Socioeconomic and environmental assessment of informal artisanal and small-scale mining in Ghana

Bansah, Kenneth Joseph; Dumakor-Dupey, Nelson Kofi; Kansake, Bruno Ayaga; Assan, Elsie; Bekui, P.

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.08.150

Cited by 111 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…However, this study only deals with the specific issue of the environmental impacts of ASM. The key topics of the ASM issue in GLR include socioeconomic impacts [13,[16][17][18][19][20][21], health aspects [19,22,23], women's labor [24][25][26][27][28][29], child labor [30,31], and the role of minerals in armed conflicts [32,33]. Conversely, in ASM, much less interest is devoted to the actual environmental impacts and their typology.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Typology of Environmental Impacts of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining in African Great Lakes Region

Macháček

2019

Sustainability

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Artisanal and small-scale mining is a widespread economic sector in the African Great Lakes Region, where it has an adverse impact on the population's environment. The purpose of this paper is to summarize and consider the typology of the environmental impacts of artisanal and small-scale mining, in particular, the anthropogenic influences on topography with regard to the methods used in raw material mining. Among the most significant environmental aspects related to artisanal and small-scale mining are deforestation, changes in landscape structure, influence over geomorphological processes and hydrological river regime, chemical pollution of soil and watercourses, influencing soil production capacity. The aforementioned factors can cause health problems such as silicosis, poisoning by methyl orthophosphate, or injury during the mining activity itself. Artisanal and small-scale mining could initiate new geomorphological processes or modify naturally occurring geomorphological processes. These dynamic processes are influenced by the topography of the relief, soil properties, and rock composition. Anthropogenic activity in these cases may lead to faster reshaping (degradation or abrasion) of soil shapes. This study covers a broad understanding of environmental impacts of artisanal and small-scale mining with a focus on anthropogenic influencing.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Typology of Environmental Impacts of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining in African Great Lakes Region

Macháček

2019

Sustainability

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“…However, in Ghana, most of the artisanal and small‐scale miners do not register their operations mainly because of bureaucratic bottlenecks and cumbersome procedures involved in the registration process (Bansah et al, ; Hilson, ). In addition, Maconachie and Hilson () noted that the top‐down nature of formalization in Ghana not only gave foreign companies the upper hand at the expense of artisanal miners, the delay in formalizing small‐scale mining gave rise to land shortage problems in a context where there are very few viable lands for prospective licenses.…”

Section: Formalizing Ghana's Galamsey Economy: Issues and Prospectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While admitting that unregulated small‐scale gold mining activities do cause environmental degradation, and pose a threat to sustainable development, proponents of alternative strategies for regulating galamsey mining argue that well‐intentioned formalization reforms have failed to result in resolution of the problems associated with galamsey and that its criminalization via a governmental ban is not the right policy to pursue as it is likely to make things worse (Bansah et al, , ; Hilson, ; Sinding, ; Teschner, 2012). This is because formalization strategies have so far tended to be too narrowly focused on only creating legislative framework, licensing, the tracking of artisanal miners, and securing more revenue for government rather than addressing the livelihood demands and welfare issues of the poor engaged in galamsey (Geenen, ; Maconachie & Hilson, ).…”

Section: Formalizing Ghana's Galamsey Economy: Issues and Prospectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Before the PNDC Law 218 was enacted in 1989 to regulate the ASM sector, the activities of miners went on in many parts of Ghana without any central coordination and regulation (Bansah, Dumakor-Dupey, Kansake, Assan, & Bekui, 2018). The PNDC Law 218 has since been revised and incorporated into the Minerals and Mining Act of 2006 (Act 703), as amended in 2010 and 2015 to regulate the ASM sector (see Tuokuu, Gruber, Idemudia, & Kayira, 2018).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Criminalization of “galamsey” and livelihoods in Ghana: Limits and consequences

Tuokuu

Idemudia

Bawelle

et al. 2020

Natural Resources Forum

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The fact that the artisanal and small‐scale mining (ASM) sector in Ghana is driven largely by poverty means that the sector is a major source of livelihood for people in mining communities across the country. However, given the various social and environmental problems associated with the ASM sector, there is now an emerging consensus that the formalization of the sector would not only allow for these associated problems to be addressed but also ensures that the sector contributes to sustainable development and safeguard the livelihood of local communities. While a large body of extant literature has examined the challenges and opportunities facing the process of formalization, the question of the criminalization of the sector and its consequences for local livelihood has received only limited attention. Drawing from primary data collected during fieldwork in Ghana, this study examined the livelihood implications of the ban on galamsey in the Tarkwa‐Nsuaem Municipality in South‐Western Ghana from the perspectives of local communities and other key stakeholders. The study reveals that the ban on galamsey has imposed significant socio‐economic hardships on the people and appears to be entrenching poverty rather than sustainable development. The study considers the theoretical and practical implications of the findings for sustainable livelihood enhancement in developing countries.

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“…• (Aryee, Ntibery andAtorkui 2003, Dalupan et al 2015), jelikož tvrdí, že práce dětí, které během dne pomáhají své rodině s její obživou, je v těchto oblastech běžná. Jiní autoři naopak, stejně jako Hilson (2016), Bansah et al (2018), práci děti do ASM zahrnují, protože v některých lokalitách děti pracují v dolech celý den a nemohou tak navštěvovat školu, což splňuje i mezinárodní definici dětské práce (International Labour Office 2017). Dalším faktorem, se kterým nesouhlasí někteří odborníci (Mancheri et al 2018, Drechsler, Hinton andWalle 2010) je nepravidelnost těžebních operací.…”

Section: Diskuzeunclassified

Spatial distribution of mineral deposits extracted by artisanal and small-scale mining in African Great Lakes Region

Macháček¹,

Smolová²

2019

Geographia Cassoviensis

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The East African Great Lakes Region is an area rich in rare mineral resources and thus represents a great economic potential. Mineral mining in Great Lakes Region is proceeding in a specific way which is known as artisanal and small-scale mining. This mining with no mechanization is mostly expanding in developing countries. In these areas mining represents one of the main sources of income for the local population and creates one of the main pillars of economic development. This paper presents the artisanal and small-scale mining and spatial distribution of mineral deposits in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda where rare minerals are extracted. The aim of this article is to introduce artisanal and small-scale mining to Central Europe discussion where this topic is relatively neglected. Minerals which are extracted by artisanal and small-scale mining are used in electro-technical industry, i.e. mobile phones, computers, tablets, automobiles, aircrafts and other technical products manufacturing, the extracted minerals become significant and direct part of our everyday life.

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Socioeconomic and environmental assessment of informal artisanal and small-scale mining in Ghana

Cited by 111 publications

References 28 publications

Typology of Environmental Impacts of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining in African Great Lakes Region

Typology of Environmental Impacts of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining in African Great Lakes Region

Criminalization of “galamsey” and livelihoods in Ghana: Limits and consequences

Spatial distribution of mineral deposits extracted by artisanal and small-scale mining in African Great Lakes Region

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