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Strategies for managing large-scale mining sector land use conflicts in the
global south
crossmark
AbdulWadood Moomen
Department of Spatial SciencesWestern Australian School of Mines (WASM), Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U 1987, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
ARTICLE INFO
Keywords:
Mining
Developing countries
Land use
Conflicts
AB S T R AC T
In recent years, land use conflicts between large-scale mining sector and local communities have increased in the global south.
However, with proper planning, it is possible that both companies and local communities can co-exist in the landscape. Thus, this paper
explores land use conflicts in an emerging mining region as a function of: (i) anticipated displacement and (ii) improper understanding
of a ected communities. Fieldwork and in-depth study was conducted at Ghana's emerging North-west gold province. Participatory
1
mapping, and focus group discussions were used in this study. The study found latent contestations against mineral exploration in the
area. It further established baseline indicators of land use conflict risks in the area. The study also found that despite the looming largescale mining sector activities in the area, there are no existing strategies for managing land use conflicts. Hence, the paper advances that
robustly calculating and addressing a priori local concerns can enhance peaceful co-existence between the mining sector and local
communities.
1. Introduction
Strict land use policies, land withdrawals, and continued depletion of mineral
resources in the developed countries has instigated a redirection of the large-scale
mining sector activities to mineral-rich global south countries. Further, the
untapped geological endowment, continued promotion of foreign trade policies by
southern govern-ments, and the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs),
introduced by the World Bank in the early 1980 s to negotiate economic liberation
of developing countries, have also contributed to the burgeoning trends of largescale mining sector development in the global south (Hammond et al., 2007;
Hilson, 2004; Tsuma, 2010). For example, the United Nations Economic
Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the African Union (AU), through the
African Mining Vision (AMV), suggest the development of a mining sector, where
new opportunities exist for brokering the economic growth and development of
Africa (Africa Mining Vision, 2009). While these new ideas have been advanced,
in recent times, land use issues between the large-scale mining sector and local
communities have increased in mineral-rich developing countries (global south)
(Hodge, 2014). Examples of developing countries where these conflicts are
ubiquitous and intensive include: Peru, Chile, South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, and
Ghana (Bebbington et al., 2008; Hilson, 2002c).
Conflicts that are not easily identifiable due to their non-violent nature but, do accumulate and erupt into severe violent conflicts when not properly addressed. FAO, 2000. Conflict and Natural Resource
Management.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2016.11.010
Received 24 August 2016; Received in revised form 23 November 2016; Accepted 28 November 2016
0301-4207/ 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A. Moomen
and fauna by the mining sector in a nearby mine host village (Jenkins, 2004). Thus,
communities without previous experiences with the mining sector displacement
more
complex,
the destinations of most of these investments
alsoMaking
resist thematters
industry
based
on observa-tions.
are often food insecure regions, raising concerns that fertile lands are been
converted to digging (Aragn and Rud, 2015). For example, in the past decade
Ghana, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Bostwana and Zambia,
which are among the top mineral resource producing countries in Africa, have
recorded undernourish-ment figures between 22% and 69% (Africa Mining Vision,
2009; FAO, 2010). These countries import about 30% of their food supplies from
the global north countries such as USA, Australia and Turkey (Yaro and Teye,
2010). Sub-Saharan Africa for instance received about 73% of the world's food in
2002 (Yaro and Teye, 2010). Agriculture remains the main land use activity, mostly
on subsistence basis in rural areas (FAO, 2010). For instance, the dominant
agricultural activity in Ghana is food crop farming; using a reported 55.9% of the
country's total land area (MoFA, 2012).
Meanwhile, trends in agriculture contribution to GDP has been on the decline
in Ghana. Between 2005 and 20014, agricultural contribu-tion to GDP has dropped
from 30.422.7% (MoFA, 2012). The food crop sub-sector recorded 1.3% in
2007, 1% in 2012, and the north-western belt of the country records a consistent
negative growth within the period (Chamberlin, 2015). Although agriculture
employs over 90% of rural folks in the northern savannah regions, a further decline
is predicted with the expansion of human activities, such as mining, on croplands
(Al-Hassan and Poulton, 2009; Stanturf et al., 2011). Schueler et al. (2011) show a
loss of 58% of forest cover and 45% of farmlands to mining activities in the
southwest of Ghana, accounting for a widespread spill-over e ects of farm
expansion into forested areas. Farm extensification has caused significant
environmental damage, including wind and water erosion, leading to low soil
organic matter and plant nutrient in the region (Stanturf et al., 2011; World Bank,
2006). In this regard, Aragn and Rud (2015) found that mining has reduced
agricultural productivity by 40%, increasing poverty and child malnutrition in
communities near mining areas in southwest Ghana.
86
A. Moomen
the reports 43101 of Azumah Resources Pty Ltd. Thus, lease maps were
digitized and spatially overlayed with the districts. Host districts of the
concessions were then identified and sampled.
A. Moomen
The concessions and drill holes in the area have been labelled by the
company using the names of host settlements. These settlements were
sampled in each district and defined in clusters of communities that are
closely linked by a common lineage (see Appendix). Nevertheless,
communities in the Wa East district were not sampled for in-depth studies due
to resource constraints. Participatory rural appraisal (PRA) tools, including
focus group discussions, participatory mapping and timelines were used for
primary data collection. Chambers (1994); FAO (2002) indicate that PRA
tools are the most e cient means for generating new realities at local
communities in developing countries. Two fieldwork were conducted from
November to February 2013/ 2014; and 20142015, respectively. During this
period, local commu-nities are less busy on their farming activities and the
landscape is generally accessible. Activities of the fieldwork were
accomplished through the following three key stages: (i) community entry and
ground preparation, (ii) data collection and resource inventory, and (iii) data
validation and analysis.
The consents of all the sampled districts were obtained at the District
Assemblies (DAs). The DA comprises of executive and legisla-tive organs.
The executive organ is in-charge of the day-to-day administration of the
district. The legislative comprises of elected members, generally known as
Assemblymen, who represent the local communities. The assemblymen
deliberate over developmental, and central government policies that a ect the
grassroots. The consent of the regional house of chiefs was also sought. The
Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), who's main duty is to
stimulate the economic growth of the northern savannah zone, was also
engaged in this study based on its mining sector development interest; and to
also
The only exploration/mining company, which owns all exploration and mining leases in
UWR as at the time of this study.
1984 has been chosen as the start year because, it marks a period of famine in the history of
Ghana and the northern savannah areas were worse-hit.
88
Fig. 3. Area cultivated/amount of land used for food crop production in the study area.
(World Bank, 2006). The population density in the region is 38.0/km (GSS,
2
A. Moomen
Geest, 2003). Therefore, manifest conflicts can be envisaged between smallscale miners, who are from the area, and large-scale miners, who are mostly
foreigners. This sort of land use conflict is new in the northern savannahs of
Ghana
Conflicts that involve apparent violent confrontations between opposing users of land; FAO,
2000. Conflict and Natural Resource Management.
89
and supports the assertion of Hilson and Garforth (2013) that artisanal smallscale mining is emerging as a new land use activity that has the potential to
create jobs for the youth and eradicate poverty in the North of Ghana.
Fig. 5 shows the spatial interactions between district, sampled village
space and exploration and mining concessions. The map in Fig. 5 o ers local
communities the opportunity to interact with their environment and its
resource banks, in-situ. The participatory mapping and transect walks o ered
community members the opportunity to indicate their understanding about the
extents to which exploration and mine construction activities are interacting
with their land, trees of herbal and economic value. It was found that the
exploration and mining concessions cover neighbouring villages farmlands,
which both villages and the company were uncertain about. Examples of these
villages include Tangasia, Orifane, and Kpannyaga. During the focus group
discussions, communities expressed their reluctance to co-exist with the largescale mining sector in the landscape. Thus, future works in these areas would
provoke violent resistance unless carefully managed. For instance, in some of
the villages, such as Eremon, Orifane, Kokoligu and Konne, youth groups
have expressed their readiness to resist the looming mining sector activities
since they anticipate a displacement from their traditional rights to land
owner-ship and livelihood.
With the aid of the maps, village members have the opportunity to analyse
their own environment and land use practices so as to be able to identify
potential impacts of the mining sector activities on their livelihood. Local
governments and communities lack the necessary capacity to generate spatial
data for evidence based resource manage-ment in most developing countries,
including Ghana (Amanor et al., 2005; Mankelow et al., 2001). This
deficiency a ects local capability to understand and engage governments and
the industry in constructive negotiations (Carson, 2005). Without this
elementary capacity, it is also di cult to understand local communities land
use values and objectives in their right perspectives. Thus, Scoones (1998)
indicated that development mediations can achieve desirable objectives in
rural areas through community empowerment programmes. It makes it
possible for the locals to take active part and control their own resource
development rather than a top-down approach (Sedogo, 2002).
A. Moomen
Land ownership in the UWR vary from group to group, but it is basically
based on inheritance. Land is usually vested in the village lineage and cannot
be sold or bought. Individual land ownership is not practiced but an individual
may have strong farming rights over family land. Any person of the same
lineage can seek permission from the head of family to farm on a piece of
land belonging to the family. However, with a multifarious social networks of
communities in this area, individuals within the same neighbourhood or even
from distant communities can occupy a piece of desirable farmland in another
community. Most clans have migrated from their origins to settle at their
present locations on this basis. In recent times, the traditional systems of land
occupancy have granted some land use decision making rights to these settlers
to protect their vicinity from poachers (Lentz, 2003). Nevertheless, settlers do
not have a right to sell or receive compensations for land as this is against the
traditional norms of the land owners. Necessarily, the customary rights of land
acquisi-tion or occupancy from the land owning family or clan must be
adhered. When an agreement is obtained, the new user or the landlords will
have to provide the land tenancy requirements in accordance with traditional
norms, to the Tendaana or Tengansob (priest) to perform the necessary rites
before a new land use activity commences on the piece of land (focus group
discussions). Meanwhile, during the focus group discussions, some of the
villages and district assemblies indi-cated that the customary rites to new land
use and occupancy have not been adhered to, by the exploration and mining
company and central government, prior to commencing operations.
90
A. Moomen
4.
Conclusions
for mediating land use issues in emerging mining areas in Sub-Saharan Africa
(Africa Mining Vision, 2009). Though, the fieldwork was not meant to teach
local communities new technologies developed for resource management in
their environment, it provoked their quest for understanding the mining sector
activities in the area and their livelihood base (Wehrmann, 2008). Through the
participatory ap-proaches, communities could analyse their own land use
patterns and identify possible solutions and potentials for development.
Besides, the fieldwork was able to generate its own spatial database of the
area. It explored the drivers of land use conflict risks and management for
which detailed data may be lacking at a local-scale of mine development. In
developing countries, this sort of innovative development of spatial
information for mediating natural resource related conflicts is generally nonexistent (Africa Mining Vision, 2009; Pabi, 2005). Especially, in the northern
savannah areas of West Africa, including Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory
Coast, Togo and Ghana, most of the communities share similar cultural and
physiological background. Thus, an application of the protocols used during
field-work could be useful in perceiving land use conflicts in the emerging
mining areas in these countries.
Acknowledgement
The fieldwork and data collection for this study has been co-funded by the
Crawford Fund and International Mining For Development Centre (IM4DC).
The funding was accessed with the support of Professor Steve Hall, director
of the Western Australian School of Mines (WASM). The Ghana Education
Trust Fund (GETFUND) is duly acknowledged for its support.
District
Village Mapped
District
Village Mapped
Wa West
Eggu
Bulituo
Oli
Sukpare
Zan
Berendari
Butele
Gabilli
Konne
Mwindaale
Nanga
Nayiri Cherekpong
Nili
Sabile
Tanduori
Tangasia
Turi Dari
Vuunyiri
Yaro
Yiziri
Bompari
Bure
Dazugri-Baapari
Dazugri-Songor
Danko
Jirapa
Kakala
Kpanyaga
Kunzokala
Orifane
Tanbore
Tanzire
Tampoe
Tikpe
Tuolung
Wuling
Yagha-Baapari
Yagha-Gbaa
Yagha-Kusoglo
Yagha-Tohaa
Tie
Guoripuo
Kulora
Nandom
Kokoligu Central
Kokoligu Gbantakuri
Nadowli-Kaleo
Lawra
91
A. Moomen
Lambussie Karni
Nayiribog
Naburinye
Sorguong
Yagra-Tangazu
Yagra Ku-Onzigre
Toto
Zinpen
Billaw
Zedong
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