LIVELIHOOD COPING STRATEGIES AMONG DISPLACED SMALL-SCALE MINERS IN GHANA

Abstract

One major sub-sector that contributes immensely to job creation among people in rural Ghana is small scale mining. Notwithstanding, it has spawned land degradation, water pollution and regular reports of death attributed to pit collapse but these do not deter the miners from such enterprise. Government’s attempt to streamline the sector through a moratorium has deprived the miners from their livelihood, compelling them to adopt alternative livelihood strategies. This study investigated the livelihood coping strategies adopted by the displaced miners. Cross-sectional data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. A multivariate probit model was used to analyze the determinants of the coping strategies. The three livelihood coping stra tegies adopted by miners were farming, trading, and labor supply. Of the three, farming emerged as the most dominant livelihood coping strategy. Institutional factors, personal characteristics, and location-specific factors influenced the adoption of livelihood coping strategies. The paper suggests the need to understand the far reaching livelihood implications of policy decisions on regulating the small scale mining sector. Therefore, there is the need for duty bearers to design tailor-made training programmes for the displaced miners and the employers to capacitate them in coping with the ban. This paper highlights that good policies also have negative consequences that need to be managed well by the government and other stakeholders.