Richard Oppong Ntiri, Sabina Appiah-Boateng, Frederick Koomson
{"title":"Beyond the numbers: Group formation in the artisanal and small-scale mining in Ghana","authors":"Richard Oppong Ntiri, Sabina Appiah-Boateng, Frederick Koomson","doi":"10.1016/j.wdp.2023.100538","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The dramatic increase in Artisanal and Small-scale gold mining (ASM) in the developing world, especially sub-Saharan Africa, is not a happenstance. This has been due to the steady decline in livelihoods based on agriculture and the increasing destitution of many households in these areas. In Ghana, the ASM sector is ever-expanding, providing direct employment for many individuals. The nature of the activity, however, is labour-intensive and thus requires the miners to collaborate and work in groups. Even though traditionally, numbers have mattered in group formation, this paper argues that size is not a critical consideration in forming mining groups. Based on fieldwork in the Birim North District of Ghana using focus group discussions and interviews, the paper found that issues of leadership, reciprocity, trust, and mutual respect are instrumental in forming ASM groups. Not discounting the strengthening of their bonds through multiple locations, the respondents are empathic that rather than size, issues of leadership qualities and conformity to rules and arrangements are vital considerations for group formation. It is recommended that stakeholders take a critical look at ASM to sanitise and improve the perception of the ASM miners as they are well-organised. Still, if they have internal structures which are well organised, they can be relied upon in a comprehensive sanitization.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":37831,"journal":{"name":"World Development Perspectives","volume":"32 ","pages":"Article 100538"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2023-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"World Development Perspectives","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452292923000541","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"DEVELOPMENT STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The dramatic increase in Artisanal and Small-scale gold mining (ASM) in the developing world, especially sub-Saharan Africa, is not a happenstance. This has been due to the steady decline in livelihoods based on agriculture and the increasing destitution of many households in these areas. In Ghana, the ASM sector is ever-expanding, providing direct employment for many individuals. The nature of the activity, however, is labour-intensive and thus requires the miners to collaborate and work in groups. Even though traditionally, numbers have mattered in group formation, this paper argues that size is not a critical consideration in forming mining groups. Based on fieldwork in the Birim North District of Ghana using focus group discussions and interviews, the paper found that issues of leadership, reciprocity, trust, and mutual respect are instrumental in forming ASM groups. Not discounting the strengthening of their bonds through multiple locations, the respondents are empathic that rather than size, issues of leadership qualities and conformity to rules and arrangements are vital considerations for group formation. It is recommended that stakeholders take a critical look at ASM to sanitise and improve the perception of the ASM miners as they are well-organised. Still, if they have internal structures which are well organised, they can be relied upon in a comprehensive sanitization.
期刊介绍:
World Development Perspectives is a multi-disciplinary journal of international development. It seeks to explore ways of improving human well-being by examining the performance and impact of interventions designed to address issues related to: poverty alleviation, public health and malnutrition, agricultural production, natural resource governance, globalization and transnational processes, technological progress, gender and social discrimination, and participation in economic and political life. Above all, we are particularly interested in the role of historical, legal, social, economic, political, biophysical, and/or ecological contexts in shaping development processes and outcomes.