THE IMPACT OF CHINA’S BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE ON ZAMBIA

History of Development Aid from China to Africa 

China began cultivating relationships with most African countries from the 1960s when many nations on the continent started gaining independence from colonial powers.  Beijing has conventionally presented itself as the largest developing country, partnering other developing nations for their mutual interest and not a donor. Perhaps the most significant event that laid the foundation for the current China-Africa relations is the November 2006 China-Africa summit that was held in Beijing, King (2007). An overwhelming number of African states, 48 were at this high-level conference. The Chinese government pledged its unflinching development assistance to African countries by increasing its support to countries by 100 percent in 2009, offering $3 billion preferential loans and another $2 billion special export buyer’s credit on better terms and more importantly offered debt relief to Highly Indebted Poor and less developed countries on the continent, China Foreign Affairs Ministry (2006). 

 

In spite of all these significant investments and China’s deliberate attempt to project itself as a peer which has the interest of these countries at heart, it does not appear to have a favorable image among all the countries on the continent. The Center for Democratic Development’s Afro barometer survey in 2016 revealed that Tunisia, Ghana, and Madagascar had a negative view about China’s investments on the African continent (Breuer, 2017).  

 

China introduced the One Belt, One Road initiative (OBOR) in 2013, to build an infrastructure network coupled with an economic belt from China, transcending Central Asia to Europe to Africa. The OBOR initiative is equally aimed at building mutually beneficial relations among countries in trade, technology, environmental sustainability, and counterterrorism.  

 

Avid critics of the Belt and Road initiative have argued it is a grand scheme to only further the interest of Beijing. Breuer (2017), contends that Zambia, Djibouti, Egypt, Tanzania, and Ethiopia which have been described as hotspots of Belt and Road countries in Africa, are of strategic essence to China’s Maritime Silk Road due to their physical location. China is not only making significant investments in ports, roads, railways, in East Africa and Southern Africa but West Africa as well, which costs are borne by the respective countries, but Beijing stands to benefit from these projects the most in the long run. For instance, China Merchants Holding International have not only funded the construction of Djibouti’s Doraleh port but ports in Togo, Nigeria, all in West Africa.  Linking ports from coast to coast within the continent, provides China an opportunity to conveniently transport most of its raw materials, and most significantly as argued again by Breuer (2017), Africa serves as a huge export market for China as it is increasingly taking over the production of several goods that were traditionally produced on the continent.

 

The Zambian Experience with Belt & Road Initiative

 

Zambia begun a massive infrastructural drive in 2014 that saw the country put up nearly 20 huge infrastructure projects mainly financed by Beijing through a bilateral agreement through the Belt & Road Initiative at a cost of about $9 billion dollars. All these projects including the expansion of the country’s biggest airport, a construction a new airport, building of new stadia were constructed by Chinese companies with Chinese experts, while the menial jobs were left for locals. In effect, though Zambians are going to spend years paying for the projects, a huge part of the money for the project that could have stayed in the hands of qualified Zambian professionals, was sent back to China. 

Zambia's President Edgar Lungu, with China's President Xi Jinping, in Beijing, China, Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018. (Nicolas Asfouri/Pool Photo via AP)

That notwithstanding, some of the projects which have spiraled Zambia’s debt to China have been described as “White Elephant Projects”. For instance, the Chinese through its Belt and Road Initiative constructed a 40,000-seater stadium at a cost of 65 million dollars. The stadium reportedly barely attracts more than 5,000 spectators (Orr, 2020). Zambia’s current debt to Chinese entities stands at about $3 billion which the country is struggling to pay. The Southern African country has tried to renegotiate to refinance its ballooning debt to China. But this move has been met with fierce resistance from China.  

Some economists have predicted Chinese firms intend to liquidate many assets including Zambia’s huge copper mine. China’s growing influence in Zambia has surpassed infrastructure or taking control of the country’s natural resources. Chinese media conglomerate, Star Times, now holds a 60 percent stake in Zambia’s state broadcaster, ZNBC. There are heightening concerns that China will take over the country’s electricity company and its biggest airport in the capital, Lusaka, with Zambia struggling to meet its debt obligations to China (Anoba, 2018).

 

Ceelo and Nakamba-Kabaso (2018), argue there has been a longstanding uneasiness about China-Zambia relations since the Belt and Road Initiative commenced in the Southern African nation. Rumors of Zambian state-owned companies’ takeovers, private lands and growth of “China town”, as well as Chinese nationals taking over menial jobs have become some of the most popular anecdotes even for the common Zambian man on the streets. Most significantly, traditional jobs like small food vending businesses locally known as “Nsima”, Small poultry farms, retail trading that were jobs reserved mostly for unskilled Zambians in the informal sector are increasingly being taken over by Chinese nationals. 

Consequently, there’s a growing resistance to Chinese investments in Zambia now. Looting of Chinese owned shops, and official protests have become symbolic tools of opposition to the Belt and Road Initiative in Zambia. An opposition leader called James Lukuku hit the streets in September 2018, to protest Chinese investments, which he described as ostentatious and needless. His party’s slogan “Say No to China” has reportedly gained traction among many young Zambians and on twitter trends anytime the Chinese government or investors inaugurate new projects in Zambia. Beyond the usefulness of Chinese investments, many Zambians continue to question the transparency of loans contracted by Zambia from China, with many holding the view Chinese loans have become an avenue for grand corruption in the country (Abu-Bakarr & Fang, 2019).

 

Zambia is not the only African country that finds itself in this quagmire, with some economic watchers on the continent holding the view that China is deliberately trapping these countries with unsustainable debt for exploitation of their natural resources, which Beijing needs to keep its industries running. For instance, more than 70 percent of Kenya’s $50 billion debt is owed to China, Africa’s most populous nation Nigeria, recently took $5 billion from China, with its ‘anglophone neighbors’, Ghana, considering mortgaging a protected forest reserve to China to mine bauxite in return for a $4 billion facility for infrastructural projects (Anoba, 2018).  

 

In the West African nation of Sierra Leone, China through its Belt and Road program has agreed to offer the country $55 million dollars to construct a fishing harbor that will cover an area of about 100 hectares. Details of this project sparked concerns after it emerged that the project could destroy a close by rainforest and Sierra leone’s budding tourism sector (Johnson, 2021). Globally, and within West Africa, China is building ports and acquiring fleets to help meet its fish demand.

 

Conclusion  

Balding (2018), contends China faces an uproar both home and abroad due to the outcomes of the Belt and Road Initiative. Some Chinese are unhappy about what they perceive to be wasteful spending on other countries, while many Belt and Road countries are responding with resentment which is impacting elections in such countries. Malaysia’s 2018 elections provide a classical instance where former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed who widely campaigned against Chinese influence defeated the incumbent, Najib Razak who had facilitated several Belt and Road projects tainted with corruption. Back in Africa, a government clampdown on graft related to Belt and Road projects led to the incarceration of several officials who were accused of corruption in Kenya while a Zambian policy think tank cautioned against the lack of transparency regarding terms of loans contracted by Zambia under the Belt and Road initiative (Balding, 2018).

 

Despite China’s constant claim of win-win beneficial relationship with its Belt and Road project, Beijing appears to be the bigger beneficiary especially in African countries like Zambia. Zambia and others in the sub-region must reduce corruption, prioritize spending on needed infrastructure, while encouraging private sector growth to ease the burden and its appetite of running to other Bretton woods institutions or China for assistance. 

 

Moreover, developing countries must resist being cajoled into borrowing to unsustainable debt levels in the name of infrastructure development as we have seen in Zambia. They must uphold fiscal discipline and only prioritize borrowing for infrastructural projects that are needed to provide basic essential services for their people. 

 

Again, countries must prioritize environmental sustainability in their quest for development for their respective countries. Poor countries should not destroy natural habitats, forest reserves and the environment in general, just like the huge fish harbor that China intends to build along the coast of Sierra Leone which is set to take over 100 hectares of land that will end up posing a threat to the rain forest in that area. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Abu-Bakarr, J. Fang W. ( 2019). Resistance Growing to Chinese presence in Zambia. Retrieved on September 6, 2021, from https://www.dw.com/en/resistance-growing-to-chinese-presence-in-zambia/a-47275927

 

Anoba, I. (2018). China is taking over Zambia’s National Assets, but the Nightmare is just getting Started for Africa. Retrieved on September 28, 2021from https://www.africanliberty.org/2018/09/10/china-is-taking-over-zambia-national-assets-but-the-nightmare-is-just-starting-for-africa/

 

Balding, C. (2018). Why Democracies are turning against Belt and Road. Retrieved from https://alinstitute.org/images/Library/DemocraciesTurningAgainstBeltandRoad.pdf on September 25, 2021. 

Breur, J. (2017). Two Belts, One Road?  Stiftung Asienhaus. 10.11588/xarep.00004092

 

Cai P. (2017). Understanding China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Retrieved on October 6, 2021 from https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/understanding-belt-and-road-initiative

 

China, Foreign Affairs Ministry. (2004). Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Action Plan (2007-2009). Retrieved from  https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/zflt/eng/zyzl/hywj/t280369.htm  on September 20, 2021. 

Johnson, B. (2018). The Belt and Road Initiative: Hook, Line and sinker? The Economist.

Lisinge, R.  (2020). The Belt and Road Initiative and Africa’s regional infrastructure development: implications and lessons, Transnational Corporations Review, 12:4, 425-438, DOI: 10.1080/19186444.2020.1795527

Orr W. (2020) The Curse of White Elephant: The Pitfalls of Zambia’s Dependence on China. Retrieved on February 28, 2021from fhttps://globalriskinsights.com/2020/12/the-curse-of-the-white-elephant-the-pitfalls-of-zambias-dependence-on-china/

 

Smith, E. (2020) Zambia’s Spiraling Debt offers a glimpse into the future of Chinese loan financing in Africa. Retrieved on February 28, 2021from https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/14/zambias-spiraling-debt-and-the-future-of-chinese-loan-financing-in-africa.html

 

Venkateswaran L. (2020). China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Implications for Africa. Retrieved on February 28, 2021from https://www.orfonline.org/research/chinas-belt-and-road-initiative-implications-in-africa/

 

CONFRONTING MIGRATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Migration is one thing that has become ubiquitous among young people in many countries in Sub-Saharan African. Day in, day out many of them continue risk their lives in search of better opportunities elsewhere due to the enormous challenges they face and limited opportunities available to them in their own countries. According to statistics from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the percentage of young people living outside their home country reached 28 million in 2017. Additionally, the percentage of migrants between the ages of 15-24 among all international migrants is highest among Sub-Saharan Africans. One striking thing is the fact that the issues that compel many young people to migrate in Sub-Saharan African are homogenous in nature.

In the last decade alone, about a million people have migrated from the Sub-Saharan Africa to Europe (Pew Research, 2018).  Net migration in Sub-Saharan Africa was pegged at -1.8 million (World Bank, 2017). Majority of these migrants are young people who were either fleeing harsh economic conditions or conflicts in their home countries. It is imperative to note, that young people in that part of Africa are not just in a haste to satisfy an insatiable quest to migrate to Europe or North America, as there’s ample data that affirms the fact that majority of migrants from Sub-Saharan African stay within the African continent. So why do many young people within Sub-Saharan African continue to migrate?

 

              African migrants being rescued in the Channel of Sicily, Italy. Photo: IOM / Malavolta

Unemployment remains one of the greatest challenges that confronts, young people and many governments globally. Unemployment rate among young people is at 13.1%, which is 3 times the rate of joblessness among adults, (ILO, 2015). This problem is worse in developing countries.  According to the International Labour Organization, out of 38.1 percent of the overall working poor population in the Sub-Saharan Africa, a whopping 23.5 percent are youth and girls often are at a disadvantage than young boys in finding decent employment in this part of the world, (ILO, n.d). More than 200 million young people in developing countries are uneducated and as a result do not have the necessary skills needed for work (UNDP, Empowered Youth for Sustainable Future, n.d). This directly constricts majority of young people to the informal sector, which is rarely regulated, giving employers the laxity to underpay them perpetuating them in poverty. The only viable window of opportunity out of poverty that these young people see is migrating from their countries to elsewhere to improve their living conditions.

 

That notwithstanding, skills mismatch is a key setback in Sub-Saharan Africa that continues encourage many youths to migrate. According to Obonyo (2018), many employers in Kenya declined employing several college graduates in Kenya due to the poor quality of programs they studied in school. This is a common trend in Sub-Saharan African countries, because many universities in these countries have failed to update their curriculum to reflect the skill sets demanded by most employers. There is a wide fixation of these universities on liberal courses with some producing up to 90 percent graduates from liberal arts relegating stem courses and others that will provide young people with skills they need for the job market. So many of these young people complete universities and are unable to find jobs and look to migration as their most potent option to make ends meet. 

 

Conflicts is equally another significant factor that promotes migration in Sub-Saharan Africa. Many countries on the Africa continent have become a hotbed of political instability due to violent conflicts ranging from the desire of autocrats to remain in power in perpetuity, abuse of power, and violent attacks from extremists groups. Figures on violent conflicts within Africa is not just alarming but egregious. In one of the most unstable countries on the continent, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Reuters News Agency estimates that over five million people have been killed in the Congolese war which started more than 2 decades ago. Nearly 740,000 people were displaced in 2019 due to conflicts in DRC, in South Sudan more than 2 million people were compelled to flee their homes following the 2013 civil war that killed about 380,000 people, in the Central African Republic 600,000 people were displaced with thousands killed in a conflict that started over 6 years ago, the Libyan conflict is reported to have displaced more than 128,000 people while Boko Haram’s insurgency in Nigeria has displaced over 2 million people (Igbohor, 2019). No young person can fully realize their potential is such hostility and instability, and thus many of them would rather choose to flee from their homes to a completely new and stable country, that will provide them with the congenial atmosphere to succeed.  

 

Remittance from African migrants in the West to the continent also contributes to migration.  48 billion dollars remittance flows to Sub-Saharan Africa were captured in 2019 (Ratha, 2021; Brookings Institution). The actual figure is predicted to be higher and Nigerian alone received half of this amount in Sub-Saharan Africa. Many families in Sub-Saharan Africa depend on relatives who live abroad for their survival. As a result, most families either encourage young ones in their family to migrate or sometimes even pile pressure on them to move out of their home countries to seek for better livelihoods in order for them to be able to provide for their families back home.

 

Due to these factors, many young people use legitimate and illegitimate means to leave their countries in search of better prospects. For many of them, they do this at the peril of their lives using the Sahara Desert where some die of starvation, exhaustion and eventually on the Mediterranean where many lose their lives on the sea or get arrested and deported back to the troubles they were trying to escape from. 

            Photo Credit: Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images

Some efforts made to reduce illegal migration 

One organization that has been instrumental in trying to reduce migration on the continent, is the International Organization for Migration. The organization has been working in Sub-Saharan Africa since the 1970s to date, helping African migrants who need to flee dangers in their countries and others who need assistance to settle back in their home countries. 

 

The IOM has been working in the last 3 decades to provide assistance to internally displaced persons in some of the conflict prone areas in Sub-Saharan Africa. They have assisted young people in Mozambique, Angola, DRC and Somalia. They have partnered the UN Secretary General for Internally Displaced persons to support programs geared towards helping reintegrate displaced persons back into safer communities. In addition to that they continue support efforts for demobilization of former combatants to help them return to civilian life and integrating them back into their communities (IOM, 2000).

 

The organization is a key leader in spearheading emergency assistance during humanitarian crisis in several parts of the world. It has been instrumental in this instance in helping evacuate millions of Sub-Saharan Africans from conflict zones. The IOM repatriated Sub-Saharan citizens during the Persian Gulf crisis, and from Yemen and Eritrea. More recently, it assisted the Ghanaian government in evacuating nearly 20,000 Ghanaian migrants at the peak of the Libyan crisis following the overthrow Muammar Al Qadhafi (IOM, 2019). 

 

Through its Migration for Development program, it afforded many Africans the opportunity of returning to their home countries through the Return of Qualified Nationals programs or Voluntary Return Programs which according to the IOM, offers significant motivation for reintegration and links migration directly to development. This program has successfully ensured the reintegration of African migrants from Kenya, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Uganda and thousands of other African migrants since 1983. 

 

Furthermore, the IOM has been collaborating with Sub-Saharan African governments on technical cooperation to build their capacity to manage migration and also formulate strong policies on migration. These programs have underscored the role of the private sector, civil society and NGOs in job creation for young people in Sub-Saharan Africa to aid in reducing migration.

 

Through the IOM’s Assistance to Voluntary and Humanitarian Return program, the organization assists and tracks migrants who successfully reintegrate back to their home countries. According to the IOM’s Assistance to Voluntary and Humanitarian Return report, since May 2017, more than 1,000 Ghanaians have returned to Ghana through IOM support. About 35 percent of them are less than 26 years old. Nearly 60 percent of these returnees were from the Greater Accra region and the Brong Ahafo region, where high school directors noticed a trend of many students dropping out of school with the intent of making the perilous journey of migrating from Ghana to Europe through the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea. The IOM equally engage some of these returnees as ambassadors, in High Schools now to sensitize students on the dangers and their own chilling experiences in trying to use illegal routes to migrate overseas.

 

Additional Efforts that can help reduce illegal migration 

In spite of the programs being implemented by the IOM and other development partners, positive youth development domain frameworks including assets, agency, enabling environment and contribution can help to significantly reduce migration among young people in low resource settings like Sub-Saharan Africa (Olenik, 2019). 

 

Assets, which includes formal education, skills building are key in development and shaping of youth policies and programs in low resource settings. This is a significant step in the youth development framework because beyond providing young people with lifelong skills, it provides a window out of poverty for many of them in low- and middle-income countries. This will encourage many young people not to migrate considering the dangers many of them have to go through in leaving their countries to elsewhere for a better life.

 

Agency is another essential framework in developing youth policies and programs in LMICs. There is no gainsaying the fact that young people have enormous potential and given the right assets that offers them the requisite education, skills, will provide them with a positive sense of identity and equally equip them to plan their lives now and for the future.

 

The importance of enabling environment in the development of any youth policy framework cannot be overemphasized.  As the famous quote by C.J Heck notes, “we are all products of our environment”.  Providing young people with opportunities, youth friendly services, a congenial and safe environment promotes their wellbeing and helps them to not only thrive but prosper. On the contrary, an unsafe and toxic environment can adversely affect the growth of young people and induce negative outcomes like risking their lives to flee their home countries.

 

What’s more, contribution is another essential tool in developing youth programs in LMICs. Mentorship, volunteerism, civic engagement and community mobilization are key in structuring youth-based programs (Olenik, 2019). This is owing to the fact that these programs not only prepare young people but instill in them good values that spur them on to lead and support activities that promote change and advancement of their own communities. 

 

In a nutshell, there is no single approach to dealing with the issue of migration. A combination of these factors can help prepare young people to actively spearhead the transformation of their own lives and communities. However, countries that fail to provide a congenial atmosphere for their young people to thrive and prosper, will continue to suffer the negative consequences of migration like brain drain, illegal migration, civil unrest among others.

 

  

 

 

 

References:

Dovi.E. (2016) Young Ghanaians risk all for “better” life. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/december-2016-march-2017/young-ghanaians-risk-all-better-life on May 7, 2021 

 

Haas, H.., & International Organization for Migration. (2008). Irregular migration from West Africa to the Maghreb and the European Union: An overview of recent trends. Geneva: International Organization for Migration. 

 

International Labour Organization. (n.d). Youth employment in Africa. Retrieved from https://www.ilo.org/africa/areas-of-work/youth-employment/lang--en/index.htm on May 2, 2021

 

International Organization for Migration (2020). Youth and Migration: Engaging youth as key partners in migration governance. Geneva: International Organization

 

International Organization for Migration. (2019). 10,000 Ghanaian youth learn about pitfalls of irregular migration. Retrieved from https://www.iom.int/news/10000-ghanaian-youth-learn-about-pitfalls-irregular-migration  on May 6, 2021. 

 

International Organization for Migration (2000). IOM migration policy framework for Sub-Saharan Africa. Retrieved from https://www.iom.int/sites/default/files/jahia/webdav/shared/shared/mainsite/about_iom/en/council/80/MC_INF_244.pdf   on May 5, 2021

 

Igbohor K. (2019). Work in progress for Africa’s remaining hotspots. Retrieved fromhttps://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/december-2019-march-2020/work-progress-africa’s-remaining-conflict-hotspots on May 3, 2021 

 

Olenik, C. et al. (2019). The Evolution of Positive youth development as a key international development approach. Global Social Welfare. (2019)

 

Pew Research Center. (2018). At least a million Sub-Saharan Africans moved to Europe since 2010. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2018/03/22/at-least-a-million-sub-saharan-africans-moved-to-europe-since-2010/ on March 24, 2021.

 

Ratha D. (2021) Keep remittances flowing to Africa. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2021/03/15/keep-remittances-flowing-to-africa/ on May 8, 2021

 

United Nations. (2021). SDG Goals. Retrieved from https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2019/goal-01/   on May 8, 2021

 

World Bank. (2019). Net migration-Ghana. Retrieved from https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2019/goal-01/ on  May 2, 2021

BARRIERS FACING RURAL GIRLS IN ACCESSING EDUCATION IN NORTHERN GHANA

The Northern part of Ghana has been the poorest part in the country for decades. It has the highest illiteracy rate and school dropout rates, across the country, and women who make up majority of the populace in the region have been disproportionately being impacted by not just poverty and illiteracy but sometimes outmoded socio-cultural practices. According to UNICEF, a child in Northern Ghana, is 5 times less likely to be in school than a child in the southern part of the country. Specifically, the Northern region has a school attendance rate of about 50 percent, compared to Greater Accra region in the south which has about 80 percent school attendance rate (Ghana Statistical Service, 2014). Many young girls either drop out of school or flee from the harsh economic conditions in the North to cities in the southern part of the country to become head potters, popularly known as “Kayayei”, to earn a living through carrying loads for people. 

A young girl who earns a living by carrying loads for people at a slum in Accra. Photo:Aljazeera

As highlighted by Sheila & Unterhalten 2008, poverty is a significant factor that affects the ability of girls to enroll in school. High incidence of poverty is one major factor why many girls are not in school in many parts of Northern Ghana. Nearly 40 percent of the of the rural population in this part of Ghana, live on below 2 dollars a day. Abject poverty prevents many girls from having access to education in rural parts of Northern Ghana, often compelling many vulnerable ones among them to engage in unsafe labour to survive (Camfed, 2020). 

 

Son preference and traditional gender roles that favor boys against girls is another key factor inhibiting access of girls to schools in the Northern part of Ghana. Beyond the burden of household chores that are mostly handled by girls, they still have to support their parents in the farm and even sometimes are solely responsible for selling produce from the farm. Childcare, food for the family, firewood, fetching of water, cleaning and washing are roles reserved for women. The burdensome household chores in most instances keep girls at home throughout the day. This narrative was affirmed by a parent in one of the communities in the Bimoba area in the Northern region “Cooking, sweeping, fetching of water is the preserve of the girl child in the Bimoba culture. They have to be taught how to do this, so they don’t bring disgrace to the family when they marry (Kombian 2008, pg. 41)”. Owing to this, more girls than boys risk dropping out school due to domestic duties in this part of Ghana. 

Photo Credit: Ballard Brief 

Child marriage is another egregious setback for girl child education in the Northern part of Ghana.  One in five girls representing 20 percent marries before they turn 18 in Ghana, one in 20 girls marries before they turn 15. Again, this trend is worse in the Northern part of the country, where one in three girls marries before their 18^th birthday, (de Groot et al, 2018). It is illegal to marry a girl who is not 18 in Ghana and yet many families, especially in the rural parts of the North give out the hand of their daughters in marriage at a tender age. Many of these families are often moved by the material wealth that would come out of giving their daughters hand in marriage. It is customarily for a family giving their daughter out in marriage to receive dozens of cattle from the man’s family in the Northern part of Ghana. Due to this, many families often prepare their young girls to get married early instead of preparing them or supporting them to go to school. The benefits the families derive from giving their girls off in marriage is often used to support boys in that same family to marry from other families. Beyond depriving girls, the opportunity of accessing education, de Groot et al (2018), contends that girls who marry at an early age have limited levels of social support, as they are compelled to move in with their husbands and that limits their access to social networks, friends which also invariably contributes to worse health reproductive outcomes for them, since they have to give birth at a younger age in places where they may not have access to quality healthcare. 

 

That notwithstanding, lack of school facilities is equally another prominent issue that continue to prevent many young girls from accessing education in Northern Ghana. There are few schools in these areas which are often located in far distances from the communities. The topography of many rural areas in Northern Ghana makes it difficult for the establishment of well-functioning schools. Most of the communities are sparsely populated making distance to schools a huge barrier to children who live there (Akyeampong, 2004). Kombian (2018), argues that girls in rural parts of the North have to walk at least 3 kilometers to school, coupled with the household chores they have to do before going to school on a daily basis, remains a major setback to girls’ enrolment in that part of the country. He adds that some parents he interacted with cited distance and safety concerns as a major reason for keeping their girls home. 

 

Beyond the distance, cost keeps many rural children out of school. Cost plays a very important role whether a child in the rural part of the North stays in or out of school, even though access to basic education is free. Direct costs like school uniforms, books, shoes, and other levies like Parent Teacher Association (PTA) dues, in addition to the indirect cost of the lost income to families who enroll their children in school is a key determinant regarding whether a girl stays in school or not (Akyeampong, 2004). For many poor homes, these costs may be too much to bear, and they end up weighing the opportunity cost of not enrolling their wards in school, and often girls suffer the most when parents in deprived homes have to make such choices.   

One significant issue that disrupts the education of many girls in the rural parts of Northern Ghana is menstruation. Due to the high poverty levels, many families are unable to buy sanitary pads for girls. As a result, many girls during their menstrual cycle have to stay away from school because they cannot afford sanitary pads. Others who brace the odds to go to school during menstruation often face humiliation because they sometimes use rags as pads which soils their school uniforms. 

Last but not least, lack of social amenities in rural parts of North in Ghana is a major issue that poses a threat not only to the education of girls but their health. Most communities in that part of the country have no good drinking water, electricity, internet and other basic social amenities. As a result, teachers, nurses, doctors and other essential workers often refuse postings to these areas. So even in instances where there may be schools, these schools may lack teachers or have just 2 teachers for an entire school. It is the same for health centers, as many of these communities have no health centers and the ones that even have, have no doctors or sometimes only have just a physician assistant taking care of thousands of people. 

 

Policy Interventions and Why the Challenges Persist 

The government of Ghana, together with several development organizations have made several efforts to reverse the limited access rural girls in the Northern part of Ghana have to education. There is ample evidence that corroborates the fact that families are more likely keep their children in school if their sources of income improve. While Ghana has made a tremendous progress in reducing poverty, rural poverty especially in the North continues to be high. Between 1992 to 2006, 2.5 million people were lifted out of poverty in the South while the incidence of poverty rather increased by 0.9 million in the North (World Bank, 2011). The government set up the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority SADA) in 2010, to bridge the poverty gap between the north and the south but this program became a chagrin to the government due corruption and poor governance structures. As result the incidence of poverty still remains high in Northern Ghana, compelling most young girls to migrate to the South to engage in menial jobs at the expense of their education. 

Photo Credit: One.org

Moreover, UNICEF and other NGOs have partnered to provide satellite schools for rural communities in the North where there are no schools and kids have to walk long distances. Under the “School for Life” initiative, children attend schools in their communities with no strict rules of having to wear uniform thereby cutting down cost for families who may not be able to afford uniforms. The children are also taught in their mother tongue instead of English which makes it easier for a lot of them to able to learn faster since many of them can often speak fluently in their mother tongue as compared with English, which is not their first language. This program has been largely successfully in the areas it has been implemented but the biggest challenge is finding teachers for this program, as it largely depends on volunteers who are fluent in the local language to teach. 

Also, to address challenges in enrolment and access to secondary education which disproportionately affects girls more than boys, the government of Ghana, in September 2017, made secondary education free in the country. Under this policy, the government pays tuition and boarding fees for all students. The policy since its inception has increased enrolment significantly and has given especially families of the rural poor in the North access to secondary education, who hitherto would have kept their wards home due to their inability afford the high cost of secondary education. 

Type of gender/ethnic/social blindness or cultural biases remain in place

Cultural practices like betrothal, child marriage and female genital mutilation continue to affect girls enrolment in the North of Ghana. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is practice common in some parts of the Northern Ghana where young girls are circumcised before they turn 15. FGM was outlawed in 1994 in Ghana and yet the practice persists in some rural parts of the Northern Ghana where families place high premium on virginity of girls and want to reduce premarital sex among girls (Sakeah et al, 2018). In spite of the health risks and dangers associated with this practice, girls who even enroll in school have to stay away from school for weeks and sometimes even months due to the pain and ordeal that comes with FGM. 

 Recommendations

As echoed by Sheila & Unterhalten (2008), countries that have made great strides in bridging the gender gap and addressing inequalities against vulnerable groups including women have four key things in common, strong political commitment to support women’s education/development, policy development influenced by key stakeholders, complete programs to provide free universal education for all focusing on addressing gender imbalances as well as a commitment by governments and development partners to sustain the drive through provision of resources constantly.

First and foremost, the government must show strong political will to assist women in both education and development. The government must be deliberate and consistent about its policies to address the issue of stark poverty among rural folk in the Northern part of the country. The government can set up microfinance scheme to provide monthly cash incentives to families who live below the poverty line and make keeping girls in school a requirement for accessing such funds. This will not only assist struggling families but give them strong motivation not keep their children home as laborers to support them on their farms or for domestic work at the expense of their education.

Additionally, the government must ensure laws that prohibit outmoded practices like Female Genital Mutilation, and early marriages are implemented to the letter. This will help to reduce the incidence of child marriages and other outmoded cultural practices that many families continue to use to abuse and violate the rights of young girls in the Northern part of the country.

Again, there must be a nationwide effort to break gender stereotypes across all levels of the Ghanaian society. Both the government and civil society must support initiatives like passing the affirmative action bill that has been in Ghana’s parliament for more than a decade to remove barriers that prevents many women from realizing their full potential. When women are given the needed support and have unimpeded opportunities, they are able to excel in their endeavors and serve as strong motivation young girls, and many families especially rural ones who see little value in educating the girl child. 

Establishment of girls’ schools and community schools in deprived areas in the North should be a priority for the government and development partners.  This will go a long way to provide easy access to schools to many girls and reduce safety concerns most parents have that prevents them from allowing their young girls to walk long distances to school.

 

 

References:

Akyeampong K.(2004). Aid for self-help effort? A sustainable alternative route to basic education in Northern Ghana.Retrieved from https://cice.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/wp-content/uploads/publications/Journal7-1/7-1-5.pdf on April, 26, 2021. 

Amabo B.C. (2017). Children’s right to education : challenges to female education in Northern Ghana. Case study: Savelugu-Nanton District. Retrieved from https://repository.gchumanrights.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11825/306/Amabo_for_repository.pdf?sequence=4&isAllowed=y on April 27, 2021.

Barrigan H. (2018). Top 10 facts about girls’ education in Ghana. Retrieved from https://borgenproject.org/top-10-facts-about-girls-education-in-ghana/ on April 28, 2021.

Camfed Ghana(n.d) Profile of girls education in Northern Ghana. Retrieved from https://camfed.org/our-impact/ghana/on May 1, 2021. 

CDD Ghana. (2021). IWD 2021. Prioritize the laying of the Affirmative Action bill before parliament. Retrieved from https://cddgh.org/iwd-2021-prioritize-the-laying-of-affirmative-action-bill-before-parliament-cdd-ghana/ on May 1, 2021

de Groot, R., Kuunyem, M.Y., Palermo, T. et al. Child marriage and associated outcomes in northern Ghana: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health 18, 285 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5166-6

Fant Kombian E. (2008). Education and girl-child empowerment: The case of Bunkpurugu/Yunyoo district in Northern Ghana. Retrieved from https://munin.uit.no/bitstream/handle/10037/1541/thesis.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y on April 29, 2021. 

Global Campaign for Education. 2008. “Ensuring a fair chance for girls.” IN: Aikman Sheila and Elaine Unterhalten. 2005. Beyond Access. Transforming Policy and Practice for Gender Quality in Education. Oxford: Oxfam

Mabefam Gmalifo M. (2013). “Our sisters too matter”: Examining the cultural practices that serve as barriers to girl-child education in Bolni in the Nanumba North District. Retrieved from http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/bitstream/handle/123456789/5843/Matthew%20Gmalifo%20Mabefam_%27Our%20Sisters%20Too%20Matter%27.Examining%20the%20Cultural%20Practices%20that%20serve%20as%20Barriers%20to%20Girl-Child%20Education%20in%20Bolni%20in%20the%20Nanumba%20North%20District_2013.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y on May 1, 2021.

Sakeah, E., Debpuur, C., Oduro, A. R., Welaga, P., Aborigo, R., Sakeah, J. K., & Moyer, C. A. (2018). Prevalence and factors associated with female genital mutilation among women of reproductive age in the Bawku municipality and Pusiga District of northern Ghana. BMC Women's Health, 18(1). 

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A557726278/HRCA?u=mlin_m_brandeis&sid=HRCA&xid=c8db2f0c

World Bank (2011) Tackling poverty in Northern Ghana (English). Washington, D.C. : World Bank Group. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/445681468030627288/Tackling-poverty-in-Northern-Ghana

 

 

ILLEGAL MINING AND ITS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT IN GHANA

BACKGROUND

Illegal miners in Ghana directly dig pits on land, in water bodies, cutdown trees and even takeover farmlands where they suspect they can find gold. According to World Bank (1995) & Bawa (2006) as cited by Banchirigah (2008), the number of people involved in illegal mining spiraled from about 30,000 to 1 million in 2006.  Just like large scale mining, artisanal small-scale mining can be done legally and in a regulated manner to limit its devastating impact. With the legal artisanal small scale, miners are required to get permit to mine in only designated areas and are required to take steps to restore the land to its former state through afforestation. On the contrary, illegal small-scale miners mine just anywhere they want to and do not take any steps to reclaim the land after mining. It is worth noting that artisanal small-scale mining has provided more than a million direct jobs to persons engaged in it, in a country with a ballooning unemployment rate, and supports more than 4 million people indirectly, Dotsey and Paalo (2019). 

 

It is estimated that more than 70 percent of small-scale miners operate illegally in Ghana, ostensibly due to corruption, bureaucracy, and other rigid government policies that makes legal artisanal mining unattractive to the teeming number of people engaged in it (Banchirigah, 2008).  While the heretical view of illegal miners that the income their activity provides for millions should be the justification for them to be allowed to continue activities, this paper will later affirm why the devastation that their actions have caused to their own people’s health, water bodies, farmlands, forest cover, the entire Ghanaian populace, and the generations yet unborn, at large far outweighs the limited benefits they are currently deriving from illegal mining. 

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Flickr

 

What is more, high demand for gold in countries like China buoyed activities of illegal miners in Ghana in the last 2 decades. China is reported to have used 1151.43 tons of gold out the world demand of 4345.1, making it the highest consumer of gold globally for more than 5 years running. In the last 15 years, more than 50,000 Chinese miners have migrated to Ghana mostly engaged in illegal mining together with locals (Dotsey & Paalo, 2019). The involvement of Chinese miners became a gamechanger for illegal mining in the country, as the Chinese came in with modern equipment and heavy machinery that hitherto the Ghanaian miners had no access to. This in effect hastened and dramatically increased the pollution of water bodies, destruction of farmlands and forest cover. 

 

IMPACT OF ILLEGAL MINING ON GHANA’S ENVIROMENT

Illegal mining has caused enormous water pollution, depletion of agricultural land and vegetation cover in Ghana and it continues to pose an existential threat not just to the climate but the people of Ghana and beyond. 

Mining in water poses a threat to river bodies due the frequent use of processing ore coupled dangerous chemicals used, as well as excessive water pollution caused by the constant digging that occurs in rivers. There’s abundance of evidence through research work and news reports, documentaries by journalists that have highlighted the pollution of river bodies, all largely due to the activities of illegal miners. A study in the mining town of Obuasi in the Ashanti Region, with a high number of illegal miners, revealed that nearly all major rivers and water bodies had been polluted by mining, ending fishing in Kwabrafo River where all fish species had perished (Aboka, Cobbina and Doke, 2018). Residents within the same municipality have had cause to lament about unhygienic water that come out of their boreholes which they blame on illegal mining activities.

In another mining community, Tarkwa, in the Western Region, Aboka et al. (2018), posit that the course of a major river was diverted because sand in the river had been collected and processed for gold after which the river became brown in color making it unwholesome for drinking for farmers and others who drunk from the river without any treatment.  A Human Health Risk Assessment and Epidemiological Studies from Exposure to Toxic Chemicals conducted by the Centre for Environmental Impact in 2011 did a comparative analysis of residents living the Tarkwa, Prestia Huni Valley; two mining areas with high illegal mining activities and Cape Coast Metropolis which barely had any high record of illegal mining activity. The study revealed that “oral ingestion and dermal contact of water and soil/sediments samples as well as oral ingestion of cassava contaminated with elevated levels of toxic chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, copper, lead, manganese, mercury and zinc led to elevated levels in whole blood and blood serum of residents in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality and Prestea Huni Valley District as compared to residents in the Cape Coast Metropolis” (Aboka et al. 2018, P. 31).

Image of a polluted river in the Western region of Ghana. 

Photo Credit: Citinewsroom.com 

According to Ampomah (2017) as cited by Yeleliere et al. (2018), more than 60 percent of Ghana’s water bodies have been polluted with majority of them in a sorry state, due to illegal mining and other human activities. Rivers, streams, and other waters sources are at risk of running dry and officials in charge of water treatment in the country have been compelled to shut water treatment plants on several occasion due to unrestrained pollution (Yeleliere et al. 2018). This is further corroborated by Mantey (2017),  who contends that nearly all major river bodies like River Pra, River Ankobra have been polluted due to illegal mining, forcing Ghana’s Water Company to construct boreholes for some communities due to their inability to treat water heavily polluted from these sources. 

Photo Credit: Nasa Earth Observatory

 

In fact, in 2018, Ghana’s Lands and Natural Resources Minister, John Peter Amewu warned that research had shown that Ghana could be importing water by 2030, if the country failed to halt the rampant pollution of water bodies and other anthropogenic activities in the country, (Ghana Web, 2018). 

 

That notwithstanding, activities of illegal small-scale miners have degraded tracts of natural forests and farmlands. Due to the influence these illegal miners wield in their communities, many of them have been able to cower farmers, mostly cocoa farmers to give up their cocoa farms for illegal mining. More than 5,000 hectares of cocoa farms is reported to have been destroyed in Western North region alone by illegal miners according to the Agronomy and Quality Control Department of the Ghana Cocoa Board (Ghana Web, 2021). There are reports of similar destruction of cocoa farms in other regions in the country. Ghana is the second largest producer of cocoa globally. In effect, the menace of illegal mining does not only threaten the farmlands and livelihood of farmers but one of the country’s major exports. 

MEASURES TAKEN TO CLAMPDOWN ILLEGAL MINING 

Several measures have been taken by the government of Ghana to end illegal mining due to its destructive impact on the environment, but all these efforts have been largely unsuccessful. 

 

To start with, the use of brute force with a joint taskforce of both the police and military has become the most popular approach that the Ghanaian government has used in trying to combat the unalloyed destruction of the nation’s environment. At the peak of the destructive activities of illegal miners in Ghana in the last 2 decades, two successive governments launched an anti-illegal mining taskforce that was made up of the military and the police service. The mission of this taskforce appeared simple and straightforward; arrest all persons engaged in illegal and prosecute them. Though this proved to be successful for a moment, it was short-lived. Some illegal miners armed themselves and, in some instances, resisted arrest and faced-off against the taskforce, others were able to bribe their way out of arrest, while only handful of them were successfully prosecuted, with majority of foreigners mainly Chinese nationals repatriated. One thing has remained clear in the last decade in Ghana’s fight against illegal mining, after every serious crackdown, the illegal miners appear emboldened months down the line and reassert themselves strongly back in business. 

In addition to that the government’s move to use a legal regime to regulate small scale mining has failed. Less than 30 percent of small-scale miners go through the right legal and environmental requirements to carryout mining in Ghana largely due to what many of the illegal miners find as a cumbersome process. Foreigners are also not legally permitted to engage small scale in the country and yet that has not stopped the influx thousands of illegal miners mainly from China in the mining sector. 

             Photo Credit: Jordie P/Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data 

Furthermore, the lack of coordination between actors in the environmental sector has been highlighted as a major stumbling block in Ghana’s fight against illegal mining. The mining sector in Ghana is regulated by the Minerals Commission under the Ministry for Land and Natural Resources. However, like in many African societies, Chiefs and traditional rulers wield a significant influence in their communities. In fact, Ghana’s laws vests custodianship of all customary land in the hands of chiefs. Dotsey and Paalo (2019), contend this inconsistency in Ghanaian law helps illegal miners to sidestep government institutions and seek legitimacy from the traditional rulers to carry out their activities. It is equally important to note that in spite of their influence and power, several efforts by the state to eradicate illegal mining and protect the country’s environment have not prioritized the role of traditional rulers in dealing with the menace. 

 

 

RECOMMENDATIONS:

It is imperative to note that no single approach can comprehensively deal with the illegal mining menace. However, the successful implementation of multipronged policies can go a long way to help end illicit mining in Ghana. 

 

To begin with, the government of Ghana should consider a less confrontational approach in dealing with the illegal mining menace. With the high involvement of traditional rulers who are considered as the custodians of the land, the government can adopt a more pragmatic approach to highlight the negative impact the activities of these illegal miners are having on their own communities. The state can use a creative communication approach to couch targeted messages around the prevalence of diseases in areas with high illegal mining activities contrasting it with other communities that do not have this disease burden and illegal mining. The illegal miners and people that support them may not appreciate the broader impact of the effects of their activities on the environment, but they can certainly relate to issues around people within their communities’ suffering diseases linked to drinking polluted water as well as livelihoods of cocoa farmers that they are destroying. Consistent sensitization programs should be designed using various platforms but not limited to traditional and new media to raise awareness about the destructive impacts of illegal mining at the community level. 

 

Also, the government should collaborate with civil society organizations (CSOs) to come up with a comprehensive plan to create an alternative source of livelihood for the over a million people engaged in illegal small-scale mining. All the measures that successive governments have tried in the past to end this scourge which to a large extent have been unsuccessful, goes a long way to suggest that no amount of excessive force can turn the people away from this destructive path if they are not offered a viable alternative option for survival. Since many of the people engaged in illegal mining popularly known as ‘galamsey” in Ghana are not formally educated, the government of Ghana as a matter of urgency together with other stakeholders like non-profits, CSOs can hold a stakeholder consultative meeting to come up with ideas and programs that can be implemented to provide jobs to the illegal miners. This group will equally be tasked with finding funding opportunities by engaging international development partners like the World Bank and local development partners like Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), Ghana EXIM Bank and other private sector partners. The state in conjunction with the private sector, Civil Society Organizations can offer a robust skills training program to the teeming young people involved in illegal mining. There are Civil Society Organizations who are already spearheading the protection of Ghana’s forest reserves like A Rocha Ghana, EcoCare Ghana, Rainforest Alliance, Tropenbos Ghana. The government can partner with these environmental justice organizations and other youth developments CSOs like the Rural Development and Youth Association, Youth Advocates Ghana, Youth Empowerment Synergy, Ghana Employers Association, Adamfo Ghana and many others to lead the conversation on finding a viable source of livelihood for the illegal miners. These groups are best placed to engage with the government because the two set of organizations listed above are already working in in the area environmental conservation and youth employment. 

 

For instance, one key area that can be considered is the labor-intensive sector since the country is yearning to industrialize. A needs assessment should be done to identify industries that can function effectively in the areas with high illegal mining activities. A pilot program can be carried out for instance in one of the key areas with high level of illegal miming to establish an agro-processing or textile industries in an area that it may be easier to produce the raw materials needed for such factories to operate effectively. This will make it easier to identify the requisite training that will be offered to the targeted individuals. This will directly create jobs for the illegal miners and other unemployed youth in the targeted area through raw material production coupled with direct jobs that will be created through the establishment of the factory. Depending on the success of this program over, it can be replicated in other areas with high illegal mining activities after 3 years. 

 

Additionally, many of these young people can be offered skills training in building and construction to work on the numerous infrastructure projects like roads, hospitals, schools, potable water that the country intends to put in place in the next few decades to provide social amenities for several parts the country that desperately require them.  This will offer them employable skills that will provide them with an alternative source of income once they quit illegal mining. Some of the illegal miners can also be recruited as illegal mining watchdog partners to report on any illegal mining activity that may occur in their communities for a reward. These measures should not be in anyway misconstrued as an incentive for illegal miners for breaking the law, but a robust measure to help deal with the illegal mining scourge since the most common approach that have been used by successive governments have all proved unsuccessful. 

 

 

Moreover, the intermittent periods that the move to clamp down illegal mining have been sustained for some months, there have been widespread pictorial evidence of the polluted waters returning to their former state. Consequently, though steps can be taken to use several water restoration methods to help make the polluted waters wholesome, the principal aim of the government and people should be to halt the activities of illegal miners and embark on massive reclamation and afforestation drive to restore the vast swaths of area that have been destroyed through unbated illegal mining activities. This may require the presence of enforcement agencies like the combined team of police and military in addition to the deployment of drones that will monitor many other illegal mining sites that the state may not be able to afford to station security personnel there constantly. Beyond this, the government can also invest heavily in geospatial technology to monitor illicit mining across the country. A partnership with the Center for Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Services, Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency, A Rocha Ghana and the Forestry Commission took advantage of a freely accessible software and satellite imagery to develop a remote sensing system to track illegal mining activities in areas where the practice is rampant. The success of this monitoring system is heavily dependent on accessing timely information on illegal mining operations. This system has proven to be effective in monitoring illicit mining in some areas in Ghana and Peru which have high illegal mining activities (Novoa & Mensah, 2020).

 

There must be zero tolerance for corruption if the fight against illegal mining in Ghana can be sustained and won. Instances of corrupt acts cited among leading figures tasked with fighting illegal has been one the major setbacks in clamping down the menace as has been earlier highlighted. The government must send a strong message to the nation that it will not countenance any corrupt acts irrespective of who is involved to show that it is committed to the fight against illegal mining. All allegations of graft against officials leading the fight must be thoroughly investigated and any culprit must face the full rigor of the law. 

 

That notwithstanding, the state must enforce laws on illegal mining to the letter. It is unlawful for foreigners to engage in any form of small-scale mining and yet many foreign nationals continue to engage in illegal mining with impunity in the country. In 2013, nearly 5,000 illegal Chinese miners were deported from the country (Oxford Business Group, 2016). Foreigners who engage in illegal mining must not just be deported to their countries but should be prosecuted in line with Ghana’s laws to serve as a deterrent to many others who keep violating the laws on mining in the country. Ghanaians who collaborate with foreigners to engage in the act must equally be made face stiffer punishment. Since majority of foreigners engaged in the menace are Chinese nationals, the government of Ghana must also continue to dialogue with the Chinese government at the diplomatic level to enact laws that will deter their people from embarking on the journey to Ghana to engage in illicit mining.  

 

Last but not least, successive governments must show the needed political will to fight illegal mining irrespective of the political consequences it may have on their electoral fortunes. There should be a national plan for the fight against illegal mining to ensure continuity in battling this menace. This will also prevent successive governments from abandoning policies being implemented by a previous administration in fighting illegal mining.  The government depending on whoever is in office appear to soften their stance on fighting the menace during election year for fear of losing support from the over a million people engaged in illegal mining. The two dominant parties in the country, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) must both commit to fight illegal mining head on to ensure continuity in the fight irrespective who is in power. The electorate, private citizens, environmental conservation groups and civil society can petition parliament to consider enacting a law that will bind successive governments to deal with the fight against illegal mining as national security threat until the battle is won. This will send a strong signal to the illegal miners that they cannot continue to hold any of the political parties to ransom to enable them to carry on with their unlawful activities. This must be followed by proper regulation legal artisanal small scale mining sector. State institutions tasked with regulating the sector must ensure that any individual or group that intends to engage in small scale mining goes through the stipulated legal requirements while ensuring that mining group take actives steps to reclaim the land or concession after mining.

 

 

 

 

  

 

References

 

 

Aboka E., Cobbina, J., Doke, D. (2018). Review of Environmental and Health Impacts of Mining in Ghana. Journal of Health & Pollution, 8(17) Pg. 43-52. Doi: 10.5696/2156-9614-8.17.43

 

 

Banchirigah , S. (2008). Challenges with eradicating illegal mining in Ghana: A perspective from the grassroots.Resources Policy, 13(1), 29-38. Doi: //doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2007.11.001

 

Boafo, J. Dotsey, S. Paalo, S. (2019). Ghana’s traditional and state powers must collaborate to halt illegal mining. The Conversation. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/ghanas-traditional-and-state-powers-must-collaborate-to-halt-illegal-mining-126072 on September 29, 2021 

 

Classfmonline (2021). Illegal Mining: Ghana loses 5,000 hectares of cocoa farms in key regions. Retrieved from https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/Illegal-Mining-Ghana-loses-5-000-hectares-of-cocoa-farms-in-key-region-1239802   on October 1, 2021 

 

ESTY, D. C. (Ed.). (2019). A Better Planet: Forty Big Ideas for a Sustainable Future. Yale University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvqc6gcq

 

Ghana Web (2018). Ghana May Import Water from 2030. Ghana Web. Retrieved from https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Ghana-may-import-water-from-2030-Lands-Minister-619288

 

Koomson, K. (2019). Illegal Mining in Ghana- fighting an ongoing battle. Mining Review Africa. Retrieved from https://www.miningreview.com/gold/illegal-mining-in-ghana-fighting-an-ongoing-battle-says-researcher/

 

Mensah, E.O, Darku, E.D (2021). The impact of illegal mining on public health: A case study in Kenyasi, the Ahafo region of Ghana. Retrieved from https://techniumscience.com/index.php/socialsciences/article/view/4503

 

 

Nwokolo, M.N (2019). Ghana’s battle with illegal artisanal and small-scale mining. LSE. Retrieved from https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2019/07/15/ghana-illegal-asm-artisanal-mining/ on September 30, 2021 

 

Novoa, S. & Mensah,F. (2020). Reducing illegal gold mining in the tropical forests of Ghana and Peru: A forthcoming collaboration across the Atlantic. Retrieved from https://servirglobal.net/Global/Articles/Article/2725/reducing-illegal-gold-mining-in-the-tropical-forests-of-ghana-and-peru-a-forthc

 

 

Obiri-Yeboah, A, Nyantakyi, K.A, Mohammed, Yeboah, I.S, Domfeh, Abokyi, E. (2021). Assessing the potential health effect of lead and mercury and the impact of illegal mining activities in the Bonsa river, Tarkwa Nsuaem, Ghana. Scientific African13. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2021.e00876

 

Oxford Business Group. (2016). New regulations in Ghana aid fight against illegal mining. Retrieved from https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/analysis/keep-it-simple-new-regulations-are-set-aid-fight-against-illegal-mining

 

Yelelirere, E.  Cobbina. S. J,   Duwiejuah. A.B (2018). Review of Ghana’s water resources: the quality and management with particular focus on freshwater resources. Appl Water Sci 8 (93). Doi: doi.org/10.1007/s13201-018-0736-4

Yiridomoh. G (2021). “Illegal”Gold Mining Operations in Ghana: Implication for Climate-Smart Agriculture in Northwestern Ghana.  Retrieved from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2021.745317/full

World Health Organization. (2018). WHO: Urgent action needed to combat posing from artisanal gold mining in Africa. Retrieved from https://www.afro.who.int/news/who-urgent-action-needed-combat-poisoning-artisanal-gold-mining-africa