TITLE:
The Ban on Illegal Mining in Ghana: Environmental and Socio-Economic Effect on Local Communities
AUTHORS:
Stephen Twumasi Annan
KEYWORDS:
Small-Scale Gold Mining, Livelihood, Social and Economic Implications
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.12 No.3,
March
27,
2024
ABSTRACT: The study was conducted to assess the effects of
small-scale (artisanal) gold mining and its social and economic implications on
the people in Amansie West District of Ghana. The artisanal gold mining
communities were studied using secondary data from scholarly articles and journals, books, conference papers, research reports, policy
documents, working papers, and briefs. Descriptive and systematic analyses were
conducted. The result indicated that
youth aged between 21 - 30 were most likely to engage in illegal mining
operations in the selected study areas. The study revealed that farmland had
been destroyed, making farming difficult for the inhabitants. It is evident
from the review that dug-out pits from mining serve as breeding grounds for
mosquitoes and death traps for humans. The study, therefore, accentuates the
need for illegal small-scale gold mining to be formalised and strategic
interventions and policies proposed for the protection of Ghana’s Natural
resources. Furthermore, community members should be involved in policy-making
and environmental protection issues to help control the menace of landscape
destruction. Although the ban on illegal gold mining activity by the government
has caused more people to lose their jobs leading to livelihood challenges in
mining communities, it is a step in the right direction, as the ban seeks to halt and check the illegal small-scale mining sector. The study recommended
alternative livelihood and income-generating projects such as beekeeping,
mushroom culture, grasscutter rearing, and agroforestry technologies including
the growth of economic fruit trees as alternative livelihood ventures.