Environmental Challenges 9 (2022) 100653

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Environmental Challenges
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/envc

Perception of the environmental, socio-economic and health impacts of

artisanal gold mining in the Amansie West District, Ghana
Joseph Albert Quarm a,∗, Alexander Kofi Anning b, Bernard Fei-Baffoe a,
Veronica Frempomaa Siaw b, Ebenezer Ebo Yahans Amuah a
a
Department of Environmental Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana
b
Department of Theoretical and Applied Biology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Keywords: Artisanal or small-scale mining (ASM) is one of the most important economic activities in Ghana as in other
Illegal small-scale mining developing countries. While this activity poses serious risks to the people involved and the environment as a
Health and environmental impacts whole, a continuation of its practice in Ghana suggests a lack of adequate appreciation of its impacts on the
Livelihoods
people in the affected areas. This study investigated the perception of 300 participants who were selected from
10 mining communities on the environmental, socio-economic and health impacts of artisanal mining as well as
their coping strategies in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region of Ghana to inform policy decisions
toward sustainable mining. The sample size of 300 was determined using the Cochrane sample size formula.
Results showed that a majority of the respondents were males (69%). Also, most of the participants (59%) were
between the ages of 15 and 30. About 64% had not received secondary education (64%), and 52% were involved
in mining activities. Respondents (96%) had considerable knowledge of ASM, 87% found ASM to be destructive to
the environment while 72% asserted that it poses human health. Pollution of water bodies, land degradation, and
destruction of farmlands was considered the most common environmental effects associated with ASM, whereas
increased incidences of malaria, skin diseases as well as physical injuries and fatal accidents were the commonest
health-related effects observed in the area. Nonetheless, participants maintained that ASM is a means of acquiring
assets, creating employment and getting rich quickly, and thus wanted it to continue. Coping mechanisms include
drinking alternative water, use of mosquito nets/coil and covering mined pits. In general, the findings of this study
revealed a substantial understanding of the community members of the benefits and adverse effects of ASM in
the Amansie West District, which can be harnessed for policy formulation to ensure sustainable mining in the
district.

1. Introduction Ledwaba and Nhlengetwa (2016) and Persaud et al. (2017) reveal about
9 million ASM operators in Africa and about 54 million people depend-
Artisanal or small-scale mining (ASM) is a subsistence form of min- ing on ASM. ASM has therefore been on the rise with reports of its rise in
eral resource extraction using manually-intensive methods such as hand countries in West Africa being documented (Pijpers and Luning, 2021).
tools (Aborah, 2016). It is recognized as a considerable source of rev- amongst these countries is Ghana which was reported in the “Global
enue for millions of people in more than 80 countries worldwide taking Trend of Artisanal and Small-scale Mining Report” to have high em-
in different regions of the world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, Ocea- ployment and dependency on ASM (Fritz et al., 2018).
nia, Asia, and South and Central America (World Bank, 2013; World ASM has been practised in Ghana for hundreds of years and is con-
Gold Council, 2017). The number of people directly involved in ASM is sidered one of the most economically important activities in Ghana, es-
reported to have more than doubled from 1999 to 2014 as a result of pecially within remote and poorer areas of the country (Aryee et al.,
the rise in mineral prices and the difficulty in earning a good livelihood 2003; Kazapoe et al., 2021a). In Ghana, ASM has primarily focused on
from alternate activities such as agriculture (Seccatore et al., 2014; Gar- gold production which accounts for over 30% of the total amount of
cia et al., 2015). In 2018, Fritz et al. (2018) reported about 5 – 20% gold produced and is currently, the only source of diamond in the coun-
of the population in most African countries is directly involved in ASM try (Bansah et al., 2018). ASM has contributed to the creation of wealth
impacting the economies of at least 23 countries in Africa. Studies by and assets, employment, and a boost in the economy. It is estimated to

∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (J.A. Quarm).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2022.100653
Received 23 August 2022; Received in revised form 16 October 2022; Accepted 2 November 2022
2667-0100/© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
J.A. Quarm, A.K. Anning, B. Fei-Baffoe et al. Environmental Challenges 9 (2022) 100653

have employed over one billion people while supporting approximately tions, poor technology, lack of law enforcement and inadequate envi-
4.5 million more, excluding a majority of miners who operate infor- ronmental legislation.
mally and are without license security (McQuilken and Hilson, (2016). Although some mining companies are believed to have put mea-
In 2000, there were over 600 registered small-scale miners and 200,000 sures in place to mitigate the adverse effects on residents and the en-
informal miners in various mining areas in Ghana (Yeboah, 2008). ASM vironment, the extent to which these efforts are reducing the impacts
also generates foreign exchange and provides raw materials for local has not been established (Yeboah, 2008; Kazapoe et al., 2022). The
goldsmiths while promoting local commerce. social, economic and environmental impacts of artisanal mining have
ASM exists in two forms in Ghana; licensed and unlicensed (infor- not well been documented as most practices are informal and illegal
mal ASM) operations (Bansah et al., 2018). The informal form is locally (Stoudmann et al., 2016; Amuah et al., 2021a). Furthermore, little in-
called “galamsey”, which formerly involved the use of rudimentary tools formation is available on the perception of local populations on arti-
such as pickaxes, chisels, sluices and pans as well as techniques to ex- sanal mining and its impact on the environment and human health as
ploit mineral deposits (Bansah et al., 2018). In recent times, however, well as the strategies commonly used by people in coping with these
the artisanal mining sector has seen gradual mechanization resulting in impacts (Takyi et al., 2021). This study, thus, sought to obtain informa-
the use of excavators, trucks, dredging machines and crushers. This has tion on the perception of local people on artisanal mining, its impacts
led to an increase in the scale of mining and its associated environmental on their community and environment and the strategies used in coping
and health impacts. This increase has, in turn, resulted in a growing call with these impacts.
by many people for a ban on “galamsey” while the miners consider it as
the only source of livelihood. A report by Smith et al. (2016), for exam- 2. Materials and methods
ple, concluded that ASM is “reviled by its opponents and romanticized
by its proponents”. 2.1. Study area
Despite the conflicting views, ASM remains one of the most diffi-
cult, dirty and hazardous occupations involved in resulting in serious The study was conducted in the Amansie West District in the Ashanti
fatalities and posing risks to miners themselves and people in the min- Region of Ghana. The district is bounded by the Amansie East District to
ing communities (Stephens and Ahern 2001; Emmanuel et al., 2018; the west, Atwima Mponua District to the east, Atwima Nwabiagya Dis-
Amuah et al., 2022). This emanates from the methods of operation and trict to the north and the Amansie Central District to the south (Fig. 1).
the effects of mining on the natural environment (Bansah et al., 2018). A It lies within latitudes 6.05° W and 6.35° N, and longitude 1.40° S and
typical mining process involves the digging of mineral-containing rocks 2.05° W with geology dominated by birimian sediments. The district
or gravels, transportation of the rocks/gravels and recovery to obtain covers an area of about 1364 km2 , representing 5.4% of the estimated
gold. While the digging process commonly results in vegetation destruc- land cover of the Ashanti Region and has a population of 90,741. It
tion, the recovery process typically discharges contaminated effluents consists of 160 communities with Manso Nkwanta as the district capi-
into streams and the natural environment. ASM causes other impacts tal (Awatey, 2014). The climate of the area is the wet semi-equatorial
such as security and safety issues, environmental and health issues such type and has a generally undulating topography. It has a double maxima
as mercury contamination and poisoning, land degradation, pollution rainfall regime; the minor and major rainy seasons span from September
and harm to biodiversity (Hentsche et al., 2002; Hilson et al., 2007; to November and March to July respectively and is drained by the Oda
Kazapoe et al., 2022). This will lead to land disputes and confrontations and Offin rivers. The vegetation of the district is characterized by a rainy
between the artisanal and small-scale miners and government security forest and exhibits moist semi-deciduous characteristics. This makes the
forces and some community members (Aubynn, 2009; Bansah et al., area very fertile and suitable for agricultural purposes (Ghana Statistical
2018). According to Hentschel et al. (2002) and Kazapoe et al. (2021b), Service, 2014). The district has a rich mineral deposit of gold, which has
the environmental impacts of ASM and its associated health and safety resulted in a lot of mining activities by both large- and small-scale min-
consequences for workers and community members could be attributed ing companies. Some of these companies have been given the license
to the lack of knowledge of the impact of the activity, economic restric- to do prospecting work on large concessions in the district while others

Fig. 1. Map of Amansie West District showing

study communities.

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J.A. Quarm, A.K. Anning, B. Fei-Baffoe et al. Environmental Challenges 9 (2022) 100653

do so illegally and use primitive methods to extract gold (Kuffour et al., Table 1
2020). Demographic data of respondents.

Variable Frequency Percentage (%)

2.2. Survey design
Gender
Male 207 69.0
To assess the perception of the environmental, socio-economic and Female 93 31.0
health impacts of ASM in the area, this study employed a quantita- Marital status
tive approach which included the administration of structured question- Married 134 44.7
naires. Questionnaires were administered to 300 community members Single 153 51.0
Divorced 6 2.0
in the 10 selected communities of the Amansie West District. These com-
Widowed 7 2.3
munities were Moseaso, Nsiana, Abodom, Atwere, Nkwanta, Ajajukrom, Age group (years)
Abore, Antoakrom, Esaase and Mpatuam. The communities were purpo- 15–30 177 59.0
sively selected communities based on the prevalence and level of min- 31–45 77 25.7
46–60 26 8.7
ing activities. Within each community, participants were also selected
Above 60 20 6.6
purposively using inclusion and exclusion criteria: (1) the participants Educational level
should have lived in the community for more than a year and (2) partic- No formal education 22 7.3
ipants should be at least 15 years old. Questionnaires were administered Primary 46 15.3
by trained research assistants from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Junior High School/Middle school 127 42.3
Senior High School 87 29.0
Science and Technology. The language used for interviews was the local
Vocational/Technical 5 1.7
language (Asante Twi) which is the indigenous language of the area. In- Tertiary 13 4.4
formed consent was sought from the respondents and data were handled Years of residency (years)
following the General Data Protection Regulation (Frankenfield et al., - 10 83 27.7
10 - 30 156 52.0
2020). Questions were centred on the knowledge of community mem-
31 - 50 38 12.6
bers on artisanal mining, the methods employed in the ASM process, More than 50 23 7.7
knowledge of the legal framework governing mining activities, the ben- Annual income (GH₵)
efits derived from ASM, the environmental and health impacts of ASM Up to 3000 67 22.3
on individuals and their communities as a whole and coping strategies 3100 - 5000 52 17.3
6000 - 10,000 106 35.3
used to manage the prevailing effects emanating from ASM activities.
11,000 - 20,000 40 13.4
The Likert scale was used to determine the degree of preference for re- Above 20,000 35 11.7
sponses. Involvement in mining
Miner 156 52.0
2.3. Determining the sample size Gold buyer 4 1.3
Other 17 5.7
Not involved 123 41.0
Since the current population of the area was unknown and the study Main occupation
covers a heterogeneously-large area, the number of respondents re- Miner 81 27.0
quired in this study was computed using the Cochran formula (1963) for Farmer 43 14.3
Civil servant 20 6.7
determining the sample size:
Trader 62 20.7
𝛼2 𝑥 𝜎2 Student 36 12.0
𝑛0 = (1) Artisan 58 19.3
𝑒2
Using a margin of error of 0.05, a confidence level of 95% and a
standard deviation of 0.4%
( )( ) (Moore et al., 2013). A multinomial logistic regression analysis was also
1.962 0.42
𝑛0 = (2) performed to determine the extent to which the socio-demographic char-
0.052 acteristics of respondents could predict their involvement in artisanal
n0 = 246 To overcome bias in selecting respondents from the 10 commu- mining activities. A multinomial logistic regression model was used to
nities, an extra 54 respondents were included to make 300. As a result, predict the categorical placement of a dependant variable based on mul-
30 respondents were selected from each community. tiple independent variables.

2.4. Data analyses 3. Results

All data obtained were entered into Microsoft Excel and screened 3.1. Demographic characteristics of the study communities
for errors. These were then analysed using SPSS version 21.0. Both de-
scriptive and inferential analyses were performed. Descriptive analyses A total of 300 respondents from the 10 selected communities took
included the frequency of respondents concerning gender, age, occupa- part in the questionnaire survey of which 207 were males and 93 were
tion and other demographic characteristics. These were to enable the females. Out of this, 44.7% were married, 51% were unmarried and
presentation and visualization of the obtained data in a more meaning- 1.3% were divorced. A larger number of the respondents belonged to
ful way which allows simpler and more accurate interpretation of the the 15–30 age group (177 respondents) while those above 60 years were
data. Cross-tabulation and chi-square analyses were used to measure the least represented (20 respondents). More than one-third of the re-
the relationship between the socio-economic characteristics of respon- spondents (127) were JHS or middle school leavers, 87 had completed
dents such as level of education, gender, age and their involvement in SHS, 22 had no formal education and a few (13) had tertiary educa-
artisanal mining operations. The cross-tabulation analysis reduces the tion. More than half of respondents had stayed in the communities for
possibility of errors and uncovers more valuable insights into the ob- 10 to 30 years (52%) with the least number of people having stayed
tained data by projecting the relationships between variables by mea- for more than 50 years (7.7%). A greater proportion of the respondents
suring the frequencies of the observations that have multiple character- have mining as their main occupation (27%), 20.3% were traders while
istics. Chi-square was also employed to determine the statistical signifi- a very small number were civil servants (6.7%). With regards to the in-
cance and associations existing between the observed and expected data volvement of respondents in mining, about 52% (representing 156) were

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J.A. Quarm, A.K. Anning, B. Fei-Baffoe et al. Environmental Challenges 9 (2022) 100653

miners, 1.3% were gold buyers, and 5.7% were involved indirectly being more involved compared to females. A greater proportion of re-
through the sale of equipment, fuel for machines and lands to miners. A spondents (45.1%) who participated in ASM activities were those who
total number of 123 (41%) were not involved in mining (Table 1). had JHS/Middle school as their highest level of education followed
by primary school leavers. The least (1.7%) group belonged to the
3.2. Association between socio-economic characteristics and involvement in Vocational/Technical school category. There was, however, no signif-
mining icant association between involvement in mining and educational level
(p = 0.727) (Table 2).
Out of the 300 respondents interviewed, 177 representing 59% of Considering the association between household size and involvement
respondents were involved in ASM operations. A majority of the re- in ASM, the highest proportion of respondents involved in the operations
spondents (63.8%) who engaged in artisanal mining belonged to the belonged to both 1–5 and 6–10 household sizes. However, there was no
age-group 15 to 30 years while the least belonged to the above 60 years significant association between household size and involvement in ASM
age group (Table 2). It was observed that as age increased, their in- activities (p = 0.075). The test of association between occupation and
volvement in mining activities decreased with the chi-square test of involvement was significant (p = 0.000). The majority of respondents
association showing a significant association (p = 0.000) between age (45.2%) who were involved in mining were miners while the least were
group and involvement in mining. The association between gender and civil servants having only 3 out of 20 civil servants interviewed being
involvement in ASM was, also, significant (p = 0.000) with many males involved in ASM activities. It was noted that more than half (19) of

Table 2
Socio-economic variables in association with involvement in ASM.

Involvement in ASM Age group Total

15 – 30 31 – 45 45 - 60 Above 60

Yes 113 (63.8%) 50 (28.2%) 8 (4.5%) 6 (3.4%) 177 (100%)

No 64 (52.0%) 27 (22.0%) 18 (14.6%) 14 (11.4%) 123(100%)
Total 177 (59.0%) 77 (25.7%) 26 (0.87%) 20 (6.66%) 300 (100%)
N = 300, 𝜒 2 = 8.20, df = 3 and p = 0.000

Involvement in ASM Gender of respondents Total

Male Female

Yes 141 (79.7%) 36 (20.3%) 177 (100%)

No 66 (53.7%) 57 (46.3%) 123 (100%)
Total 207 (69%) 93 (31%) 300 (100%)
N = 300, 𝜒 2 = 38.1, df = 1 and p = 0.000

Involvement in ASM Educational level Total

No formal Primary JHS/Middle SHS Vocational / Tertiary

education School Technical

Yes 12 (6.8%) 29 (16.4%) 80 (45.1%) 46 (26%) 3 (1.7%) 7 (5%) 177 (100%)
No 10 (8.1%) 17 (13.8%) 47 (38.2) 41 (33.3%) 2 (1.6%) 6 (4.9%) 123 (100%)
Total 22 (7.3%) 46 (15.3%) 46 (15.3%) 87 (27.0%) 5 (1.7%) 13 (4.3%) 300 (100%)
N = 300, 𝜒 2 = 2.05, df = 5 and p = 0.727

Involvement in ASM Number of people in the household Total

1–5 6 - 10 More than 10

Yes 72 (40.7%) 72 (40.7%) 33 (18.6%) 177 (100%)

No 39 (31.7%) 48 (39.0%) 36 (29.3%) 123 (100%)
Total 111 (37.0%) 120 (40%) 69 (23%) 300 (100%)
N = 300, 𝜒 2 = 28.29, df = 2 and p = 0.075

Involvement in ASM Occupation Total

Mining Farming Civil servant Trading Student Artisan

Yes 80 (45.2%) 18 (10.2%) 3 (1.7%) 28 (15.8%) 19 (10.7%) 29 (16.2%) 177 (100%)

No 1 (0.8%) 25 (20.3%) 17 (13.8%) 34 (27.6%) 17 (13.8%) 29 (23.6%) 123 (100%)
Total 81 (27%) 43 (14.3%) 20 (6.7%) 62 (20.7%) 36 (12%) 58 (19%) 300 (100%)
N = 300, 𝜒 2 = 8.20, df = 5 and p = 0.000

Involvement in ASM Years of residence Total

Less than 10 10 - 30 31 - 50 More than 50

Yes 51(28.8%) 96 (54.2%) 24 (13.6%) 6 (3.4%) 177 (100%)

No 32 (26.0%) 60 (48.8%) 14 (11.4%) 17 (13.8%) 123 (100%)
Total 83 (27.7%) 156 (52.0%) 38 (12.7%) 23 (7.7%) 300 (100%)
N = 300, 𝜒 2 = 9.43, df = 3 and p = 0.011

Involvement in ASM Marital status Total

Married Single Divorced Widowed

Yes 77 (43.5%) 95 (53.7%) 2 (1.1%) 3 (1.7%) 177 (100%)

No 57 (46.3%) 58 (47.1%) 4 (3.3%) 4 (3.3%) 123 (100%)
Total 134 (44.7) 153 (51.0%) 6(2%) 7 (2.3%) 300 (100%)
N = 300, 𝜒 2 = 2.46, df = 3 and p = 0.373

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J.A. Quarm, A.K. Anning, B. Fei-Baffoe et al. Environmental Challenges 9 (2022) 100653

the total number of students (36) interviewed were involved in min- Table 3
ing. Years of residence in various communities were strongly associated Socio-demographic determinants of involvement in mining.
with involvement in mining operations (p = 0.011). Inhabitants who Dependent variable Category Odds ratio B p-value
had stayed between 10 and 30 years were the most involved group, fol-
Age
lowed by those who had stayed for less than 10 years, with the above
Miner 15 – 30yrs (reference) 1.00
50-year group being the least involved. Concerning marital status and 31 – 45yrs 1.08 0.08 0.798
involvement in mining activities, respondents who were single or un- 46 – 60yrs 0.25 -1.38 0.004
married were shown to be most involved in mining activities, followed Above 60yrs 0.23 -1.47 0.007
Gold buyer 15 -30yrs 1.00
by married people. The chi-square test of association, however, showed
31 – 45yrs 1.19 0.17 0.892
no significant association between marital status and involvement in 46 – 60yrs 7.9E-9 -18.66 ——-
mining activities (p = 0.373) (Table 2). Above 60yrs 2.29 0.83 0.512
Other 15 – 30 years (reference)
3.3. Socio-demographic determinants of involvement in artisanal mining 31 – 45 years 0.79 -0.236 0.705
46 – 60 years 0.30 -1.216 0.258
activities
Above 60 years 4.6E-9 -19.20 0.99
Gender
A multinomial logistic regression model was used to analyse six Miner Male (reference) 1.00
socio-demographic characteristics of respondents to predict their in- Female 0.30 -1.21 0.000
Gold buyer Male (reference) 1.00
fluence on the involvement of respondents in mining. Involvement in
Female 0.39 -0.95 0.415
mining was categorized into three; miner, gold buyer and other (being Other Male (reference) 1.00
involved in other occupations that indirectly support mining). Results Female 0.25 -1.39 0.035
showed that sociodemographic characteristics did not influence respon- Educational level
dents’ involvement in mining as gold buyers or any other activities. On Miner No formal education 0.66 -0.41 0.395
Basic school 1.09 0.09 0.810
the other hand, age and gender were significantly influenced by the re-
JHS/Middle (reference) 1.00
spondents’ choice to become miners. Respondents aged between 46 and SHS 0.61 -0.49 0.096
60 years and those above 60 years, respectively, were 0.25 and 0.23 Vocational/Technical 0.16 -0.01 0.994
times less likely to be miners compared to the reference age category Tertiary 0.66 -0.41 0.497
Gold buyer No formal education 1.56 0.45 0.710
(15–30 years). The 31 to 45-year group, however, had a higher likeli-
Basic school 6.2E-8 -16.60 0.997
hood (1.08) of being involved in mining activities than the reference age JHS/Middle (reference) 1.00
group though this result was not significantly different (p = 0.798). Con- SHS 4.8E-8 -16.84 0.995
sidering gender, females were 0.30 times less likely to become miners Vocational/Technical 5.6E-8 -16.70 ——–
compare to males (p < 0.0001). Compared to the reference age group Tertiary 5.0E-8 -16.81 0.998
Other No formal education 0.78 -0.24 0.83
(10 – 30 years), respondents who had lived in the communities for more
Basic school 0.46 -0.78 0.488
than 50 years were 0.26 less likely to become miners, whereas those JHS/Middle (reference) 1.00
who had been there less than 10 years as well as those from 31 to 50 SHS 1.53 0.42 0.465
years were more likely to become miners (p < 0.05; Table 3). Those who Vocational/Technical 1.2E-7 -15.94 0.998
Tertiary 1.31 0.27 0.819
had lived in mining communities for less than 10 years and between 31
Household size
– 50 years were 1.05 and 1.15 more likely to be miners respectively Miner 1-5 people 1.29 0.26 0.361
compared to those who have stayed between 10 – 30 years (reference 6-10 people (reference) 1.00
category) though the results were significantly different. More than 10 people 0.63 -0.47 0.134
Gold buyer 1-5 people 2.46 0.90 0.469
6-10 people (reference) 1.00
3.4. Knowledge of mining activities
More than 10 people 0.84 0.29 0.841
Other 1 – 5 people 0.68 -0.38 0.525
A majority of the respondents (96%) knew about the artisanal mining 6 – 10 people 1.00
activities in their communities (Table 4). More than one-third (36.3%) More than 10 people 0.44 -0.81 0.248
Marital status
of this number thought of ASM as any form of mining that provides em-
Miner Single (reference) 1.00
ployment and income to people. About 21.7% knew ASM as the act of Married 0.87 -0.14 0.569
digging and washing sand in search of gold. Some (18.3%) indicated Divorced 0.35 -1.04 0.239
ASM as a form of mining that is done using excavators while others Widowed 0.35 -1.04 0.239
(14%) considered it to be a way of mining using manpower. A smaller Gold buyer Single (reference) 1.00
Married 22E8 16.91 0.995
proportion of the respondents (9.7%) perceived any mining activity that
Divorced 0.53 -0.64 ——-
pollutes the environment as ASM (Fig. 2). The common method of ex- Widowed 10E8 18.47 0.994
traction employed was surface mining (81.7%). About 263 (87.3%) in- Other Single (reference) 1.00
dicated ASM negatively impacts individuals, the community and the en- Married 0.31 -1.16 0.05
Divorced 2.3E-8 -17.55 0.998
vironment as a whole. A total of 216 (70.3%) respondents reported ASM
Widowed 5.0E-9 -19.12 ——–
to have health implications for individuals (Table 4).
Years of residency
Only 22.7% and 20% of respondents, however, knew the legal in-
Miner Less than 10yrs 1.05 0.05 0.860
struments of mining and regulatory agencies, respectively (Table 4). Of 10 – 30yrs (reference) 1.00
the 22.7% (representing 68 individuals) with knowledge of mining in- 31 – 50yrs 1.15 0.14 0.715
struments, 54 had an idea about laws binding mining activities. Nearly More than 50yrs 0.26 -1.35 0.007
Gold buyer Less than 10yrs 0.94 -0.07 0.959
half of them (22) mentioned license acquisition before mining to be a
10 – 30yrs (reference) 1.00
law governing mining (Fig. 3). Twelve revealed the need for land recla- 31 – 50yrs 2.14 0.76 0.545
mation after mining while eight (8) revealed that mining should be done More than 50yrs 1.8E-8 -17.86 ——–
away from water bodies to prevent pollution (Fig. 4). Community mem- Others Less than 10yrs 0.63 -0.47 0.447
bers revealed EPA (11), Military/ Police/Vanguard (17), Local Commu- 10 – 30yrs (reference) 1.00
31 – 50yrs 0.36 -1.03 0.341
nity Council (18) and Ghana Minerals Commission (7) to be regulatory
More than 50yrs 1.25E-8 -18.20 0.997
agencies they knew of (Fig. 4).

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J.A. Quarm, A.K. Anning, B. Fei-Baffoe et al. Environmental Challenges 9 (2022) 100653

Table 4 tional level and marital status had a significant influence on respon-
Knowledge of respondents on mining activities in the study district. dents’ basic knowledge of ASM. With regards to educational level, peo-
Variable Frequency Percentage (%) ple with no formal education were more likely to consider artisanal
mining as any of the five responses compared to the reference group
Knowledge of mining activities
(JHS or middle school leavers) which was significant at p < 0.0001. Re-
Yes 288 96
No 12 4 spondents were 59×106 and 28×106 more likely to consider mining to
Method of extraction provide employment and income and the type of “mining that results in
Surface mining 245 81.7 pollution and destruction” respectively. Also, respondents were 28×106
Underground mining 39 13.0
and 13×107 times more likely to consider mining as the type of “mining
Dredging 9 3.0
Don’t know 7 2.3
that results in pollution and destruction and “mining that is done with
How common is ASM excavators respectively. The other educational level categories, on the
Common 231 77.0 other hand, did not significantly influence respondents’ basic knowledge
Very common 30 10.0 of ASM.
Uncommon 34 11.3
The findings of this study also revealed that having stayed in commu-
Not sure 5 1.7
Environmental impacts of mining nities for 31–50 years, significantly had an impact on the basic knowl-
Yes 262 87.3 edge of ASM and were more likely to consider ASM as any of the basic
No 31 10.3 knowledge responses (p < 0.001). The basic knowledge with the high-
Don’t know 7 2.4
est ratios and likelihood was that mining results in pollution and de-
Health impacts of mining
Yes 216 72.0
struction (65×106 ). This was then followed by “mining with excavators”
No 84 28.0 (50×106 ) and mining with manpower (32×106 ). The basic knowledge
Measure to reduce adverse effects with the least likelihood was mining as an act of “digging and washing
Yes 190 63.3 sand for gold”. Widowhood significantly predicted having all mentioned
No 68 22.7
basic knowledge compared reference group (single individuals) on ASM
Don’t know 42 14.0
Knowledge of legal mining instruments except for ASM being a type of “mining that provides employment and
Yes 70 23.3 income” (Table 5).
No 230 76.7
Knowledge of regulatory agencies
3.6. Benefits of ASM to community members
Yes 65 21.7
No 235 78.3
Is mining sustainable? Mining was perceived to be of benefit to community members; as
Yes 206 68.7 a source of income, employment and livelihood, and a means for asset
No 79 26.3 acquisition. Others mentioned mining to be a source of economic de-
Don’t know 15 5.0
Should mining be continued?
velopment in communities while some considered it as an activity that
Yes 223 74.3 boosts local businesses in a community such as trade. The respondents
No 77 25.7 ranked “a means of getting assets” as the most important benefit of min-
ing, followed by “a means of getting rich quickly” and “as an alternative
livelihood”. The benefit that was least considered was mining as means
of promoting the better use of land (Table 6).
3.5. Socio-demographic determinants of knowledge on artisanal mining
3.7. Impacts of ASM on community members and the environment
A multinomial logistic regression model of respondents’ socio-
economic variables regarding their basic knowledge of ASM was per- A majority of respondents (87.3%) regarded ASM to have negative
formed to determine the influence of socio-economic characteristics in impacts on the environment and humans (Table 1). Out of this propor-
predicting the basic knowledge of community members on ASM. Five tion, water pollution was considered to be most impacted by artisanal
basic knowledge were used in this analysis: “digging and washing sand mining followed by land degradation. Other impacts such as the destruc-
for gold”, “mining that provides employment and income”, “mining that tion of farmlands, land infertility, food crops poisoning by heavy metals
result in pollution and destruction”, “mining with manpower” and “min- and noise pollution were mentioned. Pollution of air was considered
ing with excavators”. Results revealed that years of residency, educa- the least impact of mining on the environment (Table 7). Mining was

Fig. 2. Basic knowledge of community on members on artisanal

mining.

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J.A. Quarm, A.K. Anning, B. Fei-Baffoe et al. Environmental Challenges 9 (2022) 100653

Fig. 3. Laws binding mining activities.

Fig. 4. Knowledge of regulatory bodies of mining activi-

ties.

perceived to impact human health (216) and could lead to some ail- 20.7% of the respondents, respectively, cited the use of toxic substances
ments such as malaria, skin diseases, diarrhoea, mercury poisoning and and drinking of polluted water as major causes of diarrhoea amongst
death. Malaria was shown to be the most common health impact related inhabitants in the study district. However, close to 66% of them did
to mining on a Likert scale. This was followed by skin diseases and cold not know the activity of mining that causes it. Contact with toxic sub-
(flu), respectively, while diarrhoea on the other hand was ranked last stances for mining (37.3%) and bathing in polluted water (22.3%) was
(Table 8). also observed to cause skin diseases (Table 9).

3.8. Causes of the impact of mining 3.9. Coping strategies of effects of mining and mitigation approaches

Respondents outlined some artisanal mining activities that cause Almost two-thirds of the community members (193) mentioned
health and environmental impacts (Table 8). These activities included drinking alternative sources of water such as pipe-borne water, bore-
the use of toxic materials such as mercury, the use of heavy machines, holes and sachet water as the commonest coping method used in the
the presence of tailings, the clearing of vegetation and a long period of communities. Others used mosquito nets or coils (49), while a small
extraction. More than half of the respondents (51%) mentioned pollu- number (10) stated the covering of pits as the strategy used to prevent
tion of water bodies by dirt from mineral washing or the use of toxic accident deaths (Fig. 5). About 62.7% of respondents indicated knowl-
materials in mining. Clearing of vegetation around water bodies was edge of measures used to reduce the adverse effects of ASM (Table 4).
also observed to cause pollution. Air pollution was said to be primar- These included covering pits (112), protecting water bodies (23) and ed-
ily caused by dust or dirt from mines (38%), together with fumes from ucating miners on the need to reclaim lands (22) and stopping mining
heavy machines. About 83% of respondents indicated the use of heavy (19) (Fig. 6). It was shown that reviewing operational guidelines such
machines as the main cause of noise pollution. as not mining near water bodies was the most frequently used method
Malaria, the most notable health outcome of mining (60%), was per- in reducing the adverse effects in all the communities. Resettlement of
ceived to occur as a result of uncovered mine pits gathering water to communities was the least practised method. Over one-third of the re-
breed mosquitoes. The remaining 37% of the respondents did not know spondents found covering the pit to be the most satisfactory method to
about the activity of mining that caused this disease. About 13.7% and restore the land and prevent accidents (Table 10 and Fig. 7).

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J.A. Quarm, A.K. Anning, B. Fei-Baffoe et al. Environmental Challenges 9 (2022) 100653

Table 5
Socio-demographics as determinants of knowledge on ASM.

Dependent variable Category Odds ratio B p-value

Educational level
Digging and washing sand for gold No formal education 14E7 18.78 0.00
Basic school 0.88 -0.13 0.885
JHS/Middle (reference) 1.00
SHS 2.00 0.69 0.364
Vocational/Technical 22E7 19.24 0.998
Tertiary 7.9E-7 -18.66 0.997
Mining that provides employment and income No formal education 59E6 17.91 0.00
Basic school 1.22 0.20 0.814
JHS/Middle (reference) 1.00
SHS 1.10 0.10 0.896
Vocational/Technical 11E7 18.53 0.998
Tertiary 0.61 -0.49 0.677
Mining that results in pollution and destruction No formal education 28E6 17.18 0.000
Basic school 0.71 -0.35 0.817
JHS/Middle school 1.00
SHS 0.82 -0.19 0.817
Vocational/Technical 16E7 18.89 0.998
Tertiary 0.35 -1.04 0.485
Mining with manpower No formal education 11E7 18.56 0.000
Basic school 0.71 -0.35 0.724
JHS/Middle (reference) 1.00
SHS 1.53 0.43 0.594
Vocational/Technical 1.24 0.21 ——
Tertiary 1.41 0.35 0.776
Mining with excavators No formal education 13E7 18.76 ——
Basic school 1.93 0.66 0.476
JHS/Middle school 1.00
SHS 1.86 0.62 0.442
Vocational/Technical 1.50 0.41 ——-
Tertiary 0.86 -0.15 0.907
Years of residency
Digging and washing sand for gold Less than 10yrs 0.93 -0.08 0.912
10 – 30yrs (reference) 1.00
31 – 50yrs 21E6 16.87 0.000
More than 50yrs 1.24 0.21 0.855
Mining that provides employment and income Less than 10yrs 1.07 0.07 0.921
10 – 30yrs (reference) 1.00
31 – 50yrs 22E6 16.93 0.000
More than 50yrs 0.36 -1.03 0.398
Mining that results in pollution and destruction Less than 10yrs 1.43 0.36 0.642
10 – 30yrs (reference) 1.00
31 – 50yrs 65E6 18.00 0.00
More than 50yrs 3.18 1.16 0.334
Mining with manpower Less than 10yrs 0.34 -1.09 0.170
10 – 30yrs (reference) 1.00
31 – 50yrs 32E6 17.30 0.000
More than 50yrs 1.08 0.07 0.951
Mining with excavators Less than 10yrs 1.01 0.01 0.986
10 – 30yrs (reference) 1.00
31 – 50yrs 50E6 17.74 ——-
More than 50yrs 1.47 0.39 0.747
Marital status
Digging and washing sand for gold Single (reference) 1.00
Married 2.79 1.03 0.153
Divorced 33E7 19.63 0.998
Widowed 22E7 19.23 0.000
Mining that provides employment and income Single (reference) 1.00
Married 2.31 0.84 0.228
Divorced 39E6 17.50 0.998
Widowed 1.34 0.29 1.000
Mining that results in pollution and destruction Single (reference) 1.00
Married 4.75 1.56 0.041
Divorced 1.94 0.66 ——-
Widowed 1.94 0.66 1.000
Mining with manpower Single (reference) 1.00
Married 1.88 0.63 0.398
Divorced 10E7 18.43 0.998
Widowed 13E7 18.72 0.000
Mining with excavators Single (reference) 1.00
Married 3.83 1.34 0.068
Divorced 1.75 0.56 1.000
Widowed 90E6 18.32 ——

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J.A. Quarm, A.K. Anning, B. Fei-Baffoe et al. Environmental Challenges 9 (2022) 100653

Table 6 Table 9
Community perception of benefits of ASM. Causes of major health impacts of mining.

Benefits SD D N A SA Mean Rank Impact Cause Frequency (%)

Means of getting assets 1 5 5 109 179 4.54 1st Water pollution Use of toxic materials 83 (27.0)
Avenue for employment 3 6 5 104 178 4.51 2nd Presence of tailings 21 (7)
Means of getting rich quickly 5 10 6 94 183 4.48 3rd Clearing of vegetation 26 (8.7)
Provide alternative livelihood 6 3 5 111 173 4.48 3rd Dirt from mineral washing 153 (51.0)
Provides regular income 3 12 5 103 175 4.46 4th Don’t know 17 (5.7)
Reduces rural-urban migration 5 13 9 105 162 4.38 5th Air pollution Fumes from heavy machines 96 (32.0)
Promotes economic development 16 16 6 105 154 4.24 6th Dirt or dust from mine 115 (38.0)
Improves compensation pack 6 28 14 92 157 4.23 7th Don’t know 89 (30 .0)
Good economic activity 19 13 10 106 150 4.19 8th Noise pollution Use of heavy machines 250 (83.0)
Promotes better use of land 51 41 18 88 101 3.49 9th Don’t know 50 (17.0)
Vegetation degradation Clearing of vegetation 261 (87.0)
SD = Strongly agree, D = Disagree, N = Neutral, SA = Strongly agree, A = Agree. Long period of extraction 24 (8.0)
Don’t know 15 (5)
Table 7 Land degradation Presence of tailings 18 (6.0)
Community perception of environmental impacts of ASM. Use of heavy machines 24 (8.0)
Clearing of vegetation 72 (24.0)
Impacts SD D N A SA Mean Rank
Long period of extraction 106 (35.3)
Pollutes water resources 7 15 4 101 171 4.39 1st Drilling of pits 80 (26.7)
Causes land degradation 10 10 8 107 163 4.35 2nd Malaria Pits as breeding sites 187 (62.3)
Destroys farmlands 19 26 9 96 148 4.10 3rd Don’t know 113 (37.7)
Leads to loss of biodiversity 11 36 11 120 119 4.01 4th Diarrheoa Use of toxic materials 41 (13.7)
Competes with other land uses 22 40 43 95 94 3.68 5th Polluted water 62 (20.7)
Causes noise pollution 48 51 11 118 70 3.40 6th Don’t know 197 (65.6)
Causes land infertility 44 59 22 80 91 3.39 7th Skin diseases Use of toxic materials 112 (37.3)
Causes heavy metals in food crops 41 49 62 79 66 3.27 8th Polluted water 67 (22.3)
Pollutes the air 61 78 30 73 54 2.94 9th Don’t know 121 (40.4)

SD = Strongly agree, D = Disagree, N = Neutral, SA = Strongly agree, A = Agree.

Table 8
could be attributed to the majority staying in these communities for
Community perception of health impacts of ASM.
more than 30 years and knowing about mining escapades in these com-
Impacts SD D N A SA Mean Rank munities. Their knowledge could also be attributed to their involvement
Malaria 47 17 17 85 131 3.79 1st in mining activities in these communities. The fewer people (22.7%)
Skin disease 52 26 48 82 90 3.44 2nd who knew about regulatory bodies of mining are in line with a study by
Cold 80 26 69 74 49 2.95 3rd Ramoshaba (2019), in which only 2 out of 50 respondents knew about
Fever 80 29 77 74 38 2.87 4th
mining regulations and legislation. This could be attributed to the fact
Eye problem 89 29 75 65 40 2.79 5th
Respiratory disease 87 43 74 55 39 2.72 6th
that community members either do not attend campaigns about mining
Diarrhoea 91 43 75 53 36 2.67 7th to be educated or this form of education is not organized in the commu-
nity.
SD = Strongly agree, D = Disagree, N = Neutral, SA = Strongly agree, A = Agree.
Surface mining emerged as the most common method of extraction
as a result of the high indulgence of community members in artisanal
4. Discussion mining (Nasirudeen and Allan, 2014). This indulgence or involvement
could, however, be influenced by the perception of people on mining be-
4.1. Perception of community members on mining ing of great benefit to livelihood. As a result, many of these miners could
be involved out of necessity but not by choice as confirmed in another
A substantial majority of the respondents had witnessed the manifes- study by Nasirudeen and Allan (2014). Thus, artisanal mining sector in
tation of mining activities in the area and its related implications. This Ghana has greater economic implications for the individuals involved

Fig. 5. Strategies for coping with adverse effects of artisanal mining.

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J.A. Quarm, A.K. Anning, B. Fei-Baffoe et al. Environmental Challenges 9 (2022) 100653

Fig. 6. Measures to reduce adverse effects of artisanal mining.

Fig. 7. The most satisfactory method used in communities.

Table 10 number of people at each educational level being involved in artisanal

Community perception on the frequency of use of coping strategies for ASM. mining could suggest a strong dependence of respondents on ASM for
Impacts MFU FU OU RU NU Mean Rank livelihood. The lower number of people having high educational attain-
ment could be attributed to the high indulgence of community mem-
Reviewing operational methods 5 10 47 7 219 4.49 MFO
bers in mining activities suggesting that artisanal mining affects the
Provision of alternate water 7 8 48 12 216 4.46 FU
Reforestation 5 18 44 15 212 4.41 OU standard of education of the youth in such communities (Owusu and
Compensation 47 26 20 32 152 3.76 RU Dwomoh, 2012). This is because there is a low rate of transitioning of
Covering of pits 45 30 54 38 129 3.60 NU students at basic school and second-cycle educational levels to higher
Resettlement 44 49 36 19 143 3.59 U
educational levels such as vocational schools, technical universities and
MFU = Most frequently used, FU = Frequently used, OU = Occasionally used, mainstream universities (Baddianaah et al., 2022). Thus, a higher num-
RU= Rarely used and NU = Not used. ber of people with a lower educational background are involved in min-
ing activities. This relates to a study by Mabe et al. (2021) which sug-
gested that artisanal mining activities are largely executed by people
but less for the communities in which it is practised though it employs with lower educational achievement and could also give additional ev-
thousands of people; both local and foreign nationals (Arah, 2015). Also, idence to support empirical studies on the high rate of school drop-outs
the fewer number of people indicating mining companies in their area in mining areas (Baodi et al., 2016; Twerefou et al., 2015). However,
give compensation packages could suggest that most of the small-scale there is an increase in the involvement of the proportion of people with
mining companies do not compensate community members duly. This higher educational attainment in mining (Arthur-Holmes et al., 2022)
corroborates work done by Owusu-Koranteng (2008) which revealed which reflects the higher proportion of people in this category being
that most compensation given to community members in mining areas involved in ASM in this study.
is given to them by large-scale mining companies. This implies that for Similar to the findings of S. Que et al. (2018) and Bryceson and
artisanal mining to be sustainable, small-scale mining companies should Geene (2016), the majority of respondents involved in ASM were males
incorporate good compensation schemes in their framework. This would which supports the forgone revelations that ASM is a masculine enter-
also curb the menace of people’s decision to indulge in artisanal min- prise. Also, Badianaah et al. (2022) reported that the majority of respon-
ing as a result of bad compensation packages given to them by these dents involved in mining (58.6%) were within the age group 30 years
companies. and below which is similar findings of this study. This implies that ASM
is a youth-induced trajectory (Baddianaah et al., 2022; Redehey, 2017).
4.2. Influence of socio-economic factors on involvement in mining According to Zolnikov (2020), large household sizes have a high demand
for basics which has a strong implication for households’ involvement in
The association between the various socio-economic characteristics mining activities. Thus, a high involvement in ASM operations depicts
and involvement in ASM operations indicates that these demograph- a high demand for household needs. The high indulgence of both sin-
ics could influence one’s participation in mining operations. The higher gle and married respondents in ASM activities could thus be attributed

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J.A. Quarm, A.K. Anning, B. Fei-Baffoe et al. Environmental Challenges 9 (2022) 100653

to the responsibility of these individuals in accessing quicker income ple belonging to different categories could have different ideas about
for themselves, and their families and to fulfil marital responsibilities ASM based on what they’ve seen and heard. This study thus corrobo-
(G. Hilson and Maconachie, 2020; Baddianaah et al., 2022). rates arguments put forward by Crawford and Botechwey (2017) that
artisanal mining is a controversial livelihood enterprise. This study is
4.3. Socio-demographic determinants of involvement in artisanal mining in line with Baddianah et al. (2021) in which respondents had different
activities views of ASM; some dwelt on the benefits while others dwelt on the
adverse effects. Some people considered mining to be an act of digging
The result of the study established the influence of socio- and washing sand for gold. People with tertiary education having less
demographic characteristics in involvement in mining activities. Find- likely of considering ASM as an act of digging and washing sand for gold
ings showed that the involvement of respondents in ASM as miners de- may be attributed to the fact that they know what mining entails as a
creased as their age increased. This could be attributed to the fact that result of the number of years in education. Also, people with no formal
ASM operations are labour-intensive and are suitable for the youthful education define ASM as that, which might as a result of placing value
population in communities as indicated in studies by G. Hilson and Ma- on the product mining more than the effect of mining. ASM was con-
conachie (2020) and Amed and Oruonye (2016). As a result, efforts in sidered a type of mining that provides employment and income. This
fighting ASM should be geared towards the creation of employment for perception could be based on the benefits respondents derive from it.
the youth. This would serve the absence of jobs for youth in commu- According to Bansah et al. (2018), ASM provides raw materials and pre-
nities as one of the main drivers of artisanal mining activities in devel- cious items for local people such as blacksmiths and creates direct and
oping countries (Baddianaah et al., 2022; Hilson et al., 2017). These indirect employment for locals in communities justifying the perception
jobs must however be equal in their measure of wealth acquisition to of respondents on ASM to provide employment and income. Also, ASM
that of ASM activities (IGF, 2017). The reduced tendency of females to was specified by Andrews (2003) as a means of justice as ASM many
be involved in mining compared to males in this study is in line with people engage in ASM to escape poverty. This can also be explained by
Baddianaah et al. (2022). This could be a result of ASM being a mascu- the higher number of respondents with no formal education. It could be
line venture even though women may be found on these sites doing other because many people with low educational attainment do not rely on
jobs that support ASM activities such as selling food and other necessi- having fewer skills and since ASM requires fewer skills, joining it will
ties to miners (S. Que et al., 2018; Owusu-Nimo et al., 2018). The result be a means to acquire the basic needs of life (Gyan, 2019).
of this study, however, disagrees with a report by USAID (2020) which The category of respondents considering mining ASM as a form of
indicated that women appear to show much interest in ASM just as men mining that results in pollution and destruction are the categories of
and make up 50% of the ASM labour force. people who place much emphasis on the adverse effects of ASM. Re-
With regards to marital status, married, widowed and divorced re- spondents who had stayed in communities for more than 30 years had a
spondents were less likely to become miners compared to single in- more much likelihood of considering ASM as such. This suggests that the
dividuals. This is contrary to the findings of Hauserman et al. (2020) long years of residence could have exposed them to the dire effects of
which revealed that marriage and its associated responsibilities, drive ASM on humans, health and the environment as a whole. This is similar
married locals to join galamsey activities to get quick income to cater to a study by Kim and Yang (2019) in which the duration of residence
for their family needs. The findings of this study, however, justify re- influenced people’s attitudes and rating of pollution. Some respondents
ports of Baddianaah et al. (2022) that unmarried youth are more likely defined ASM as a type of mining that uses manpower. This could be be-
to engage in ASM activities than married ones to gather funds to also cause, ASM mostly requires manually-intensive methods such as hand
marry. A large household size (more than 10) being less likely to indulge tools (Aborah, 2016). As such the higher likelihood of respondents con-
in mining contradicts a previous study by Baddianaah et al. (2022) in sidering ASM as such could be a result of their high involvement in
which respondents with more than 10 household sizes were 59.7 times ASM. This is because ASM requires fewer skills and can be indulged in
more likely to indulge in ASM activities. This also contradicts previous by people with formal education (Gyan, 2019).
literature which states the responsibility of providing basic needs and
other necessities for families pushes respondents with large household 4.5. Effects of mining on the environment
sizes to indulge in ASM (Mabe et al., 2021; Osumanu, 2020). The decline
in involvement found in this study could be a result of respondents hav- Mining poses deleterious effects on the communities. These were
ing alternate sources of livelihood. With regards to educational level, water pollution, land and vegetation degradation, air pollution and
those with higher educational attainment than JHS were less likely to noise pollution (Table 5). These effects of mining activities also sup-
indulge in mining. This suggests that these people may be able to se- port studies by Aryee et al. (2003); Jhariya et al., (2016); Kazapoe et al.,
cure other forms of jobs particularly, formal sector jobs and may there- (2021) and Wireko-Gyebi et al., (2022) who indicated that illegal small-
fore not need to depend on natural capital like ASM (Baddianaah et al., scale mining is the major factor in water pollution. From the study, wa-
2022). The decline in the likelihood of those with no formal education ter pollution had the largest impact on the community resulting from
taking part in mining could also be attributed to the fact many of the the use of toxic chemicals in mining. This relates to a report by the
respondents belonging to this age group were old people who belonged Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) in
to the era where no importance was placed on education and they may 2007 which indicated that pollution and drying up of water bodies are
not have the strength to indulge in ASM activities. Basic school leavers highly influenced by mining activities. Another study by Aryee et al.
having a positive likelihood of indulging in mining supports the em- (2003) discussed illegal small-scale mining to be the major factor in wa-
pirical evidence that the majority of artisanal miners have low levels ter pollution. For instance, Nasirudeen and Allan (2014) and González-
of educational attainment since such individuals are largely classified Valoys et al., (2022) respectively reported that the use of mercury and
as school dropouts with the informal sector such as ASM serving as a cyanide in small-scale mining polluted water bodies as they are washed
source of employment and livelihood sustenance to them (Mabe et al., into water bodies in the quest to separate precious minerals from rocky
2021; Hilson and Hilson, 2015). debris. Also, the accidental spillage of chemicals such as cyanide results
in the enormous pollution of rivers and streams with mining areas pos-
4.4. Socio-demographic determinants of basic knowledge of artisanal ing a threat to human and aquatic life (Aryee et al., 2003).
mining The clearing of vegetation leads to vegetation degradation
which affects rainfall patterns thereby affecting climate change
In this study, basic knowledge of ASM is seen to be influenced by the (Ramoshaba, 2019). As the land is stripped of its cover, it becomes
socio-demographic characteristics of respondents. This is because peo- bare and exposed to different forms of degradation such as erosion. The

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J.A. Quarm, A.K. Anning, B. Fei-Baffoe et al. Environmental Challenges 9 (2022) 100653

presence of mining tailings could also pose a great threat to the physic- Municipality which is another ASM-prone area requiring urgent regula-
ochemical properties of the soil. As tailings contain high concentrations tion to ensure otherwise. This could support the respondents’ need for
of potentially toxic material, their presence in the soil causes a change in miners to cover pits after mining.
the morphological, chemical and physical properties of the soil leading
to severe soil damage (Ngole-Jeme and Fantke, 2017). Long periods of 4.8. Proposed management and policy plan for curtailing ASM
extraction thus damage the physical properties as well as properties of
the soil resulting in nutrient deficiency and the soil’s inability to support The devastating impacts associated with ASM are evident in the re-
plant growth. sponses presented by the respondents. Based on the findings of this
study, it is essential to propose policy plans and management techniques
to abate the deleterious impacts of ASM in the study location ensure en-
4.6. Effects of mining on public health
vironmental quality and protect public health. The protection of the area
is the collaborative responsibility of traditional and political leaders,
Mining has been reported to have adverse effects on health
government institutions, and ministries and agencies in charge of envi-
(Taux et al., 2022). Common diseases such as cold or catarrh, malaria,
ronmental quality including the Environmental Protection and Health
fever, diarrhoea and skin diseases (Table 6) were reported by the re-
Department under the Amansie West District Assembly, Small-scale and
spondent to be mining-related. These were similar to responses gotten
Large-scale Miners Associations, Soil Research Institute under the Coun-
in surveys by Ramshaba (2019) and Yeboah (2008) where diseases such
cil for Scientific and Industrial Research, Ghana Health Services, Geo-
as asthma, bronchitis, lung problems, skin diseases, malaria and fever
logical Survey Department, Minerals Commission, the Forestry Commis-
were mentioned. In this study, cold was the dominant ASM-related dis-
sion, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Land Use and Spatial
ease. This could be a result of the emission of dust into the atmosphere
Planning Authority, the Ministries of Environment, Science and Technol-
(Ramoshaba, 2019). Malaria could be caused by the stagnation of waters
ogy, Lands and Natural Resources, Food and Agriculture Organization,
used for ASM which serve as breeding places for mosquitoes. This high
the Ghana Chamber of Mines, and the entire public. As is the situation
malaria incidence is in line with works by a study by Yeboah (2008) and
in most developing countries, appropriate structures remain in place to
Fletcher et al., (2022) in which malaria was one of the dominant dis-
ensure the suitable control of activities and oversights in this sector.
eases in mining areas. As presented in Table 7, skin diseases could re-
However, there is a lack of assertive and coordinated supervision by
sult from long exposure to chemicals used in mining and dermal con-
appropriate sector players which translates into the issue of implemen-
tact with dust from mines (Obasi and Akundinobi, 2020; Timofeeva and
tation and enforcement. It may therefore be suitable to form a joint task
Murzin, 2020).
force drawn from the afore-stated institutions.
The authors propose that the relevant authorities should collaborate
4.7. Coping strategies and mitigation of adverse effects of ASM to offer public sensitization and training (environmental care forum)
to the small-scale miners on the deleterious impacts of the activities,
The fight against the adverse effects of ASM has intensified in many the need to ensure environmental management and protection and con-
countries. In Ghana, many measures have been put in place based on in- ventional methods of mining that curtail environmental contamination
tegrated approaches by involving relevant stakeholders, legalizing arti- and degradation. This can be done through seminars, posters, billboards,
sanal mining through the Small-Scale Gold Mining Law in 1989 (PNDCL promotions, and public campaigns, amongst others. To protect the qual-
218) and formation of small-scale mining associations to interact with ity of the area, it is required miners undergo and complete training in
stakeholders on progress and challenges (Hilson, 2001; Emmanuel et al., sustainable mining and minerals processing practices. Also, drones and
2018). Baah-Ennumh et al. (2017) identified two main impacts of ASM satellite images should be employed to monitor mining activities. In
on communities in the long term. These are impoverishment and em- close collaboration with the key players in the mining sector, geospatial
powerment which could be assessed by evaluating the state of human, experts can use Earth Observations and geospatial techniques to provide
economic, natural, social and physical capital of communities. Impov- actionable insights into spatial information in mining areas. Regular vis-
erishment comes as a result of the loss of livelihoods such as farming in its to mining concessions by inspectors which should be an integration
these communities which limits the capabilities of inhabitants to make a of the aforementioned institutions ought to be done, and stringent pun-
living and manage risks affecting livelihood assets or capital. As a result, ishment is placed on violators to deter others. Persons engaged in ASM
programmes on resettlements, compensation and relocation have been should be coagulated into registered groups which would be monitored
instituted in some communities to lessen the impacts of mining activi- and the best performing group(s) be rewarded to foster competition for
ties that are felt by community members. This agrees with the findings environmental protection amongst them. However, if the full implemen-
of this study on compensation and resettlements although they were not tation of mining policies does not suffice, task forces may be deployed
the frequently used strategies for coping with mining impacts (Table 8). with the sole aim of saving the environment. Generally, the area requires
One of the main measures put in place to curb and cope with the the attention and intervention of stakeholders and the general public to
adverse effect of ASM on water bodies or sources of drinking water in improve its standard, quality, management and sustainability.
communities is the provision of alternative sources of drinking water
for inhabitants (Fig. 5). This agrees with a study by Emmanuel et al., 5. Conclusion
(2018) which outlined the provision of alternative sources of treated
water for affected communities to be one of the important ways to cope This study assessed the perception of the environmental, socio-
with and curb the effects of ASM. Also, educating community members economic and health impacts of artisanal gold mining in the Amansie
on the environmental effects of ASM such as land degradation and wa- West District, Ghana. This study concludes that people understood the
ter pollution and their associated health impacts serves as a means to environmental and socio-economic impacts of ASM, although they pri-
reduce the adverse effects of ASM by encouraging them to put measures oritize the latter over the former. The communities perceived ASM as
in place to curb these effects (Fig. 6). This is consistent with a study by a source of income, employment, livelihood, a means for asset acquisi-
Mihaye (2013), which stated the need to educate inhabitants of mining tion and economic development in general. In coping with the impacts
communities on the adverse effects of mining and the measures to re- of ASM, the communities resorted to drinking alternative sources of wa-
duce these adverse effects. Ncube-Phiri et al., (2015), also mentioned ter such as pipe-borne water, boreholes and sachet water. Some inhab-
land rehabilitation, which includes covering mined pits and reforesta- itants also relied on the covering of mined pits to prevent the breeding
tion, as measures to curb the adverse effects of ASM. Baah-Ennumh et al. of mosquitoes, and the use of mosquito nets or coils to curb the adverse
(2017) mentioned the issue of uncovered mining pits in Tarkwa-Nsuaem effect of a high incidence of malaria. Generally, the indigenes of the

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J.A. Quarm, A.K. Anning, B. Fei-Baffoe et al. Environmental Challenges 9 (2022) 100653

area posited that irrespective of the environmental impacts associated Fritz, M., McQuilken, J., Collins, N., & Weldegiorgis, F. (2018). Global Trends in Artisanal
with ASM, based on the benefits derived from it, it should be promoted and Small-Scale Mining (ASM): a review of key numbers and issues (pp. 81-81). Inter-
national Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). Retrieved from: https://www.
and continued. The results provide important insight into the people’s iisd.org/system/files/publications/igf- asm- global- trends.pdf. Accessed: 26.09.2022.
appreciation of the cost and benefits of ASM, which could be vital for Ghana Statistical Service, 2014. 2010 Population and Housing Census. Amansie
policy formulation aimed at promoting sustainable gold mining in the West District. Available at, https://new- ndpc- static1.s3.amazonaws.com/CACHES/
PUBLICATIONS/2016/06/06/Amansie+West+2010PHC.pdf, Accessed September
country. 25, 2022.
González-Valoys, A.C., Arrocha, J., Monteza-Destro, T., Vargas-Lombardo, M., Esbrí, J.M.,
Garcia-Ordiales, E., Higueras, P., 2022. Environmental challenges related to cyanida-
Declaration of Competing Interest tion in Central American gold mining; the Remance mine (Panama). J. Environ. Man-
age. 302, 113979.
Gyan, A., 2019. Small-scale Mining and Its Impact On Rural Livelihoods and Health in
The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Prestea. Ghana (Master’s thesis, The University of Bergen) Retrieved from.
Hentschel, T., Hruschka, F., Priester, M., 2002. Global report on artisanal and small-
Data Availability scale mining. Report commissioned by the Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Develop-
ment of the International Institute for Environment and Development. Retrieved from
https://pubs.iied.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/migrate/G00723.pdf. Accessed June 1,
Data will be made available on request. 2022.
Hilson, G., & Hilson, A. (2015). Entrepreneurship, poverty and sustainability: critical re-
flections on the formalisation of small-scale mining in Ghana. IGC Working Paper.
Funding Hilson, G., 2001. A contextual review of the Ghanaian small-scale mining industry. Mining,
Minerals and Sustainable Development, 76(September). Retrieved from https://pubs.
iied.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/migrate/G00722.pdf?. Accessed June 7, 2022.
This research did not receive any grant from any funding agency, Hilson, G., Hilson, A., Maconachie, R., McQuilken, J., Goumandakoye, H., 2017. Artisanal
commercial or profit sectors. and small-scale mining (ASM) in sub-Saharan Africa: re-conceptualizing formalization
and ‘illegal’activity. Geoforum 83, 80–90.
Hilson, G., Hilson, C.J., Pardie, S., 2007. Improving awareness of mercury pollution in
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