Artisanal small-scale mining and livelihood assets in rural southern Ghana

Abstract

This study examines the impacts of artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) on livelihood assets using a representative data from individuals in major mining communities as well as non-mining neighbourhood areas in southern Ghana. It has applied Propensity Score Matching to investigate how participating in ASM affects the natural, physical, human, social, and financial livelihood assets of the respondents. The study has found that, participating in ASM exert statistically significant positive impact on the financial assets of the individuals. It however, exerts negative effects on the natural, physical, human and the social livelihood assets of the individuals. Although, participating in ASM exerts positive effect on the financial asset of respondents in the mining communities, it negatively affects their physical, natural, human, and social assets. Also, it tends to lower the social assets of the respondents in the non-mining communities. The study provides an evidence that participating in ASM is a viable economic livelihood option. However, its adverse effects on the natural, physical, human and social livelihood assets in the mining communities are equally huge. The study recommends that effective policies on proper regulation of ASM activities should be put in place to offset the negative effects on the environment. The policies should emphasize strict enforcement and compliance of prescribed regulations and methods of mining by creating sustainable win-win situations for alternate livelihoods in both mining and non-mining communities in Africa in general and Ghana in particular. In addition, government and other stakeholders in the mining sector should promote interventions that make alternative on-farm livelihood strategies attractive to the young people in mineral rich communities, in order to augment the trade-off of financial assets from ASM, and slow down the indiscriminate deterioration of the environment through unorthodox ASM.