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Sustainable Livelihoods in Artisanal Small-Scale Mining Communities: a Case Study of Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality of Ghana

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Abstract

The termination of mining activities resulting from the exhaustion of mineral resources usually kills the local economies of mining communities and ultimately impoverish the inhabitants of the affected communities. Underpinned by this, sustainable livelihoods in artisanal small-scale mining communities have assumed prominence in international and national discourses. This study thus explores ways of sustaining livelihoods in the artisanal small-scale mining communities within the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality of Ghana. Using primary data from a sample of 400 household heads, 19 institutions, six artisanal and small-scale mining firms, and two mineral processing companies, the study finds the mining chain, from extraction through processing to sale, as a major source of livelihood to the labor force of the mining communities. However, the sustainability of small-scale mining is threatened by lack of skills development programs and the creation of opportunities for continued education with the objective of building the human capital base of the artisanal and small-scale mining communities. One way of increasing such opportunities is by introducing diversification through modernized agriculture.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana

    Theresa Yaaba Baah-Ennumh

  2. School of Business, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), P. O. Box AH 50, Achimota, Accra, Ghana

    Joseph Ato Forson

  3. Graduate School of Public Administration, National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA), Bangkok, Thailand

    Oscar Siema Mmbali

Authors
  1. Theresa Yaaba Baah-Ennumh
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  2. Joseph Ato Forson
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  3. Oscar Siema Mmbali
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Correspondence to Joseph Ato Forson.

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Author Theresa Yabaa Baah-Ennumh declares she has no conflicts of interest. Author Joseph Ato Forson declares he has no conflict of interest. Author Oscar Siema Mmbali declares he has no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Baah-Ennumh, T.Y., Forson, J.A. & Mmbali, O.S. Sustainable Livelihoods in Artisanal Small-Scale Mining Communities: a Case Study of Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality of Ghana. Glob Soc Welf 7, 81–95 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40609-017-0093-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40609-017-0093-5

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