J of Intl Development - 2011 - Okoh - Poverty and Livelihood Diversification Exploring The Linkages Between Smallholder

Journal of International Development
J. Int. Dev. 23, 1100–1114 (2011)

Published online in Wiley Online Library
(wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/jid.1834
POVERTY AND LIVELIHOOD

DIVERSIFICATION: EXPLORING THE
LINKAGES BETWEEN SMALLHOLDER
FARMING AND ARTISANAL MINING IN
RURAL GHANA
GODFRIED OKOH and GAVIN HILSON*
School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, The University of Reading, Reading, UK
Abstract: This article draws attention to the importance of promoting and regularizing artisanal
and small-scale mining (ASM)—low-tech, labour-intensive mineral extraction and processing
activity—in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on the case of Ghana. An estimated one million people
are employed directly in the sector in the country, the majority operating illegally (without a
license or on unlicensed lands) and in very precarious conditions. The difficulty with reprimanding
these people is that many have moved into ASM out of necessity, ‘branching out’ from small-
holder farming, which in many areas of Ghana has become an unviable enterprise over the past
two decades. A case study of the Brong-Ahafo Region, the location of Ghana’s most recent gold
discoveries, is used to illustrate the growing interconnectedness between the two activities and the
imperativeness of recognizing these dynamics in policy. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Keywords: Ghana; artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM); farming; poverty
1 INTRODUCTION
In 1995, Ghana implemented its Vision 2020, a comprehensive development strategy that
aims to stabilize the country’s investment climate and transform it into a middle-income
nation by 2020. The initial strategies adopted under the Vision, consolidated in one
fairly comprehensive Program of Economic and Social Development Policies—a 5-year
(1996–2000) medium-development programme of action commonly called the ‘First
*Correspondence to: Gavin Hilson, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, The University of Reading,
Earley Gate, PO Box 237, Reading RG6 6AR, UK.
E-mail: g.m.hilson@reading.ac.uk
Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Poverty and Livelihood Diversification 1101
Step’—are mirror images of the moves made under structural adjustment: the liberaliza-
tion of markets, the privatization of industry and concurrent ‘roll back’ of the state
(Crisp and Kelly, 1999; Hutchful, 2002). There is little disputing that these sweeping
changes have somewhat stabilized Ghana’s economy, which, in combination with its
political stability, resurgent gold mining sector, vast agricultural potential and emerging
petroleum industry, make it an appealing destination for investors, and offer a rare
glimmer of hope in a region—sub-Saharan Africa—long scarred by corruption, nepo-
tism and impoverishment.
However, despite these achievements and the marked infrastructural improvements
made over the past decade, Ghana remains extremely underdeveloped. According to the
most recent Ghana Living Standards Survey, an estimated 29% of the country’s population
continues to straddle the poverty line. The situation is particularly acute in rural areas,
where more than 70% of the country’s impoverished families now reside. This poverty
is bound to intensify because of the broad economic changes brought about by the Vision
and the series of structural adjustment programmes implemented before it have, for the
most part, failed to mobilize and to sufficiently empower rural subsistence populations.
On the one hand, the country’s recent economic boom has spawned mainly ‘enclave’-type
development: ‘pockets’ of burgeoning capital-intensive activities that generate few
employment opportunities, which have failed to stimulate local economic growth and
‘kick-start’ downstream industries (Ferguson, 2006; Pegg, 2006). Most such development
is heavily disconnected from, and provides minimal benefits to, rural subsistence popula-
tions. On the other hand, simultaneous moves made specifically to tackle poverty in rural
areas of the country have had little effect. The general—and rather antiquated—approach
advocated by most donors and which continues to be heavily embraced by Ghana’s policy-
makers is the intensification of support to smallholder farmers. This assumes, however,
that (i) most people residing in rural areas engage in agriculture as a primary occupation
and (ii) with such assistance, farming on a small scale can be a viable enterprise in a lib-
eralized market.
Over the past 20 to 30 years, there has been significant preoccupation in Ghana with the
notion of ‘agriculture for development’, so much so that the work carried out under the
auspices of the Vision would become a cornerstone of the country’s Poverty Reduction
Strategy Papers (PRSPs). The resounding optimism over intensified support to farm
activities being a ‘silver bullet’ to the mounting poverty problem not only in Ghana but
also in most of sub-Saharan Africa is a policy mindset which, as Ellis (2005) points out,
‘is gaining momentum’, despite a growing body of evidence (e.g. Barrett et al., 2001;
Reardon et al., 1988) that points to families actually ‘branching out’ of agriculture. There
are now a number of what Ellis (2005) refers to as ‘agricultural sceptics’, or people who
‘see diversification as responding to the failure of agriculture under any reasonable yield
growth scenarios to generate sufficient secure livelihoods for those who currently and in
the projected future will be living in rural areas of SSA [italics added for emphasis]’. Even
if Ghana’s policymakers were able to equip rural families with the requisite expertise
and inputs to markedly increase farm yields, it would likely only partly address their
hardships. For smallholder farming to become a viable vehicle, on its own, for rural
poverty alleviation in the country, producers must be connected to international markets.
They must also be put in an improved position to compete with the multinational
corporations that now control the global agricultural trade, which the standalone support
projects being sponsored by donors and policymakers are incapable of doing on their
own. More dynamic solutions are needed if Ghana’s rural poverty problem is to be
Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Int. Dev. 23, 1100–1114 (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/jid
1102 G. Okoh and G. Hilson
addressed effectively. Taking stock of prevailing patterns of rural livelihood diversification

is an essential starting point, as it will help to identify the most viable non-farm income-
earning activities in the current economic climate.
It is against this background that the present article calls for increased attention to be
paid to the promotion and regularization of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM):
low-tech, labour-intensive mineral extraction and processing activity, which, at present,
employs in the range of one million people in the country, most whom operate without a
license (Banchirigah, 2008). A growing number of farm families have already ‘branched
out’ into ASM in all corners of Ghana—movement which, if properly supported, could
potentially alleviate significant rural poverty. Although unlicensed ASM activity, which
is known locally as galamsey,1 has rapidly expanded over the past two decades, largely
without formal support and in response to the changes induced by reforms implemented
under the auspices of structural adjustment, and subsequently the Vision and successive
PRSPs, bringing operators into the legal domain promises to be a herculean undertaking.
As will be explained, in Ghana, much like elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, ASM is
typically viewed negatively in policymaking circles and consequently features rather
peripherally in the rural development and poverty alleviation agenda. Embracing the idea
that transforming galamsey into a regularized activity is a viable avenue for rural develop-
ment will require a radical change in policy mindset. It will also require a more nuanced
understanding of the linkages between ASM and farming in the country. A case study of
the Brong-Ahafo Region, the location of some of Ghana’s most recent gold
discoveries, is used to illustrate the growing interconnectedness between the two activities.
These findings substantiate those of Banchirigah (2008), who carried out research in the
Eastern Region of the country.
2 ARTISANAL MINING, SMALLHOLDER FARMING AND POVERTY IN

RURAL GHANA: EXPLORING THE LINKAGES
Why is supporting both ASM and smallholder farming activity so important in Ghana?
Evidence points to revenues from the former now supporting the latter, generating finances
that are used by families to acquire crucial agricultural inputs such as fertilisers and
herbicides no longer subsidised by the state. Hilson (2010a) and Hilson and Garforth
(2011) capture the essence of this symbiosis. The authors report findings from research
carried out in a range of villages in Southern Ghana that point to most rural families having
abandoned smallholder farming as their viable primary source of income in favour of ASM
and subsequently ‘reorienting’ farm production to satisfy the needs of the family, not markets.
These dynamics, however, are not recognized in the Growth and Poverty Reduction
Strategy (GPRS II), Ghana’s second—and largely archaic—PRSP and at present, its main
development policy. It rather calls for the modernization of agriculture, contesting that ‘it
stands to reason therefore that no significant progress can be made in raising the average
real incomes of Ghanaians as a whole without significant improvements in the productivity
of the small-scale farmer and farm labourer’ on the grounds that ‘most of Ghana’s working
population continues to depend upon farming activities for their livelihood, and typically
. . . cultivate small acreages’ (p. viii). The argument on which this case is built, however,
is fundamentally flawed. By failing to capture the full suite of options capable of markedly
1
The literal translation is ‘gather them and sell’ (Aryee et al., 2003).
DOI: 10.1002/jid
raising living standards in rural Ghana, it has potentially misguided policy. It points out
how ‘agriculture is the highest contributor to GDP and provides employment for more
than 60% of the population’ (p. 23), when in fact GDP ‘was never intended to measure
well-being. . .[because it] fails to distinguish between costs and benefits, productive activities
and destructive ones, or sustainable and unsustainable practices’ (Maro, 2007, p. 5) and
often misinterprets engagement in an activity—in this case, farming—as being direct
employment when it is likely for subsistence purposes (Banchirigah and Hilson, 2010).
Perhaps most significantly, it contests, rather unfoundedly, that mechanization would
facilitate ‘increased productivity in agriculture [which] will ensure food security and
contribute immensely to health and well-being of the population’ when, under adjustment,
the onus has been on the poor rural Ghanaian family to mobilize the finances itself to purchase
the technologies needed for more innovative and efficient farm production, and to identify
and access markets. The key—and seriously overlooked—issue here, therefore, is that the
finances accrued from work in the ASM sector are, in several cases, helping to lubricate
smallholder farming activity.
Yet, there is no comprehensive plan or policy outlined in the PRSP for developing
ASM, in particular for promoting the regularization of gold panning and extraction
activities, which employ most operators (Banchirigah, 2008), a large share of whom oper-
ate without a license. In the country’s previous PRSP (International Monetary Fund, 2003),
An Agenda for Growth and Prosperity, the government did pledge to bring informal
miners into the legal domain because it was believed the move would alleviate significant
rural hardship:
Current mining laws tend to disproportionately favour [foreign] large-scale mining
enterprises. To address this apparent imbalance, measures will be put in place to
expand the scope and increase the support to the small and medium scale sub-sector
with the view to making it the predominant means of exploiting minerals in the long
term. These measures will include undertaking detailed geological field studies in
identified areas that have been found to be unsuitable for large-scale mining operations
and classifying areas as either suitable for either small, medium or large-scale mining
operations on the basis of geological assurance [p. 91].
However, none of this work would be carried forward under GPRS II (International
Monetary Fund, 2006), which, despite committing to develop a comprehensive Social
Protection Framework that would ‘cover the vulnerable and excluded in society’ and
‘facilitate micro-credit for small-scale informal operators’ (p. 40), fails to mention ASM
let alone its growing interconnection with smallholder farming. The initiatives pledged
under An Agenda for Growth and Prosperity have since been carried out but rather
autonomously. In 1989, Ghana legalized ASM after the implementation of the Small-Scale
Gold Mining Law and empowered the Minerals Commission, now the country’s chief
mining policy body, to award licenses and monitor the sector’s activities. Most of the
aforementioned have been, and continue to be, carried out under the auspices of the
Small-Scale Mining Unit of the Commission and its district centres (field offices) but at
the same time—and as noted—outside the realm of the country’s major decision-making
machinery.
The continued omission of ASM from the country’s mainstream development policy is
a reflection of the government’s rather ambivalent position hitherto on the idea of promoting
its regularization. Specifically, despite mounting evidence that the growth of ASM—
particularly its unlicensed, informal branches—is linked to household-level hardship in
DOI: 10.1002/jid
Ghana (Bush, 2009; Hilson, 2010b) and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa (Childs, 2008;
Clifford, 2010; Kamlongera and Hilson, 2011), the government has been reluctant to embrace
the idea that the sector is ‘poverty driven’. The country’s policymakers have rather stubbornly
clung to the view that most individuals pursue work at ASM camps exclusively because of a
desire to ‘get rich quick’. Despite the diligent efforts of the Commission to formalize ASM
activities, there continues to be a stigma attached to small-scale mining in Ghana, which, in
large part, is perpetuated by the local media’s condemning spin on the ‘get rich quick’
narrative. Consequently, the division between licensed small-scale mining and galamsey
has become noticeably blurred.
Over the past decade, grievances toward ASM in Ghana have mounted for two reasons,
which are perhaps best captured by the dynamics that have emerged in the country’s
Eastern and Brong-Ahafo Regions. Up until only recently, these were two of the country’s
relatively ‘virgin’ galamsey territories but are today two of its major ASM ‘hotspots’. The
first is the sector’s predominantly illegal nature and the problems that result from this: the
emergence of makeshift communities or settlements characterized by, inter alia, significant
prostitution, excessive violence and widespread narcotics consumption, and which tend
to attract several people of school-attending ages (Banchirigah, 2008; Hilson, 2010b;
Yakovleva 2007). Local government officers and traditional leaders, many of whom have
repeatedly appealed to the country’s leaders for assistance, are ill-equipped for dealing
with these problems. These issues have heavily preoccupied the media, however, as
suggested by the following headlines:
• ‘Galamsey’, threatening development in East Akim Municipality2
• Eastern Regional Security Council takes on ‘galamsey’ operators3
• Ghana: Galamsey operators in Eastern Region warned4
A second and interrelated reason is the sector’s significant environmental footprint.
Because of the ‘hit and miss’ nature of its activities and there being very little security
of tenure for its operators, ASM tends to be very environmentally destructive. Reflecting
on this phenomenon and the public response it has elicited, Tschakert and Singha (2007)
coined the phrase ‘contaminated identities’, a double entendre that captures the essence
of the polluting nature of galamsey activities on the one hand and the negative perception
of artisanal miners resonating in policymaking circles on the other hand.
There must be significant detachment from this policy mindset, however, if
comprehensive solutions to the Ghana’s mounting rural poverty problem are to be
conceived. An essential first step is coming to grips with why ASM is growing so rapidly
nationwide and, perhaps most importantly, why its existence has become so essential
to the survival of the country’s smallholder farming sector. Ironically, and as will be
explained, it has been decades of impoverished policies—namely, the outcomes of
decisions made by the Ghanaian Government—that have created the economic conditions
that have driven so many subsistence rural populations to ‘branch out’ into more remu-
nerative ASM activities.
2
Available at http://www.modernghana.com/news/242685/1/galamsey-threatening-development-in-east-akim-
muni.html (accessed 2 July 2011).
3
Available at http://www.modernghana.com/news/252277/1/eastern-regional-security-council-takes-on-galamse.
html (accessed 2 July 2011).
4
Available at http://portaltoafrica.com/news/africa/general/galamsey-operators-in-eastern-region-warned/
(accessed 2 July 2011).
DOI: 10.1002/jid
3. THE POLICY DISCONNECTION
In late 2006, Ghana’s Ministry of National Security initiated a nationwide ‘sweep’ of

galamsey activities. Referred to locally as ‘Stop Illegal Mining’ and in policymaking
circles as ‘Operation Flush-Out’, the then NPP Government coordinated what would
become a military-led campaign that culminated in widespread destruction and violence
in several rural areas. The stated aim was to remove galamsey operators from lands that
had been demarcated to foreign mining companies. Peter Bradford, who, at the time,
was the president and chief executive officer of Golden Star Resources, a company with
contiguous concessions in the Western Region of the country, praised the move:
Illegal miners are not governed by rules and regulation, use mercury to recover the
gold and are not accountable for the environmental degradation or reclamation.
The recent damage to the Bondaye shaft on our Prestea property underscores the
adverse effect that illegal mining can have on the health and safety of our employees,
the local community and the illegal miners themselves.5
Companies such as Golden Star Resources and sections of the Ghanaian Government,
however, have been quick to forget how legal ASM activity is a relatively recent
phenomenon in the country. It is not the intention here to condone illegal ASM because a
legislative framework is now in place for the sector. But what cannot be overlooked is that
the current blueprint for large-scale mine development in place in Ghana was superimposed,
and has fuelled the expansion of activities in a landscape that was already harbouring signifi-
cant mining operations. Most these were small and artisanal in scale.
The policy landscape changed in 1989 after the implementation of the Small-Scale Gold
Mining Law (PNDCL 218). Before engaging in activity, all prospective small-scale miners
must now secure a license that must be approved by the relevant ministers. However, what
is often forgotten is that the mining sector reform exercise began 3 years prior (in 1986)
when the Minerals and Mining Law (PNDCL 153) was passed, the aim of which was to
attract foreign investment to develop large-scale gold exploration and extraction activities.
Vast tracts of lands would be awarded to countless companies in a policy process that
heavily overlooked small-scale gold miners. The implications of this key omission were
highlighted recently in an online forum:
. . .the PNDC law 153 failed to take into consideration the activities of small-scale
illegal gold miners locally known as ‘Galamsey’ operators, who are scattered across
various gold mining communities in the country. Galamsey, literally a local artisan
or small-scale gold miner, have been in existence since gold was discovered in the
former ‘Gold Coast’, but the practice has grown in recent years as result of land-use
conflicts coupled with other socio-economic factors.6
What is also overlooked by the policymakers and private sector partners who continue
to condemn galamsey activity is that up until this time, unregulated artisanal gold mining
was a popular economic activity in Ghana and had been for centuries. It is believed that as
far back as the 6th century, precious minerals were being mined by artisanal means in what
are now the country’s territories, attracting scores of Arab merchants—mainly Moor and
5
Available at http://www.thestatesmanonline.com/pages/news_detail.php?section=2&newsid=1231 (accessed
4 July 2011).
6
Available at http://www.azibopress.org/?p=803 (accessed 15 June 2011).
DOI: 10.1002/jid
Phoenician traders—and in the process, stimulating a vibrant trans-Saharan trade. The first
European explorers to land in the area in the 15th and 16th centuries proceeded to label the
region the ‘Gold Coast’ in recognition of abundant gold reserves. The customary use of
gold as regalia by the chieftaincy institution in Ghana meant that traditional leaders were
already actively engaged in mining in their respective areas. Artisanal activities little
different from the galamsey scattered across Ghana today provided a steady stream of
gold supplies for chiefs and local trade throughout the pre-colonial period.
For the government and private sector partners to suddenly maintain that all
artisanal mining carried out without a license is illegal and must therefore be prevented—
by force if necessary—from expanding would be to deny this very culturally relevant history.
It more importantly epitomizes the hypocrisy of the government’s stance on ASM: it is
effectively condemning an activity which it has, in fact, created. As the aforementioned
quotation indicates, by the time the government had implemented the Small-Scale Gold
Mining Law in 1989, significant parcels of land had already been demarcated to large foreign
companies. This has diminished opportunities considerably for prospective small-scale
licensees. Conservative estimates indicate that at present, at least 12% of the country’s land
is now under concession to large-scale mining companies (Ghana Chamber of Mines,
2006), an expansive, perpetually expanding territory that includes several large individual
plots (Table 1).
The recent rapid growth of galamsey activity in Ghana, therefore, is owed to a combination
of factors. These include the following: (i) there simply being no land available for
prospective small-scale miners to secure a license to operate legally; (ii) that—and as already
explained—in the prevailing economic climate, ASM is far more remunerative than activities
such as smallholder farming; and (iii) that with the sector’s low barriers to entry and its long
history, in times of economic uncertainty, there is a fair degree of comfort with mining
because people are ‘doing what they know’. Drawing upon findings from research carried
out in the Brong-Ahafo Region, one of Ghana’s newest galamsey ‘hotspots’, the section that
follows provides an extended analysis of the linkages between ASM and subsistence
agriculture in the country.
4 TRANSITIONAL LIVELIHOODS IN THE BRONG-AHAFO REGION OF

GHANA: A CASE STUDY OF ASUTIFI DISTRICT
The Brong-Ahafo Region is one of Ghana’s agricultural ‘breadbaskets’, producing

approximately 30% of the nation’s food. Established in 1959, the region covers an area
of approximately 40,000 km2, has as its capital the rapidly growing town of Sunyani and
is home to 1.8 million people.7 Brong-Ahafo is partitioned into 19 districts, one of which
is Asutifi, which has become a mining district almost overnight (Figure 1).
Asutifi District has long been known for its agriculture, an activity that traditionally has
engaged 80% of its people. In recent years, however, the dynamics of the district—and the
wider Brong-Ahafo region, for that matter—have changed. In 2006, the Ahafo Mine, a
large-scale gold extraction project owned by the US-based multinational Newmont Gold
Mining, commenced operation. In July 2000, Newmont acquired Australian-based
Normandy Mining Company, which at the time had a range of Greenfield developments in
7
Available at http://www.modernghana.com/GhanaHome/regions/brongahafo.asp?menu_id=6&menu_id2=
14&sub_menu_id=134&gender= (accessed 14 June 2011).
DOI: 10.1002/jid
Table 1. Selected companies with gold mining leases in Ghanaa

Name of company Size (km2) Location Region
43.38 Odumase
45.60 Adanse
Golden Star (Wassa) Ltd 15.66 Accra Newtown Western
24.05 Dwaben Mpohor
40
Chirano Gold Mines Ltd 54.2 Chirano Western
52.13 Amafie Western
Golden Star(Bogoso/Prestea) Ltd 58.52 Bogoso
138.09 Bawdie
43.20 Asikuma
59.49 Mansiso
129.30 Wasa Akropong Western
45.6 Adaase Central
3861.58 Adubrim Western
1282.43 Breman
129.3 Asikuma
70.78 Takoradi, Akyempim,
Adubrim
Golden Star (Wassa) Ltd 39.7 Ateiku and Twifu, Mampon Central
54.30 Epieso, Wassa Brong Ahafo
Gold Fields Exploration Ltd 128.30 Breman Western
117.74 Zuarungu Upper East
1650.50 Kukua/Wulugu Upper
397.6 Wenchi East/Northern
Brong Ahafo
391.6 Nkwanten
144.83 Goaso
125.70 Akim
71.50 Abodom
74.98 Maman River
Newmont Ghana Gold Ltd 23.16 Goaso Central
111.16 Nyamibe Eastern
549.9 Afia
222.72 Tafo
1058.62 Nkokoso
59.48 East Ashanti
75.02 Abirem
795.8 Dekyem
149.60 Goa
28.46 Hotopo
814.9 Nkrabea
114.9 Winneba
78.97 Kukuom
73.40 Mampehia
83.75 Tanoso
78.96 Bomaa
97.32 Sankore
189.5 Obogu
68.7 Adwufia
23.00 Subin Kasu
Brong Ahafo
(Continues)
DOI: 10.1002/jid
Table 1. (Continued)
Name of company Size (km2) Location Region
Ashanti
Ashanti
AngloGold Ashanti (Ghana) Ltd 334.27 Obuasi
50.00 Fiankuma 1
50.00 Fiankuma 2
40.00 Fiankuma 3 Ashanti
Central
31.53 Mpesetia
1.8 Kubi West
Anglogold Ashanti Ltd(formerly GAG) 48.34 Ajopa Western
29.45 Ajopa
Anglogold Ashanti Ltd (formerly Teberebie) 23.83 Teberebie Western
15.20 Teberebie
2.00 Mantraim North
Anglogold Ashanti Ltd (GAG) 34.76 Iduapirem Western
Central African Gold Ghana Ltd 49.82 Bibiani Western
(Anglo Gold Ashanti (Bibiani Ltd)
Chirano Gold Mines Ltd 36 Chirano Western
Gold Fields Ghana Ltd 45.74 Tarkwa
42.99 Tarkwa
22.61 Abosso Western
43.38 Tarkwa
49.50 Tarkwa
Golden Star (Wassa) Ltd 50 Subri Western
Central
Golden Star (Bogoso/Prestea) Ltd 45.00 Bogoso
50.00 Bogoso Western
120.05 Prestea
5.82 Adamanso
50 Pampe
Newmont Ghana Gold Ltd 281.49 Yamfo
78.6 Kenyasi Brong Ahafo
11.79 Goa
a
Minerals Commission data.
Ghana, one of which would yield the Ahafo Mine. Located close to 300 km from Accra and
55 km from Sunyani, the project, at present, comprises three open pits, with reserves
contained in 17 pits.8 A study carried out by the Newmont project team (Newmont Gold
Ghana Ltd, 2009) revealed that 97% of the people within the catchment area of the
Ahafo project view agriculture as their main income-earning activity. However, the acqui-
sition of arable lands by the company has rendered many of these people landless and
deprived them of their primary livelihood, forcing them to turn elsewhere for their
incomes.
This section of the article reports preliminary findings from research being conducted in
two communities in Asutifi District that have embraced ASM in response to challenges
facing smallholder farming: Sikamenaso and Woromso. Feedback from interviews and
8
Available at http://www.infomine.com/users/Ahafo/ (accessed 13 July 2011).
DOI: 10.1002/jid
Figure 1. Location of Asutifi District, Ghana.
focus group discussions conducted between January and May 2011 are drawn upon to
illustrate how diversified livelihood portfolios—ASM and smallholder activity—are
helping local populations to cope with poverty in the district. Sikamenaso and Woromso
were purposively selected on the basis of their large populations and the scale of their
artisanal mining activities. A total of 36 and 30 respondents were interviewed at
Sikamenaso and Woromso, respectively, a group which included pit owners, opinion
leaders and full-time farmers. Focus groups were also conducted at each of the sites. Each
consisted of 15 discussants aged between 18 and 55 years; participants were selected using
a snowball sampling technique and included an array of people, including full-time small-
scale miners, ASM committee executives, land owners, farmers and opinion leaders. Each
lasted for approximately one and a half hours, and all proceedings were video and audio
recorded. Follow-up surveys with 100 small-scale miners and other community members
were carried out at the conclusion of all focus group discussions.
The discussion that follows reports initial findings and draws preliminary conclusions
from this ongoing research.
DOI: 10.1002/jid
4.1 Overview
Before the discovery of gold by Normandy Mining, Asutifi had no history of mining. The
main source of income, as noted, was farming, although a range of other activities, including
hunting, livestock rearing, palm oil extraction and petty trading did provide some supplemen-
tary income. Before the emergence of ASM activity in the district, more than 80% of the
population depended exclusively upon farming for their incomes. Up until the early 1980s,
when wild bushfires had swept across Western Ghana, the district was one of the country’s
largest producers of cocoa. The resulting decline in cocoa production forced most of the
district’s smallholders to ‘branch out’ into the cultivation of food crops such as maize, plantain
and oil palm. Poor access to markets and low prices for this produce, coupled with increased
costs of living induced by the structural adjustment policies implemented in the 1980s and
1990s (Banchirigah, 2006), however, have brought about unprecedented levels of poverty in
the district and surrounding localities. These conditions led many of the Brong-Ahafo Region’s
youth to migrate to cities such as Kumasi and Accra in search of greener pastures.
The occupational vacuum created by deepened poverty resulting from the 1983 bush fires
and a deteriorating smallholder farming sector was quickly filled by ASM. At present, there
are in the range of 10,000 people engaged in ASM in Asutifi District (population 85,000). The
speed at which ASM activities have emerged over such a short period in the locality has been
nothing short of remarkable. Pilot research confirms that despite the district’s long history of
smallholder farming, for many residents, ASM has become the primary economic activity. A
combination of a high market price for gold, low entry barriers to activities, a ready market for
product and the promise of rapid returns have attracted scores of the district’s youth to ASM.
During interviews, miners in the communities of Sikamenaso and Woromso expressed exci-
tement and satisfaction over their gains. They recounted the level of poverty in their commu-
nities before the discovery of gold in the district. Some claimed that they could not even send
their children to school because the income from farming was so meagre that it could not even
provide for the basic necessities of life. Although ASM has changed the economic terrain of
the community, there continues to be considerable policy resistance towards embracing it
as an alternative to smallholder farming both locally and nationally. Yet, if given the
opportunity, many residents claimed they would be willing to risk acquiring a reputation if
it meant netting them finances that can help their families. This message was made very clear
during an interview with a miner at Woromso:
I have been a farmer in this community for twenty years but could not afford my
children school fees let alone buying a car tyre. But look at this KIA truck standing
there . . . it is a product of my labour in galamsey for just eight months. So I do not
understand why people look down upon galamsey in this country.
As noted, however, there has been some resistance in the region towards embracing
ASM. Cognizant of the region’s history, some families have been reluctant to abandon
their farming practices for ASM.
4.2 Artisanal Mining and Smallholder Farming: A Path-Dependency Continuum

in Brong-Ahafo?
As noted, Brong-Ahafo has not always been a mining community. For generations, agricul-
ture has been the main occupation in the district. As was also explained, Ahafo is one of the
DOI: 10.1002/jid
country’s agricultural ‘breadbaskets’. Farming is so deeply engrained in the region’s culture

that some indigenes completely ignore and abhor the practice of ASM, uninfluenced by the
potential rapid gains from the sector. On the one hand, some indigenes claimed they have
become so attached to farming that no amount of monetary gains from any other non-farm
livelihood—ASM included—could convince them to abandon agriculture. These ‘die-hard’
farmers side with policymakers. Specifically, they perceive ASM in a negative light and
are adamantly against promoting its development in Asutifi. This position was captured in
an interview with one of the township’s sub-chiefs:
. . .farming has been the main occupation in this community for centuries. We the elders
and the youth of this community have vowed not to allow any galamsey activity on our
land. About two years ago some criminals had wanted to practice galamsey here
but were driven out by the youth. We do not want our youth to engage in that dirty
activity. Go to Kenyasi and other places where the chiefs have allowed galamsey to
be practiced, and see for yourself the level of hunger: people have abandoned farming
for galamsey, thus causing scarcity of food in those areas. Our forefathers were farmers
and we shall continue to do our farming. We will not sacrifice our farming tradition for
the sake of prosperity. It is only the lazy people who do not want to farm who complain
about poverty [sub-chief of Ntotoroso, Asutifi district].
On the other hand, results from the pilot survey reveal that more than 70% of artisanal
miners in Asutifi District are migrant miners from Tarkwa, Obuasi, and other tra-
ditional ASM ‘hotspots’ in the country—generally, people whose great grandparents were
engaged in the sector and who are in possession of little knowledge outside of mining. This
corroborates the path-dependency hypothesis, which holds to the concept of ‘stickiness’ of
reputation. Path dependency provides a plausible theoretical framework for historical
institutionalism (Hechter and Kanazawa, 1997). Smallholder farmers’ resistance to switching
to ASM in Asutifi District can be explained as a continuous use of a practice based on his-
torical preference and reputation. It is in reference to the tendency of actors to remain com-
mitted to a particular practice, even when newer and potentially more efficient activities
emerge, due to previous commitments made to old practices (Schwartz, 2004). Although
ASM is believed to be more lucrative than farming, some Ahafo farmers are simply too
committed to, and immersed in, their work irrespective of the opportunity costs.
4.3 Artisanal Mining and Smallholder Farming in Brong-Ahafo: A Virtuous Circle

of Dependency and Sustenance?
Another angle to the ASM versus farming debate centres on the interdependency of the
two economic activities. The situation as it pertains to Ahafo is that there is another group
of indigenes who combine the two occupations. These farmers have not necessarily aban-
doned farming altogether but switch to ASM during the off-farming season to keep them-
selves occupied and at the same time, make some money to supplement income from
farming. These dynamics were captured in an interview with a native of Woromso:
I have cleared my farmland awaiting the rains to set in so that I will go back and
cultivate the crops. I have been at this mining site since the beginning of the dry
season, and I am happy to tell you that I have made some money to supplement my
income from farming. Even the money I used in hiring labour to clear my farmland
was made here in mining. I will say farming is good but mining too is good provided
DOI: 10.1002/jid
you have the strength to mine. Unlike farming, mining requires more strength, courage
and energy. I know the gold in the land will get finished one day but farming is there
forever, that is the reason why I will never dream of abandoning farming in my life.
There is also a strong belief that ASM activity has made Asutifi District very vibrant
economically, and as a result, farmers are able to fetch fair market prices for their produce.
Farmers hitherto were forced to transport their crops to the country’s commercial centres,
notably Kumasi and Sunyani, where they incurred high transportation costs and received
low prices. The ready markets and the good market conditions that have emerged over
the past decade have motivated many indigenes to expand their farms.
Not only have farmers benefited from a rapidly expanding ASM sector, but food
vendors, petty traders, transporters and other rural businesses are also flourishing in the
district. This explanation debunks the perception that the emergence of ASM has seen peo-
ple abandoning agriculture outright, resulting in shortages of food and consequently caus-
ing prices to soar for foodstuffs. It has long been established that the rising costs of food in the
Asutifi District is being driven by high demand brought about by ASM activity. This raises an
important question: given the effect ASM is having in districts such as Asutifi, why does the
industry continue to be overlooked in Ghana’s rural development policy machinery?
5 CONCLUSION
This article has critically reflected on the socio-economic importance of ASM in rural
Ghana—an issue heavily overlooked by the country’s policymakers. The article first
examined the implications of this policy disconnect, namely, the failure to take stock of
how scores of rural Ghanaians now have diversified livelihood portfolios, engaging in both
ASM and smallholder activity. A case study of the Asutifi District was used to illustrate
this diversification. Many residents of Asutifi in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana have
embraced ASM as a complementary source of income to smallholder farming. One miner
interviewed in Sikamenaso reflected on the current dynamic situation in the district:
We the indigenes of this area never knew of gold mining until Newmont’s exploration.
It was Newmont which discovered gold in this district. Before then we were doing our
farming and did never dream of galamsey in our village. Now they have taken over our
lands, destroyed our crops, and they are mining all the gold in the soil, meanwhile
cocoa is not doing well here these days as it used to be some time ago due to over-use
of the land and climate change. So, some of us saw the need to invest in artisanal
mining to help us have a livelihood. You will also notice that Newmont failed to
employ our youth, so there is the need to do this business so that we can create
employment for our youth and maintain our farms. I am a farmer, but how much crop
can I harvest to enable me to cater for over the sixty dependants of mine? I see galamsey
as better economic activity than farming, and that is why I have invested in it.
Much can be learned from studying these dynamics further. Supporting the ASM
smallholder farming symbiosis now widespread in Ghana can go a long way towards
alleviating the country’s mounting rural poverty problem. The current level and type of
support being provided to smallholder farming is incapable of tackling rural poverty on
its own. The key lies in regularizing ASM, which would provide individuals with more
security of tenure and therefore, a platform from which to leverage further support.
DOI: 10.1002/jid
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Journal of International Development

J. Int. Dev. 23, 1100–1114 (2011)

POVERTY AND LIVELIHOOD

Keywords: Ghana; artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM); farming; poverty

Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

addressed effectively. Taking stock of prevailing patterns of rural livelihood diversiﬁcation

2 ARTISANAL MINING, SMALLHOLDER FARMING AND POVERTY IN

3. THE POLICY DISCONNECTION

In late 2006, Ghana’s Ministry of National Security initiated a nationwide ‘sweep’ of

4 TRANSITIONAL LIVELIHOODS IN THE BRONG-AHAFO REGION OF

The Brong-Ahafo Region is one of Ghana’s agricultural ‘breadbaskets’, producing

Table 1. Selected companies with gold mining leases in Ghanaa

Figure 1. Location of Asutiﬁ District, Ghana.

4.2 Artisanal Mining and Smallholder Farming: A Path-Dependency Continuum

country’s agricultural ‘breadbaskets’. Farming is so deeply engrained in the region’s culture

4.3 Artisanal Mining and Smallholder Farming in Brong-Ahafo: A Virtuous Circle

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