Abstract:
Gold mining is a very important segment of the extractive sector but has one of
the most serious and disastrous environmental consequences; conflicting with
the livelihood and cocoa production and survival of resident communities. This
research was conducted in Amansie West district of Ghana to assess the effect of
small scale illegal mining (Galamsey), its impact on cocoa production and livelihoods.
The modified random sampling technique was used. Data collected was analyzed with
Statistical Package for Social Scientist (SPSS) software. Descriptive statistics tools
were used for the data analysis. The study revealed that many inhabitants in the
communities face several challenges from small scale mining activities such as water
pollution from excessive use of chemicals, air pollution and land degradation from
indiscriminate heavy use of machines. Cocoa farmers have also observed early
dropping of immature pods, wilting, yellowing of leaves and low yield on cocoa
produce. Majority of the youth opined that their engagement in the Galamsey
activities is as a result of unemployment; desire to get quick money and the fact
that cocoa farming is seen as a job or business that does not pay well. The study
advocates for drastic government and media support aim at educating the youth and
the various small scale mining communities about the repercussions on
indiscriminate destruction of farm land (especially cocoa production) and a lot of
adverts on television and radio to create awareness on the dangers that Galamsey
poses to the cocoa sector which is the mainstay of the economy and an aggressive land
reclamation campaign.
Description:
A Dissertation in the Department of Management Studies, Faculty of Business
Education, Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, University of
Education, Winneba, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of
Master of Business Administration (Organizational Behaviour and Human
Resource) Degree.
