Land Disputes in Ghana Mining Project
Lead Researchers:
Dr Gavin Hilson (project coordinator), Dr Natalia Yakovleva, Heledd Jenkins, and Louise Obara, of the BRASS Centre, with assistance from Dr. Frank Nyame and Dr. Thomas Akabzaa from the Department of Geology at the University of Ghana.
Background
This research comes at a time when the global mining industry, in response to heightened global awareness of sustainability, environmental and ethical issues, has begun to pay more attention to issues of corporate social responsibility (CSR). A number of factors have contributed to CSR becoming a priority concern for the mining sector, including the finite nature of non-renewables, the diverse environmental impacts associated with their extraction and use, the economic importance of primary extraction industries in some countries, conflicts with indigenous peoples, and the social and environmental impacts on local communities associated with mining activities.
Small-scale illegal miners (galamsey) in Ghana
In their efforts to embrace CSR, mining companies are challenged with balancing the diverse demands of communities, the environment and the economy. In doing so, companies must identify the interests, concerns and objectives of various stakeholders (including national, regional government, local authorities, indigenous people, local communities, employees and competitors) and address their often-varying needs 1. This has proven most difficult in the developing world, where political instability, a lack of government presence, impoverished regulations, and low levels of monitoring have put the onus of responsibility on mining companies to ensure that positive relations with communities are established and maintained.
In recent years, a number of multinational mining corporations have rapidly expanded their operations into rural reaches of the developing world, attracted by highly-liberalised investment regimes 2. As a precondition for securing World Bank and IMF loans, recipient governments in mainly developing countries have had to divest state mineral assets, privatise large-scale mining operations, and implement favourable mineral taxation and investment policies. Under liberalisation, amicable relations with indigenous communities have become a priority concern in the mining sector 3, which has become a major area of focus in discussions on globalisation.
Ghana is one such country that has undergone a lengthy structural adjustment programme under the auspices of the World Bank. Reforming the mining sector was seen by the World Bank as a key factor in attempts to alleviate the economic crisis in Ghana at that time. Since the mid 1980s the Government has privatised its large-scale mining sector, attracting over $4 million in foreign investment for the development and expansion of large-scale gold mining and explorations activities alone 4. It has also legalised small-scale mining, implementing a streamlined licensing process in 1989 for indigenous grassroots operators (see Diagram 1). In response to the nation’s escalated levels of unemployment, several small-scale mining communities – comprised mainly of individuals carrying out illegal mining activities without licenses – have surfaced, operating alongside the country’s large-scale mining companies and licensed small-scale miners. It is estimated, for example, that as many as 85 per cent of the country’s artisanal and small-scale gold miners are galamsey who, for a number of reasons, have opted to remain unregistered 5. The rationales for this are varied and include
“insufficient institutional support, complications with the registration process, and the presence of uncooperative large-scale mining companies” 6
The ensuing rapid influx of large-scale mechanised mining activity, and concurrent efforts to formalise and regularise artisanal and small-scale mining, have led to disputes regarding land rights, access and resources between large-scale mining companies, small-scale miners and the Ghanaian Government (see Diagram 2). The Western Region of Ghana - the location of 50 per cent of the country’s gold mines – has been especially prone to these disputes, resulting in heightened tension in the area. Thus, one of the more serious CSR policy challenges faced by governments in mineral-rich developing countries, Ghana included, is the equitable resolution of disputes between small-scale and large-scale miners.
The disputes and tensions between the Government, large-scale mining companies and small-scale licensed/illegal miners have been well documented in the literature, yet their causes continue to be poorly understood. This project seeks to explore these complex relationships in order to understand and critically assess the illegal mining debate in Ghana. Furthermore, analysis of the data collected in Ghana will provide much- needed generic information relating to large-scale mining by multinational companies based in developing countries. To date, many of the studies carried out on CSR in the mining sector have focussed on companies operating in developed countries, such as Canada, US and Australia 7. Of the minimal research that has been conducted in developing countries, the majority has occurred post-incident/mine closure; therefore, there is a need for an assessment of the performance of segments of the mining industry in developing countries.
1 Guerra, M.C.G. (2002), ‘Community Relations in Mineral Development Projects’. The CEPMLP Internet Journal, 11:1-31
2 Warhurst, A. and Insor, R. 1996. Environmental issues for developing countries arising from liberalized trade in the mining industry. Natural Resources Forum 20(1): 27-35.
3 MMSD (Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development Project) 2002. Breaking new ground: mining, minerals and sustainable development: the report of the MMSD Project. Earthscan, London.
4 Hilson, G., Potter, C. 2003. Why is illegal gold mining activity so ubiquitous throughout rural Ghana? African Development Review 15(2): 237-270.
5 ibid
6 Ibid pp265-266
7 see Annandale, D. (2000), ‘Mining company approaches to environmental approvals regulation: a survey of senior environment managers in Canadian firms’. Resources Policy, 26(1): 51-59, Warhurst, A and Mitchell, P. (2000), ‘Corporate social responsibility and the case of the Summitville mine’. Resources Policy, 26(2): 91-102, Martinez-Alier, J. (2001), ‘Mining conflicts, environmental justice and valuation’. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 86(2): 153-170, Moore, S.A., Jennings, S and Tacey, W.H. (2001), ‘Achieving Sustainable Natural Resource Management Outcomes on the Ground: the Key Elements of Stakeholder Involvement’. Australian Journal of Environmental Management, 9(2), Cragg, W and Greenbaum, A. (2002,) ‘Reasoning about responsibilities: Mining company managers on what stakeholders are owed’. Journal of Business Ethics, 39(3): 319-335.
