INTEGRATED ANALYSIS OF THE DYNAMICS OF ARTISANAL AND SMALL-SCALE GOLD MINING OPERATIONS IN THE UPPER WEST REGION, GHANA

Abstract

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) remains one of the most prevalent livelihood trajectories in developing countries. Despite scholarly and policy quest to reform the sector, illegal gold mining activities in Ghana continue to surge and cause colossal environmental destruction and increased societal vices. Some of the environmental effects include the pollution of water bodies, degradation of farmlands and forest landscapes. Drawing on the mixed methods research paradigm, this study analysed the dynamics of ASM activities in the Upper West Region of Ghana, claiming that a Janus-faced approach is needed to understand and address the ASM conundrums. The study is guided by four (4) specific objectives: (i) to map the spatial distribution patterns, types and characteristics of ASM activities; (ii) to assess the socio-demographic factors that determine local community dwellers' participation in ASM activities; (iii) to analyse the spatio-temporal variation in land use land cover of ASM operational areas; and finally (iv) to explore the roles and perspectives of local communities on ASM’s environmental effects and reclamation of the mined degraded landscapes. Data were sourced using 342 household questionnaires, key informant interviews, multi-temporal satellite imagery and spatial mapping. The results revealed a total of 2505 individual sightings under 6 major galamsey types (underground pit, dig and check, dig and wash, chamfi, mill house and shormp) in the region. The Wa West District is dominated by the dig and check galamsey while Wa East District hosts the large majority of the underground pits. In addition, Nadowli-Kaleo District is dominated by the underground pit galamsey. Wa East District was the hotspot of illegal mining activities (1644 sightings) in the region. The majority (69.3%) of the local dwellers engaged in galamsey operations. The binary logistic regression model showed that the respondents’ socio-demographic variables such as age, marital status, religious status and educational status significantly determined their participation in illegal mining activities. Results from the Maximum Likelihood Supervised Classification showed that the bareland/mined class recorded the highest gain (30%) while the open savannah/cropland class decreased by 33.7% from 2000 to 2020. In addition, the water body class decreased by 0.7%. The built-up frontier and closed savannah/forest class gained by 3.8% and 0.6%, respectively. Furthermore, the results showed that the majority of the dwellers of the galamsey communities have no major regard for the environmental destruction caused by the galamsey operations. The local stakeholders have demonstrated limited commitment regarding the reclamation of the galamsey degraded landscapes. Nevertheless, the majority (78.1%) of the respondents think the degraded landscapes should be reclaimed by the Government of Ghana. This study concludes that galamsey activities in the Upper West Region are still at the rudimentary stage as compared to other geographies in Ghana. Conceptually, the thesis contributes an integrated analytical framework to mineral resource extraction scholarship, co-management and projecting the needs of the local people in the extractive societies. Further research into the needs of local communities and expectations regarding mineral resources within their range is recommended.