development (LED) projects; construction of community
infrastructure such as community centres, schools and local employment; and enhanced
alternative livelihoods (Akabzaa et al., 2007). Other measures undertaken include stakeholder
liaison exercises to prevent confrontations with host communities (Cottrell and Rankin, 2000).
Note should be taken that studies (see Horsley et al., 2015; Singh and Hiremath, 2010) that
sought to study livelihoods but adopted aggregative analysis ignored key issues such as
variability in household composition and thus came out with unclear conclusion.
Other strand of researcher studies sought to correct this by employing disaggregated
analysis to understand livelihood variability in relation to geographical areas, household
composition and communities (see Fang et al., 2014; Rahman and Akter, 2014). Despite th e
progressin the extant literature,it is conspicuouslyclear that insufficientattention was paidto
sustainable livelihoods of different household groups coexisting in the same communities.
According to Amevor (2008), surface mining is slowly taking the steam out of
agriculture, but the negative effects of the former on the latter are conspicuously missing
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Impact of
artisanal
small-scale
mining
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