I have always argued that, ‘galamsey’, an artisanal and informal form of mining for the subaltern in Ghana, is neither a 'canker' nor a 'menace', as they erroneously describe the operation.

Informal mining by the Ghanaian people dates back to the 4th century and it is the only sector responsible for the production of diamonds in the country.

In a study we did in 2019 and published in Elsevier Journal of Sustainable Mining, we found that the informal mining business alone contributes to about 40% of total gold production in the country and in 2016 alone it generated revenues of more than 2.2 billion dollars to the Ghanaian economy.

In 2018, the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector contributed 2.1 million ounces of gold, an equivalence of 43.1% of total gold production in the country.

This is a jump from the 1.6 million ounces of gold (equivalent of 40%) found in 2016. But how come there was a surge in gold production from the sector, despite the ban on their activities between 2017 - 2018? This is a question that we may want to find the answers later.

Be that it may, these statistics thus show the significant contribution this informal mining sector alone provides towards the gold mining revenues and economic development of the country. See more in Owusu, Bansah and Mensah (2019): “Small in size, but big in impact”: socio-environmental reforms for sustainable artisanal and small-scale mining.

National dialogue and conglomeration of political actors in Accra who give speeches, speak English and eat thereafter won't ever solve the problems associated with ASM. Neither has any military intervention ever been the solution to the so-called menace and canker they so describe the operation. Military intervention against artisanal and ASM started in the 1980s when the security task force and the police used to chase the subaltern miners into the bush. Previous governments did it again in 2006, 2013, and 2017 each bearing different names but same strategies.

Each of these operations against the activities of the informal miners equally also gave the miners different strategies. The miners then adopted different strategies as they, for instance, shifted from working in the daytime to the nighttime to evade the security task forces. See more in Bansah (2019): From diurnal to nocturnal: Surviving in a chaotic artisanal and small-scale mining sector.

The government went ahead in 2017 to repeat what previous governments failed at. The President put his presidency on the line and went ahead to constitute what he described as Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining (IMCIM) and constituted a task force.

This committee was filled with political party supporters and members, constitution of the task force wasn't backed by law and their operations and responsibilities were equally informal and not scientific. Additionally, all the 7 responsibilities of the IMCIM were already performed by the responsible oversight institutions such as the water resources commission, forestry commission, minerals commission, environmental protection agency, and others.

The members of the IMCIM were caught in corruption as their boss and secretary were caught on camera taking bribe to allow the illegality of the informal mining to perpetuate. The committee members sought rents and they became private citizens at the expense of the state's interests.

The informal mining sector in Ghana is complex and to be able to tackle it, the approach must be holistic involving the very miners, the local communities and the approach must be bottom-up. Again, by involving technocrats from all sectors with research experience in the field and by removing politics out of the conversation!
In Africa's rural economics, there may be only two major competing occupations: agriculture and mining. Most farmers and miners in rural Africa are mostly small holders and artisanal miners, respectively.

The latter outcompetes and has competitive advantage over the former in terms of revenue generation and poverty amelioration in peri-urban and rural economies. Artisanal and small-scale mining sector in Ghana alone employs over a million people. These are even the official records from the Minerals Commission. It is thus reported that twice this figure works in the informal or artisanal sector.

Additionally, the sector provides indirect livelihoods to over 4 million people. This is in sharp contrast to the number of people employed by the large-scale mines: around 20,000 - 30,000. It is commonly reported that large scale mines exist to boost national incomes and foreign exchange earnings for the national economy but positive economic impacts on the local communities where they operate are minimal (see more in: Akabzaa and Darimani, 2001; Aryee, 2001; Garvin et al., 2009).

Between 1990 and 1998, mining operations in Tarkwa displaced 14 agricultural communities totalling 30,000 and Newmont’s first phase of the Ahafo South Project displaced 9,500 rural (95% subsistence) farmers. Additionally, a cyanide spill caused by the company in 2009 killed huge number of fishes, affected water quality and threatened aquatic biodiversity of the riparian communities.

See more in: https://www.earthworks.org/stories/wassa_ghana/.

Gamu et al. (2014) examined the linkages and relationships between large scale mines and poverty reduction; and linkages and relationships between small-scale mining and poverty reduction. The study surveyed fifty-two empirical studies on relationships between extractive industries and poverty, addressing both poverty impacts and possible linkage mechanisms.

In conclusion, they found industrial (large-scale) mining to be more frequently associated with poverty exacerbation, and artisanal and small-scale mining with poverty reduction. In summary, small-scale mining operations were found to reduce poverty in that they provided fiscal revenues for investment in health care and education, provided catalyst for economic boost and growth in host mining communities, offered direct employment to the indigenes, initiated private investments in public goods, and they initiated corporate social responsibilities.

Large-scale mines, on the other hand, was associated with poverty exacerbation in that they caused economic underperformance, exacerbation of inequalities, employment volatility, economic enclaves, rent seeking and corruption, environmental impacts, and social impacts. See more in Gamu et al. (2014): Extractive industries and poverty: A review of recent findings and linkage mechanisms.

It is reported that more than 70% of the land in Tarkwa has been taken by mining and only 30% is available for farming activities, but such percentage distribution does not specify whether the degradation is solely attributed to ASM activities. It must be noted that mining, regardless of its scale of operation- large, medium, or small, is environmentally degrading and not ecosystem friendly. But we could put in place measures to minimize the negative deleterious impacts and to maximize the positive gains and impacts.

These then underscore the need for environmental impacts assessment for every undertaking or projects that are envisaged to have deleterious impacts on the ecosystem, environmental health and the social fabric of communities where mineral mining projects take place.

The above arguments and statistics are further reiterated by Hilson and Hilson (2017) when they argued that the future of Ghana's mining industry may be ASM! In their published paper titled, “Mining in Ghana Critical Reflections on a Turbulent Past and Uncertain Future”, they argued:

“Ironically, the future of Ghana’s mining sector may be the very area which the government continues to ignore and marginalize: Artisanal Small-Scale Mining. Despite employing hundreds of thousands of people directly country-wide, the sector has never been viewed as a core element of national poverty-alleviation strategy. It has rather been treated very similarly to large-scale mining: prospective licensees must complete a series of bureaucratic steps, make several costly payments and in some cases, travel vast distances to consult officials.

With very little effort-specifically, simplifying the licensing scheme for operators and lowering the costs of permits- the government could facilitate the formalization of ASM and in the process, secure a new, badly-needed source of taxation for itself (Hilson, Hilson, and Adu-Adrko, 2014)”. See more in Hilson and Hilson (2017): Mining in Ghana, critical reflections on a turbulent past and uncertain future.

Furthermore, Emmanuel Ababio Ofosu-Mensah (2017) published a 25-page book titled “Historical and Modern Artisanal Small-Scale Mining in Akyem Abuakwa, Ghana”. The paper focuses on micro aspects to explain the resource-curse hypothesis, which states, “an abundance of natural resources in developing countries is associated with negative developmental outcomes”. He analyses the problem using Akyem Abuakwa, a dominant mining community in Ghana as a case. He argues:

“The three main approaches taken by the government to combat the problem of negative environmental effects associated with small-scale mining have been formalization, military intervention, and alternative livelihood projects (Banchiriga 2006). Traditional approaches to deter illegal miners, including force and livelihood initiatives in the traditional states, have failed because proponents do not fully appreciate the complexity of the country’s illegal mining communities. Alleviation of the illegal mining problems requires revisiting the question of why miners are illegal in the first place. It is unrealistic to assume that every individual will abandon artisanal small-scale mining if there is an alternative opportunity in other sectors.

The prosperity and safety of small-scale mining depends on organizing and regulating the industry. This author agrees with Banchiriga (2008) and Noetstaller (1994) that releasing land and regularizing the operators will facilitate better organized and environmentally more benign activities”.

The difference between legal (what is termed as small-scale mining) and the illegal/galamsey - gather them and sell, is possession of licence. Whereas those in small-scale mining possess licences, those in ‘galamsey’ possess no licence, and thus their operation is oftentimes referred to as 'illegal', 'canker', 'problem' and 'menace'. But frankly, the modes of operation of both the legal and illegal small-scale mining are mostly the same.

Why then do we criminalise such lucrative sector that has so much potential towards amelioration of poverty in mining communities? And we refer to it as a canker and a menace? Why not find sustainable ways to regulate the sector? What's the effectiveness of the institutional frameworks put in charge of this sector? What is the extent of collaboration and coordination between these institutional frameworks? What is the extent of collaboration between institutions in charge and research institutions? All formal businesses today may have first started as informal, but became formal through proper regulations!

Additionally, through frequent monitoring and auditing to see to it that, standards are adhered to and protocols are followed! I am in no way trying to glorify the illegalities of this sector, but in many instances, corporations- big or small, may produce for their profits and will pay no regards for environmental or social considerations, where there is a regulatory vacuum. Indeed, banning and criminalizing informal mining isn't the sustainable option.

We can effectively regularize the sector, recognise it, accept it as our own, organise it, sanitise it, harness the potential it offers and we could use it as a mainstream poverty amelioration tool in mining communities! The ASM sector is complex and it is unfortunate that many don't understand the sector.

The arguments regarding the sector have unfortunately been reduced to emotions and expression of sentiments. Artisanal and small-scale mining is neither a canker nor a menace; and national dialogue in Accra won’t be the solution! The way to go in the future will rather come from reducing the environmental and human safety impacts and harnessing the potential the sector provides towards poverty amelioration in rural economies.

These can come from making conscious efforts to formalising the sector, with effective regulations and strict enforcement of the existing regulatory frameworks! Just as it is done in the big-scale mining companies, concerted efforts can equally be made to making the artisanal and small-scale mining sector too work for the greater good of our mining communities!