ARTICLE IN PRESS

Resources Policy 34 (2009) 24–31

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Resources Policy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/resourpol

Recognizing and nurturing artisanal mining as a viable livelihood

Petra Tschakert 
Department of Geography and Alliance for Earth Sciences, Engineering, and Development in Africa (AESEDA), Pennsylvania State University,
315 Walker Building, University Park, PA 16802-5011, USA

a r t i c l e in f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Much of the discourse and literature on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in sub-Saharan Africa
Received 7 February 2008 has inherently prescriptive recommendations on how the sector should develop. Devaluation,
Received in revised form misrecognition, and criminalization of artisanal, largely illegal miners hamper their participation not
3 May 2008
only in environmental and political decision-making but also in negotiating potential alternative
Accepted 4 May 2008
livelihoods. This article addresses the following three questions: (a) what are the pull and push factors
in Ghana’s artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector?; (b) what concrete livelihood options exist
JEL classification: for unregistered miners when regularization is impeded and undermined?; and (c) in the absence of
L72 promising alternative livelihoods, how can the ASM sector be re-imagined to allow poor men and
Q32
women miners to flourish as recognized and valued members of their society? The findings suggest that
as long as currently illegal miners have some expectation that they will legitimately acquire even small
Keywords:
parcels of land for gold extraction, they are very unlikely to commit to any of the fashionable, yet short-
Artisanal and small-scale mining
Recognition lived alternative livelihood options that are introduced by external agencies. What Ghana’s ASM sector
Flourishing needs is more success stories that demonstrate that small operators can and want to be good
Alternative livelihoods environmental stewards, and that they can flourish as recognized and valued citizens.
Ghana & 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Introduction driven activity. It involves rudimentary techniques of mineral

Much of the discourse and literature on artisanal and small-
scale mining (ASM) in sub-Saharan Africa, as in other parts of the
Global South, has inherently prescriptive recommendations on
how the sector should develop. The voices of the miners
themselves have been essentially excluded in such deliberations.
For the most part, this is due to the fact that many small operators
work without an official license and, hence, are not recognized as
legitimate partners at the negotiation table, lacking entitlement to
participation and fair treatment. Yet, with more than 100 million
people engaged in this industry around the world, directly or
indirectly depending on it for their living (Veiga and Baker, 2004),
and a current gold price of 4900$ per ounce, the highest in
history, the time is ripe to acknowledge the views of those who
have been operating largely at the margin of the gold business and
examine their understanding of artisanal mining as a respected
and viable livelihood.
In Ghana, an estimated 300 000 to 500 000 men, women, and
children are involved in ASM, accounting for more than 60% of the
country’s total mining labor force (Hilson and Potter, 2003; Carson
et al., 2005; Ryan, 2006). As is the case in many other countries in
the Global South, ASM is largely but not exclusively a poverty-
 Tel.: +1814 863 9399; fax: +1 814 863 7943.
E-mail address: petra@psu.edu
extraction, highly manual processes, hazardous working condi-
tions, and frequently negative human and environmental health
impacts (Hilson, 2002). It certainly has the potential to contribute
to poverty reduction. Yet, it often perpetuates rather than
diminishes poverty through high sensitivity to physical hazards,
accidents, and lack of knowledge about more efficient, safer, and
environmentally friendly techniques. These factors tend to keep
miners trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty and vulnerability
(Heemskerk, 2005; Sinding, 2005), which undercuts the sector’s
image as a viable livelihood.
The large majority of Ghana’s artisanal miners (485%) dig for
gold without an official license (Carson et al., 2005). In other
words, they work illegally. These miners are locally known as
galamsey operators, a term that originated from the phrase ‘gather
and sell’ (Rambaud et al., 2000). Due to their encroachment on
concession land most of which has been leased to national and
multinational corporations by the Ghanaian Government, the use
of highly toxic mercury in the gold extraction process, and the
social disruption that results from the temporary and migratory
nature of their work, these miners have been increasingly
marginalized and even criminalized. Carson et al. (2005), in their
study on mitigating conflict in Ghana’s gold mining industry,
investigate illegal artisanal mining as one of seven conflict
flashpoints in the sector. In the public media and policy
discourses, galamsey miners are usually portrayed as ‘threat’,
‘problem’, ‘headache’, ‘challenge’, and ‘menace’ (Palmer and

0301-4207/$ - see front matter & 2008 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

doi:10.1016/j.resourpol.2008.05.007
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
P. Tschakert / Resources Policy 34 (2009) 24–31
Sackey, 2004; Ryan, 2006; Mining News, 2006; General News
Ghana Web, 2006; Regional News Ghana Web, 2006; PeaceFM
Online, 2007).
This anti-galamsey discourse is in stark contrast to the state’s
formal policy to support ASM as a catalyst for poverty reduction
and sustainable development as well as its attempts to regularize
the sector (Tschakert and Singha, 2007). Moreover, the state
officially purchases galamsey gold, via agents licensed through the
Precious Mineral Marketing Corporation, and the total ASM sector
in Ghana has contributed roughly US$460 million to the national
economy since 1989 (Carson et al., 2005). Tschakert and Singha
(2007) contend that researchers have also played a substantial
role in perpetuating the image of galamsey as reckless polluters,
especially with respect to mercury, although existing data are
inconclusive and the culprits often unclear. This has led to what
the authors refer to as ‘contaminated identities’ of the miners
themselves rather than the natural environments in which
they work.
Some assert that galamsey mining is not an entirely poverty-
driven effort, as often argued, but instead a highly lucrative
undertaking that is propagated by a small group of gold buyers,
mercury dealers, and businessmen, often supported by affluent
and influential politicians and other players outside of the actual
mining areas (Smit, personal communication, 2007; Nyame,
personal communication, 2008). Following this line of argument,
it seems that any efforts to address the struggles and livelihood
needs of the small operators and to nurture the sector in order to
reduce poverty are essentially misguided as they are likely to
benefit a small economic elite rather than the most disadvantaged
men and women miners. More optimistically, Owusu-Korateng
(personal communication, 2006), the Director of the Wassa
Association of Communities Affected by Mining (WACAM),
maintains that small-scale gold mining in Ghana still has the
chance to pursue a just and holistic development path where
equal distribution of benefits of growth enhances the livelihoods
of the most disadvantaged.
It can be argued that devaluation, misrecognition, and
criminalization hamper the participation of galamsey not only in
environmental and political decision-making but also in negotiat-
ing potential alternative livelihoods. In other words, miners often
have no say in what is recommended for the sector and for
substitute income-generating activities. The three critical ques-
tions that this article addresses are: (a) what are the pull and push
factors in Ghana’s ASM sector?; (b) what concrete livelihood
options exist for galamsey miners when regularization and
formalization of artisanal operators are impeded and under-
mined?; and (c) in the absence of promising alternative
livelihoods, how can the ASM sector be re-imagined to allow
poor men and women miners to flourish as recognized and valued
members of their society?
From a theoretical perspective, this article draws upon the
notion of capabilities for flourishing societies and a radical re-
imagination of recognition, as discussed in the context of social
justice, to reassess the viability of Ghana’s ASM sector. I illustrate
why reversing misrecognition and exclusion that dominate
present debates is essential if the ultimate goal is to encourage
agency and flourishing of currently ostracized men and women
miners for a more just and sustainable future.
Alternative livelihoods for Ghana’s artisanal miners
In an attempt to address the links between ASM as an income-
generating activity for both individuals and the Ghanaian state,
poverty reduction, environmental preservation, and conflict
resolution, recent national and international initiatives have
25
promoted community development programs that run parallel
to and may eventually replace ASM as a livelihood (Mime, 2002;
Aryee, 2004). Such programs usually promote mushroom and
snail farming, rose gardens, batik making, the raising of silk-
worms, fish farming, palm oil production, and grasscutter rearing
for bush meat commercialization. Despite their appeal at first
glance, these options have been criticized as ‘fashionable drop-in
projects’ (Aubynn, 2004) that are predominantly designed for
export markets rather than domestic job opportunities. They may
scratch the surface of the current galamsey impasse, but they are
unlikely to foster sustainable livelihoods and enhance people’s
resilience (Tschakert, 2009).
There appears to be a disjuncture between the various
substitute strategies proposed and the basic needs of small-scale,
largely unregistered operators. This reflects the fact that the main
driving forces of Ghana’s ASM sector remain poorly understood.
Complaints that the government does not provide real possibi-
lities to make a living outside of illegal mining are on the rise.
Current debates with respect to the sustainability of the sector,
time and again, fail to critically ‘unpack’ the reasons that make
people become engaged in the galamsey sector and that make
them persist in a high-risk and criminalized environment. While
recent terminology that portrays miners and mining communities
as ‘stakeholders’ rather than ‘target groups’ (Aryee, 2006) is a step
in the right direction, miners continue to feel excluded. They
essentially view such alternative livelihoods as impractical
schemes designed in fancy and remote offices.
The Ghanaian Minerals Commission, the main administrative
body responsible for large- and small-scale mining in the country,
uses an integrative framework for sustainability in georesource
extraction and management, as proposed by Hodge (IISD, 2002).
Yet, its primary focus is on risk management and decision-making
in the large-scale industry (Aryee, 2003). What is largely absent in
these sustainability debates is a critical investigation of the
linkages between risk perceptions, risk mitigation, and options for
alternative livelihood strategies that satisfy local rather than
export needs. While half of those employed in Ghana’s
ASM sector are women, one of the highest rates in Africa (Hilson
and Potter, 2003), their fate has been grossly overlooked by
research and development programs (Owusu-Korateng, 2004).
Women typically work as panners, carriers, and processors as well
as jewelry makers, cooks, and other service providers (including
prostitutes) in and around mining sites. In their dual role as
workers and family providers, women are considered critical for
community cohesiveness and key agents in facilitating positive
change (Hinton et al., 2003). Hence, efforts to improve their
livelihoods, in and outside of mining, seem to be particularly
timely.
Recently, the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment in
Ghana included small-scale mining in the National Youth
Employment Programme (NYEP), mainly as a response to the
urgent need to provide viable options for young miners who lack
interest in snail or silk farming or any other of the ‘exotic’
livelihood programs. The program has ten different modules,
including urban agriculture, teaching, community protection,
and national volunteers. The special program called ‘Youth in
Mines’ is a novelty within this national initiative. It seeks to
enable ASM operators to be recognized by the Minerals Commis-
sion and to receive training to restore the environment after
mining operations. After successful completion of a
6-month training course coupled with a monthly allowance of
US$45, the ministry provides registration and machines to get the
young miners started (Times, 2007). Most miners wish to
continue working in the sector, despite its increasingly negative
image, since it has been a livelihood occupation for several
generations.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

26 P. Tschakert / Resources Policy 34 (2009) 24–31

Research methods more; and 5 ¼ considerably more). Fig. 2 depicts the process of
one group’s ranking and scoring activity, with income scores to
Drawing upon the notion of ‘sympathetic imagining’ (Nuss- the left and (uncompleted) hazard scores to the right.
baum, 2006), this part of a 2-year study with Ghanaian galamsey The second method used was semi-structured interviews con-
operators, both men and women, attempted to understand what ducted at the two sites with operators who could not or did not want
the miners themselves saw as major pull and push factors for
engaging in admittedly illegal operations as well as what they
considered as viable alternative livelihoods. The research was
conducted in August and September 2006 in the southwestern
part of the country (Fig. 1) and involved four master’s students
from the Regional Institute for Population Studies (RIPS) at the
University of Ghana. Two galamsey sites in the Kumasi Basin were
selected with the help of officials from Small-Scale Mining District
Offices who were familiar with local artisanal operations. The first
site was a deep alluvial site along the Offin River and next to
Dunkwa-on-Offin in the Upper Denkyira District, Central Region.
This site was located on the concession of Dunkwa Continental
Goldfields, a corporation that has not been operational since 1999.
In 2006, the site owner did not have an official license to the land.
The other study site was a hard rock area next to Bogoso in the
Wassa West District, Western Region. This second site was located
on the northeastern edge of the concession of Bogoso Gold
Limited (now Golden Star Resources). The corporation is actively
exploring and exploiting its land and has repeatedly come into
conflict with infringing galamseyers.
Two methods were used for this part of the study. After having
identified major risks, potential threats to their lives, and possible
solutions (in Tschakert and Singha, 2007), five groups of men and
women miners, respectively, were asked to discuss and evaluate
alternative livelihood options. Groups varied from five to eleven
participants in size, ranging from 18 to 46 years in age.
Participants first listed all alternative income-generating options
that would be accessible to them on large index cards (either
through words or drawings) and then ranked these options in
order of their preference, by group consensus. Finally, the miners
evaluated both the income and the hazard potential associated
with each livelihood option, relative to their galamsey work. This
assessment was done with pebbles (3 ¼ similarly profitable/
hazardous; 2 ¼ slightly less; 1 ¼ considerably less; 4 ¼ slightly

Bolgatanga ∗ Gold Bearing

wa Areas
ψ Diamondiferous
Areas
Tamale
Study sites

Sunyani

Kumasi
Ho
Dunkwa
Bogoso Koforidua
Accra

Cape Coast
Takoradi

Fig. 1. Map of Ghana showing gold bearing and diamondiferous areas where Fig. 2. Participatory ranking and scoring of alternative livelihood options by one
small-scale mining activities thrive, including the two study sites (after group of male galamsey miners; scores for income are to the left and scores for
Amankwah and Anim-Sackey, 2003). work hazards (incomplete) to the right. Source: Fieldwork, August 2006.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

P. Tschakert / Resources Policy 34 (2009) 24–31 27

to participate in the group activity. This included 17 male miners (10
from the site next to Dunkwa and 7 from the site next to Bogoso). Due
to the fact that nearly all women from the two sites had already
participated in the ranking and scoring, only two additional female
miners could be identified for the semi-structured interviews. Their
responses are reflected in the general discussion of women’s needs in
the sector. The questions asked in the semi-structured interviews
covered basic demographic parameters such as age, education, and
place of origin as well as time spent in mining, main reasons for being
in the sector, main problems, anticipated length of future involve-
ment, advantages of other jobs, knowledge and attractiveness of
promoted alternative livelihoods (snails, mushrooms, grasscutters,
etc.), and preferred employment for their children.
What miners want: pull and push factors in the ASM sector
Despite the fact that artisanal mining is a largely migratory
activity, the large majority of those interviewed had been at their
site for some significant amount of time. Among older men (X25
years of age), this period varied from 0.1 to 8 years while their
total time in the ASM sector ranged from 2.5 to 23 years. Clearly,
their main reason for being active galamsey miners was the need
for cash. Some cited the lack of employment opportunities
elsewhere and the loss of a previous job as major push factors.
The younger operators (o25 years of age) reported 0.1–6 years on
the same site and 2–7 years as total time spent in the sector. Their
main reason for getting involved in galamsey work was also need
for money but, in contrast to the older gang members, they
mentioned school drop-outs and lack of family support, either
because of deceased or divorced parents, as equally important push
factors. Both groups agreed that the lure of fast money, economic
independence, and the potential to accumulate capital for starting a
trading business were the most important pull factors. Older men
also stated the opportunity of providing for themselves as well as for
their wife and children while the younger participants cited being
able to pay school fees as a major incentive.
Despite these compelling pull and push factors, the miners also
alluded to a range of problems associated with their work in the
ASM sector. The large majority of these concerns related to health,
followed by financial and social problems, and finally issues of
safety and the environment (Fig. 3). Several participants, both

Severe coughing Water-borne

when mercury in diseases from
mouth standing in water
Inhale mercury Red eyes caused
vapor by muddy water
Extreme heat in
pit and shaft Water-related
Mercury Cuts from problems Falling when site
shovels is slippery
Causes sickness
Waist
pains
Dirty appearance Heavy loads
Dust carried on neck
Low or no
Bodily pains and chest
yields
What to
eat? Health Always purchase
Rainy season Uncertainty Get weak drugs to reduce
is lean time easily body pain
Food
Poor pay from Pit collapses
supervisor Poor quality and kills
Water from
underground
No Main Safety water table kills
education problems Load falls
$ coming in and kills
Cheating by
gold buyers Environment Rise in water
Conflicts tables flooding
Economics shafts + ghettos
No guaranteed
future Struggle over land
between miners and
$ going out
Bribe corporations
soldiers
Teased as
Expensive being too Fights No discipline
Equipment is prospecting old
difficult to
come by Fights
among gangs
Tension with site
Electricity Money for owner and wife
is costly excavator Fines when
one fights
Inadequate
money for pumps

Fig. 3. Aggregated mental model of major problems in the ASM sector, as discussed by men and women miners; the width of the borders reflects the number of responses.

28
women and younger men, complained about bodily pains from
carrying heavy loads of gold-bearing rocks and sediments while
older miners cited the high temperatures in underground shafts
as most problematic. The latter also stressed the safety hazards
associated with their sites, especially the risk of dying due to
collapsing sediments. Additional problems encompassed strug-
gles over land, fights between gangs, cheating by gold buyers,
coughing from mercury inhalation, and bribing soldiers. Despite
these serious concerns, most miners, especially the younger ones,
expressed interest to stay on the site as long as possible. The older
men, in contrast, wished to leave ASM within a month or two, or
at least as soon as they would have sufficient capital to start their
own business. Out of a total of 19 miners that were interviewed,
including the two women, only one could envision his children as
galamsey. The main arguments against such a future were the
multiple physical and health risks that characterize the ASM
sector, its perceived non-permanence, especially after increasing
conflicts with large-scale corporations and state security forces,
and the bad attitudes the miners associated with their own work,
such as stealing. Equally, if not more discouraging was what the
miners perceived as a lack of respect from society for their
supposedly irresponsible behavior, high rates of school drop-out,
and poor understanding of the English language.
Hence, what other jobs could galamsey operators reasonably
envision for themselves? The favorite option among both younger
and older men was taxi driver, followed by poultry farming,
trading with shoes and clothes, car fitting, oil palm tapping,
masonry, and carpentry. In the eyes of the o25-year group, cocoa
farming was also held in high esteem. Fig. 4 illustrates that no
single alternative livelihood that the men envisioned was more
hazardous than galamsey mining (risk score p3) although taxi
driving and operating a chain saw was perceived as equally risky.
Roughly half of all other employment options were ranked as
more lucrative than mining and the other half as less lucrative.
Although three income-generating activities were cited as
significantly more profitable, only the younger ones believed in
cocoa farming as a viable livelihood. All other ideas were
mentioned by just one participant, including the seemingly out-
3.5
- Higher than mining
Largest bubble = 4 groups of men
Smallest bubble = 1 group of men
3.0
2.5
Fitting
- Risk Score
Pepper farming
2.0 Painting
1.5
Lower than mining
Sprayer
1.0 Trading
(spare parts)
0.5
0.0
0 1
Lower than mining
Fig. 4. Income and hazard scores for alternative livelihood options available to men miners, as indicated through participatory ranking.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
P. Tschakert / Resources Policy 34 (2009) 24–31
of-reach option of footballer (soccer player), one of the most
highly paid jobs in Ghana.
It is worth noting that not a single miner suggested any of the
‘exotic’ alternative livelihood options that are currently promoted
by the governments, NGOs, and research groups. While half of all
interviewees has heard about snail and mushroom farming and
grasscutter rearing, only three actually knew a person that had
switched from mining to one of these occupations. Yet, most stated
that they would be willing to try, under the condition that start-up
capital was provided. Those who were most skeptical about these
unorthodox income-generating activities referred to low profits
and bad losses of those who had taken the risk as major
disincentives. In contrast, driving a taxi, welding, carpentry,
tailoring, and poultry farming were much appreciated, not
necessarily because of high profits but because of the regular
income and the permanency associated with the jobs. This was
particularly true for older miners. Other positive aspects included
having an occupation that was recognized and valued by society,
being part of a family business, better food and health, and
spiritual protection.
As for the women, alternative job opportunities are exceed-
ingly dire (Fig. 5). The option that seemed most appealing to the
women miners was cocoa farming, although it was considered as
hazardous as mining, mainly because of potential snakebites. Also,
as most women do not own property in Ghana, cocoa farming was
understood as wage labor on a cocoa farm. Teaching, dressmaking,
hairdressing and trading with underwear also seemed attractive,
although the income is similar or less than that of mining. While
various types of petty trading (food, earrings, plastic buckets,
umbrellas, cell phone accessories, and cosmetics) essentially
exhaust the realistic job opportunities for these female miners,
given their low level or lack of formal education, other professions
such as nurse, newscaster/journalist, and teacher embodied a
distressing castle-in-the-sky-mentality as most of these young
women will likely be denied any better future. Only one of the two
additional women interviewed claimed to have heard about batik
making, although both expressed interest, envisioning stable
incomes and, by implication, a secured future.
Chain saw operator
Taxi driver
Engineering
Corn mill operator
Sorghum farming Yam+maize farming
Cold store Welding
Masonry
Electrician Footballer
Wiring Cocoa farming
Poultry farming
Oil palm
Carpentry
Drug sale
Plumber Construction
(clothes)
Fish farming
Tailoring Bakery
Pig farming Kente weaving
Tennis player
Sheep rearing
2 3 4 5 6
- Income Score - Higher than mining

3.5
- Higher than mining
Large bubble = both women's groups
Small bubble = one women's group
3
2.5
- Risk Score
2 Hairdresser
1.5
Lower than mining
Trading\
(earrings)
0.5
0
0 1
Lower than mining
Fig. 5. Income and hazard scores for alternative livelihood options available to women miners, as indicated through participatory ranking.
Capabilities, flourishing, and re-imagination of recognition
While the results from the interviews and the ranking and
scoring activities with men and women miners at two galamsey
sites in southwestern Ghana are by no means representative for
the entire ASM sector in the country, they surprisingly well match
the findings from an earlier study conducted by Mime Consult
(2002). This study, involving three mining communities, also
suggests that alternative livelihood options and local market
opportunities that would be attractive to miners are awfully
sparse. The substitute professions most commonly cited by
miners in the Mime Consult survey are almost identical to those
encountered in this study (carpentry, driving, and tailoring for
men and hairdressing and food trading for women). What has
changed considerably since the 2002 study is the pressure on
galamsey miners to vacate their sites on corporate concession
lands and seek a living elsewhere. This pressure stems from both
large-scale companies and the state and culminated in ‘Operation
Flush-Out’ in the fall of 2006. A detailed description of govern-
mental ‘fights’ against illegal mining is provided in Hilson et al.
(2007). The seven sustainable development principles that B.N.A.
Aryee, Chief Executive of Ghana’s Minerals Commission, had laid
out for the mining sector in 2004 seem to have become even more
out of reach for those involved in ASM. These principles include
effective processes of engagement; improvement of people’s well-
being; long-term assurance of environmental integrity; economic
viability of operations; social acceptance of traditional and non-
market activities in mining communities; institutional arrange-
ments and governance; and integration and continuous learning
(Aryee, 2004).
It could be argued that today’s ASM activities are much more
investment-oriented than a decade ago (Nyame, personal com-
munication, 2008). Yet, the large majority of men and women
engaged in galamsey operations are still predominantly driven
into the sector by poverty rather than by business speculations.
Hence, the key question is what elements would be necessary to
create an environment in which those at the margin, those who
ARTICLE IN PRESS
P. Tschakert / Resources Policy 34 (2009) 24–31 29
Cocoa farming
Trading
(umbrella, cosmetics)
Food seller
Dressmaker
Trading Nurse
(underwear) Teaching Bar operator
Trading (provisions) Newscaster/
Trading
Sale plastic buckets journalist
(cell phone
accessoires)
2 3 4 5 6
- Income Score - Higher than mining
have been repeatedly criminalized and ostracized in the public
discourse, can pursue a viable livelihood in the profession of their
choosing. Carney (1998, p. 4) defines a sustainable livelihood as
‘capabilities, assets (y) and activities required for a means of
living’ that ‘can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks
and maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets both now and
in the future, while not undermining the natural resource base’.
For most galamsey interviewed, this ideal profession is neither fish
farming nor grasscutter rearing nor snail farming, but mining,
although without the stigma and the multiple impediments that
characterize it today. Most galamsey operators wish to be
employed by large-scale gold mining companies. Yet, few open-
ings are available for a largely untrained labor force.
The findings from this study suggest that most miners prefer
galamsey work over less risky activities such as poultry farming,
taxi driving, masonry, construction work, petty trading, and cocoa
farming, not out of conviction but of necessity. At least compared
to employment in large mining companies, these other profes-
sions do not require special skills or advanced educational
backgrounds. Providing attractive options and well-being within
the ASM sector would require committed efforts to raise its profile
and to nurture it as a respectable sector that merits constructive
engagement (Tschakert and Singha, 2007). This, in turn, would
necessitate a radical re-imagination of recognition of thousands of
currently misrecognized men and women.
Sen (1985) argues that the ability to achieve valuable
‘functionings’, such as activities like eating or states of existence
(e.g. being free from disease and oppression) constitute the core
element of well-being. His argument hinges upon a person’s or a
group’s possibilities to be able to have combinations of different
desirable functionings from which they can choose. He offers five
basic concepts and freedoms that may advance the general
capability of people, including political freedoms, economic
facilities, social opportunities, transparency guarantees, and
protective security (Sen, 1999). Given a criminal stigma from the
anti-galamsey discourse in Ghana, such freedoms are rather poorly
developed.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
30 P. Tschakert / Resources Policy 34 (2009) 24–31
Expanding on Sen’s work, Nussbaum (1999) proposes a
capability approach that focuses on individual agency and
flourishing. In her basic ‘capability set’, she lists the following
ten fundamental elements: (1) normal length of life; (2) bodily
health as linked to nourishment, physical health, and shelter; (3)
bodily integrity which embraces free movement and security
against assault; (4) imagination, creative thought, and freedom of
expression; (5) the right to live emotions; (6) practical reasoning
and the right to determine one’s notion of a good life; (7)
affiliation and social bases for self-respect and non-humiliation;
(8) the right to play; (9) political and material control over one’s
environment; and (10) concern for other species. This list is not
meant to be prescriptive but rather a tool for assessing the
multiple dimensions of functioning and flourishing in a healthy
society. Again, in the context of galamsey mining in Ghana, many
of these basic capabilities are not met, reinforcing Olson’s (2001)
argument that problems of economic inequality and cultural
disrespect are tightly linked to each other.
What, then, are the processes that are needed to encourage and
sustain a flourishing ASM sector in Ghana? In recent debates on
social and environmental justice, recognition and participation
emerge as key ingredients. Young (1990) and Fraser (1998, 2000),
two social theorists, as well as others (Honneth, 2001; Taylor,
1994; Schlosberg, 2004), have identified the lack of recognition,
often expressed as devaluation and disfranchisement, as harmful
and constraining to people as it prevents them from participating
in decision-making processes. Young (1990) stresses that recogni-
tion is not just a ‘thing’ to be distributed, but a relationship, a
social norm embedded in social practice. Put simply, if one is not
recognized, he or she cannot participate; by the same token,
without participation there is no recognition. Consequently,
institutional exclusion and a social culture of misrecognition
undermine democratic and participatory decision-making
processes.
Fraser (2000), in particular, advocates conceptualizing people’s
struggles for recognition as to better combine them with struggles
of distribution in environmental and social justice claims.
Furthermore, to counteract social subordination, as well as other
practices and institutionalized cultural norms that devalue and
deny a certain group of people the status of a full partner in social
interactions, Fraser (2006) stresses the need for parity-fostering
alternatives. She argues that, in a period of neoliberal hegemony, a
radical re-imagination and the revival of egalitarian projects of
redistribution and politics of recognition define the new under-
standing of justice, equality, and democracy in the 21st century.
How would such parity-fostering alternatives look like for
Ghana’s ASM sector? From a research perspective, this implies
recognizing men and women galamsey as research partners, not as
outlaws—as equals who are entitled to a spot in the participatory
arena (Tschakert and Singha, 2007). From a policy perspective,
this requires first and foremost long-term partnerships that value
different types of knowledge, participatory schemes for environ-
mental monitoring, and a political commitment to make unused
concession lands available to unregistered miners through a
simplified registration process. The latter is currently witnessed
on Dunkwa Continental Goldfields (Hilson et al., 2007). Carson et
al. (2005) further recommend building stakeholder capacity and
training of local environmental NGOs and community members
and including small-scale mining issues into policy agendas.
Conclusion
This article has examined the pull and push factors that make
men and women become engaged and persist in Ghana’s artisanal
gold mining sector. The large majority of these miners operate
without an official license in a high-risk, exclusionary, and
criminalizing environment. Yet, most see mining as an income-
generating activity that best meets their needs for cash, sustaining
families, and saving money for starting their own business. Only
few are knowledgeable of and interested in alternative livelihood
options that are promoted by outside agencies. Such options,
usually in the form of projects, include snail, fish, and mushroom
farming, grasscutter rearing, and batik making. Other income-
generating activities that would be available to unregistered
galamsey miners are often less lucrative (plumbing, car fitting,
petty trading), require start-up funds or access to land (poultry
and cocoa farming, taxi driving, bar operator), or are simply
beyond the reach of a group with a relatively low educational level
(nursing, teaching). The options are particularly sparse for
women.
In the absence of truly promising substitute occupations to
galamsey mining, this article examined the necessary ingredients
for flourishing and viable livelihoods within the ASM sector.
Recognition of a so far largely criminalized group of men and
women and their participation in decision-making processes
constitute the heart of a parity-fostering approach. Efforts to
expand the small-scale mining sector through the ceding of land
that is temporarily unused by large-scale companies and
simplified registration processes are particularly appealing to
galamsey operators. As long as there is some expectation that they
will legitimately acquire even small parcels of land for gold
extraction, miners are very unlikely to commit to any of the
‘fashionable’, short-lived alternative livelihood options. One small
step towards sustainability may be the recent attempts by the
Small-Scale Mining Office of the Minerals Commission in
Dunkwa-on-Offin to encourage previously illegal miners to seek
official registration on the now obsolete concession of Dunkwa
Continental Goldfields. What Ghana’s ASM sector needs is more of
these success stories. It needs compelling accounts that demon-
strate that small operators can and want to be good environ-
mental stewards and that they can flourish as recognized and
valued citizens.
Acknowledgements
The author gratefully acknowledges a Wilson Research Initia-
tion Grant through the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at
the Pennsylvania State University and vital contributions of team
members Raymond Tutu, Jones Adjei, Doris Ottie-Boakye, and
Iddrisu Mutaru Goro (Regional Institute for Population Studies,
University of Ghana). The author thanks Nicole Laliberte for her
help with data analysis and visualization. Also much appreciated
is the assistance that Mike Appiah, Koffie Tetteh, and Clemence
Adzormahe from the Minerals Commission in Ghana provided in
the selection of research partners. Special thanks go to the men
and women miners who granted access to their sites, participated
in the study, and shared with us invaluable insights about
galamsey mining in Ghana.
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