Resources Policy 51 (2017) 8593

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

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

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).

Historically, in developing countries, conflicts over land were between clans in

respect of land boundaries, or between communities in respect of available area for
farming (Lentz, 2006; Peters, 2004). Land related conflicts were also heard
between tribes over territories of jurisprudence and legacy (Kasanga and Kotey,
2001; Peters, 2002; Wehrmann, 2008). Sedogo (2002) explains that some of these
land related conflicts were; over facts and over interests. Conflicts over facts are the
relatively superficial disagreements behind a dispute; and conflicts over interests
relate to the culture and values of opponents on land use objectives. Thus, interest
laden conflicts have long term roots and may often be re-ignited by some minor
short term interest expressions between opposing parties (Lentz, 2003). This type
of conflict is mostly among tribal groups in Africa. However, conflicts over
interests also exist in mining regions, where local communities have had bitter
experiences from previous mining activities and may use this as a yardstick to
measure all future activities (Thomson and Joyce, 1997). For example, in northern
Peru, communities protested against the new Rio Blanco copper mine project
owing to previous displacements of their co ee and fruit plantations, water
pollution and land disconfiguration (America, 2009; Haselip and Romera, 2011).
Surrounding villages in the West Kutai mining area in Indonesia perpetuated
resistance against PT Kelian Equatorial Mining activities due to the incessant
experiences of damage to farmlands, forests, flora

E-mail addresses: a.moomen@postgrad.curtin.edu.au, a.dewan@curtin.edu.au.

1

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.

Hence, questions have been raised; whether it is ethically right for

governments to back mining sector development that brings food insecurity and
rural impoverishment (Aragn and Rud, 2015; Downing, 2002; Pegg, 2006).
Hitherto, governments are in the fore-front touting the mineral potentials on their
lands, which returns could support enhancement of the agriculture sector. For
instance, DFID (2005) have suggested that a development of the mineral resource
deposits in the three northern regions of Ghana could fast-track the area's growth
trajectory, o set the e ects of failing agricultural production and reduce poverty.
However, sentiments are expressed, sometimes violently, about the associated risks
of the mining sector to rural livelihood systems and land occupancy. For instance,
in the 1990 s, about 14 villages were displaced for mining and mineral exploration
in the southwest of Ghana. Compensations that were payed did not cater for the
youth, who had no physical property to account for (Picciotto, 2002). Considering
the enduring e ects of mining on livelihood, the youth reneged and insisted on the
sustainable futures of mining and exploration activities on their lands (The Human
Rights Clinic, 2010). Consequently, the disgruntled youth of communities develop
an inclination to resort to illegal small-scale mining on large-scale exploration and
mining concessions, leading to conflicts. These sorts of conflicts are common in
developing countries, including Ghana (Hilson, 2002a). To this end, Bebbington et
al. (2008) have opined that socio-political pressures on mining and mineral
exploration are going to increase on the basis of the support local communities
continue to gain from civil organisation groups.

Social mobilizations; rural development agendas, such as non-governmental

organisations (NGOs), strengthen rural communities

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Resources Policy 51 (2017) 8593

on environmental protection and natural resource management, im-proved access

to agricultural land and ensuring food security of the vulnerable. These civil groups
and NGOs, such as FENAMAD and WACAM in Peru and Ghana, act as a mouthpiece of the local communities in ensuring judicious land expropriation (Haselip
and Romera, 2011; Hilson, 2012; Hilson and Nyame, 2006). The move-ments
mostly liaise with youth groups to educate and inform local communities of their
rights to protect their natural resource base and means of livelihood. For example,
the United Nations High Commission for Refugee (UNHCR); the International
Labour Organisation (ILO) convention No.169 art 7.1; United Nations Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) art. 32.1; have re-enforced local
communities resistance to mineral resource exploration and mining with the
following: the right to free and informed consent, participation in the benefits of
development, right to compensation of equivalent value, and mitigation of adverse
e ects (ILO, 2013 C 169). Whereas the mining codes and land title rights act of
Ghana endorses compulsory land acquisition for exploration and mining (Minerals
and Mining Act, 2006), article 26 of the UNDRIP; and C169, article 15.1 of the
ILO state that local and traditional people have rights to the natural resources of
their territories, including the right to own, use, develop and control the natural
resources pertaining to their lands. This phenomenon has increased the growing
confidence of local communities to start questioning exploration companies from
the first appearance of personnel in their area.

Hence, proceedings of the international conference on Mining and

community, lauded that to avoid future issues, the mining industry should aim at
developing good social relations with communities at the exploration stages
(Cernea, 2003; Thomson and Joyce, 1997). To this end, Hilson (2002b); Hilson
(2002c); Patel et al. (2016) have suggested several strategies for dealing with
mining land use conflicts in devel-oping countries, including Ghana. These
strategies include mediations, reskilling of youth and Artisanal Small-Scaling
mining sector support. However, Hilson (2002c); Jenkins (2004) suggest that land
use conflicts in mining regions are diverse and complex and cannot be solved with
one standard method in all regions. As result, a lot of earlier works have been done
for managing large-scale mineral exploration and mining-induced land use
conflicts in the historical southwestern mining areas of Ghana. Examples include
the works of Hilson (2002a); Hilson (2002c); Hilson (2012); Hilson and Cli ord
(2010); Patel et al. (2016). However, very little is known about established
strategies for developing and sustaining corporate social relations in the emerging
northern savannah mining regions (Hodge, 2014; Slack, 2012), which are
culturally and physically di erent from the pre-existing mining regions of Ghana.
As such, there is little understanding of the links between existing land uses and
the emerging large-scale mining sector activities in the northern savannah regions.
For these reasons, this paper seeks to identify strategies for perceiving the
causes of land use conflicts specifically relevant to large-scale minerals exploration
and mining in the emerging northern savannah mining areas of Ghana. To meet this
aim, the following specific objectives have been pursued: (a) identify and analyse
existing land use activities, spatial dynamics and adaptivity of the study area, insitu; (b) understand the performance of current production patterns and results
matrix of the study area in order to identify the potential impacts of mining on
existing livelihoods; (c) Evaluate exploration and mining concessions, local
livelihood space; local definition of resource creation and potential conflicts. The
findings would illustrate how land use conflicts between local communities and the
large-scale mining sector could be managed in emerging regions of mineral
resource-rich Sub-Saharan Africa. Notably, this study is novel since not many
studies in the field have considered developing strategies for enhancing companycommunity relations at the exploration stages in the region. Bell and Rai a (1988)
identified interpretative, normative, and pre-scriptive techniques for analysing
resource-based conflicts. This paper uses the prescriptive and interpretative
methods. Interpretative analy-

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A. Moomen

Fig. 1. Location of the study: < 1.1= rural dominated.

sis examines resource related conflicts by identifying the parties involved,

their land use objectives, and extent of conflict areas (Eastman et al., 1995).
Prescriptive analysis is a remedial approach that seeks preventive measures
for conflict resolution.

Agricultural Development Units (RADU); and the Ghana Statistical Service

(GSS). However, the data have been developed for specific purposes other
than the objectives of this study. Hence, this study reviewed and modi fied the
data to suit its objectives. For instance, concessions data were obtained from

2. Materials and methods

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.

2.1. Study area

Other than gold, Ghana is also one of the largest aluminium and
manganese ore, bauxite and diamond producing countries in Africa (Gajigo et
al., 2012; Mines, 2013). Viability studies are still ongoing in the northern
regions, where deposits of uranium and copper have been discovered (Gri s et
al., 2000). Mineral export contributes immensely to the economy of the
country, thus, government seeks to open new concessions in areas that were
previously not accessible to the industry due to over-reliance on agriculture
(DFID, 2005; Dlouh and Barton, 2014). Nevertheless, Ghana's economy
largely depends on its agricul-ture sector for export earnings, food
provisioning and rural lifestyle (Brooks et al., 2007; ISSER, 2013). Thus,
space is a common input to mining, agriculture and rural livelihood, which
contributes to existing trends of land use conflicts in Ghana, especially in new
areas of mining activities (Obara and Jenkins, 2006). A case study is
conducted in Upper West (Fig. 1), which is an emerging mining region in
Ghana, to identify strategies that can be replicated for managing land use
issues. There are 10 districts and 1 municipality in the Upper West Region
(UWR) and this study focuses on six districts that host exploration and
mining concessions (Fig. 1). UWR has the lowest total population (2.8%) and
the highest rural concentration (83.7%) in Ghana with high densities
occurring in the Wa-Lawra belt (GSS, 2013; RADU, 2010). Until recent
discoveries of viable deposits, the area has being under mineral exploration
since the 1940 s (Adu, 2003).

2.1.1. Fieldwork and data collection protocols

Earlier research works have established the population, major economic
conditions, soil series and land use and land cover features of the UWR,
especially the Wa-Lawra belt. These pre-existing data were obtained from
government institutions including; the Council for Scientific and Industrial
Research (CSIR); Regional/District
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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.

Resources Policy 51 (2017) 8593

Fig. 2. Performance of crop production sub-sector in the study area.

save the study from being a mere academic discourse.

Sampled communities were visited to introduce the study objectives to
them and to seek their approval and consent to carry out the study. The
assemblyman and unit committee of each community were usually the first
point of contact, then village chiefs, before sometimes an entire community.
Community members perused the significance of the study as against their
understanding and interest before granting approval. Community and village
groups identified for focus group discussions include: women associations,
youth associations, area council and unit committee members. A major
advantage of the method is that community groups often learn to rely on more
deliberative and well informed members (Chambers, 1994). Other important
opinion lea-ders, including experienced farmers, hunters, and earth priests
were specially engaged to tap into their experiences. Although some district
administrators granted informal discussions on the subject, the DAs were
represented by members of their Mining Sub-committees. Azumah
resources declined to participate in the group discussions due to limited
number of sta on site at the time of the fieldwork. Non-Governmental
Organisations (NGOs), who mostly have interest in the mining sector issues
in the area, were not also available during the time of this study. The
respective district assemblies indicated that NGOs with such interests in the
area had vacated site at the time of fieldwork.
Thus, each focus group discussion had at least 10 participants since more
interested community members also participated with intent and purpose and
each session lasted for 2 h. In total, about 540 community members
participated in the groups discussions. Local communities were asked to
identify their existing livelihood activities based on animals, plants and rock
materials. It was also curious to understand the bases upon which
communities allocate land for any purpose; criteria for land ownership; and
existing mechanisms for checking land encroachment or poaching. Other
issues further discussed include factors a ecting land use decisions in the
communities and alternative decisions.
To quantify the spatial attributes of communities, provided in qualitative
forms, the study employed participatory mapping and resource inventory at
all sampled villages. Through this activity, village representatives, with the
assistance of other observers present, sketched the land cover; land use; and
land occupancy maps of their community on cardboard paper, to give
meaning to their thoughts and perceptions. Each session lasted for a
maximum of 3 h. It must be noted that a lot of villages took keen interest in
spatially representing their land area. Timelines were drawn to establish
changes experienced on the community's land use and land occupancy
3

patterns, starting from the most memorable 1984 to present (2013/2014).

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.

To give geographic reference to the quantitative mappings, accurate

spatial data representation and secondary data calibration, transect walks were
conducted in the villages. The geographic coordinates of mapped features
have been recorded using a handheld global position system (GPS), with 5 m
positional accuracy. The transect walks also aided in rectifying omissions or
commissions on the sketched maps.

3. Findings and discussions

The study area is absolutely agrarian with its rural population engaged in
peasant farming. The most dominant agricultural activity in the area is food
crop farming, followed by livestock keeping, fruit picking, and an emerging
trend of cash crop/tree harvesting activities. With the available, though
seasonal, streams, rivers and few dams, fisheries activities are undertaken in
few communities to supplement their nutritional and budget requirements.
Gardening activities are carried out on small-scale basis, although prospects
exist to expand gardening in the area. However, performance in crop
production have been inconsistent across the districts covered by this study.
For instance, between 2003 and 2010, maize production fell from 1.4 Mt to
1.3 Mt (Fig. 2) in tandem with the area cultivated over the period (Fig. 3).
Similar trends replicated throughout individual districts. In the NadowliKaleo district, where gold extraction activities are cur-rently underway,
between 2002 and 2010, the available acreage under maize cultivation
decreased by 0.5% (Assembly, 2010). Thus, a more than proportionate
decrease in output was experienced at 2.1%. Within the same period, whereas
goats and pigs production increased by 21.8% and 41.4%, sheep and cattle
production increased by 12% and 18.5% respectively (Assembly, 2010).

Traditionally, bush fallowing and shifting cultivation have been the

principal farming methods in the area. Farmers used to abandon unproductive
farmlands and migrated to areas with more fertile lands. Livestock fed on the
abandoned farmlands and open pastures. Also, wildlife was harvested near
farmlands; on uncultivated bushlands of neighbour communities. Compound
farms were cultivated to provide food for the immediate needs of the family
whiles bush farms provide the year round family feed. Compound farming is
the situation where rural folks cultivate crops around their homes. However,
these practices have become outmoded with the expansion of populations and
a consequent scarcity of fertile lands, especially around the Wa-Lawra area
2

(World Bank, 2006). The population density in the region is 38.0/km (GSS,
2

2012). However, the Nadowli-Kaleo district records about 54.3/km

(Assembly, 2010), which is relatively higher (Fig. 4). The high densities have
negative insinuations for emerging mining sector activities in the area. For
instance, Nalepa and Bauer (2012) suggest that populations growth and
increasing agricultural prospects have increased the demand for land for
addressing growing food insecurity issues in developing countries.

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Fig. 4. Population density by district.

Thus, in recent times, livestock intensification on farmlands has been

stimulated as a major mechanism for checking cropland infertility in the
northern Savannah zone of Ghana (Abdou, 2012; Karbo and Agyare, 2002).
This explains the improvements observed in the live-stock sector. However,
with a rapidly growing mining sector develop-ment, especially along the WaLawra belt, larger amounts of vegetation that provide feed for animals and
also protect soil loss would be lost under exploration and mining concessions
(Moomen and Dewan, 2016). This raises local anxieties, and communities are
threatening violent resistance in the area.
Non-agricultural livelihood activities in the area are largely tree and earthbased. These include weaving; calabash and pot making, charcoal burning,
pito brewing (local beer), Shea butter processing and petty trading. But these
activities come at the back of farming. That is when the farming season is
over and all farmlands have been harvested. Pito brewing and Sheanut picking
are the preserve economic activities of women in the area. The only trees
usually left on farmlands are those with high economic and medicinal value.
These include Shea, Mango, Dawadawa, and Cashew. Trees in the bush serve
as totems and sacred grooves wherein the gods of the land dwell. Hence, such
trees can only be removed with the permission of the chief or earth priest of a
community. Thus, displacement of trees by exploration and mining activities
is already incurring the displeasure of the people.
Construction activities also lead to the occupancy of land for sand, stone
and gravel quarrying. Moreover, small-scale illegal artisanal mining
(galamsey) is a recent non-agricultural land use activity in the area. These
activities are sanctioned by the communities since they believe that the
activities inure to the benefits of their people and not a group of individuals or
multi-national companies. Thus, the activities are increasingly drawing the
attention of the youth of the area, who otherwise migrated to south of the
country to take up employment opportunities (Hilson et al., 2013; Van der
4

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).

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Fig. 5. Spatial overlaps between concessions, districts and rural space.

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.

Often overlooked is the shared responsibility of both government and

companies to follow due processes for community land acquisition and use.
Implicit is the assumption that by simply following the legal codes of a
country, a company has inherently met all obligations to the local community
as well (Jenkins, 2004). Hence, concession licenses are granted without a
sustained participation of local communities, who are the de facto land users
and owners. On the contrary, realities in the metropolis and cosmopolitan
areas are not the same with local realities in developing countries (Joyce and
Thomson, 2000). Central government authority decreases as farther as one
goes from the cities to the hinterlands, where social cohesion is stronger.
Access to rural

90

resource base is primarily mediated by power, culture, and values of the

people and not central government policies (Ellis, 2000; Yaro, 2006). This is
particularly the case in Eremon and the entire Lawra and Nandom districts,
which are densely populated (Fig. 4) and compound farming is most
commonly practiced. Here, exploration concessions traverse into these
compound farms, thereby, provoking the traditional inhabitants. More curious
is the question of available land for potentially displaced villages, considering
the fact that fertile land may already be scarce to settlements in this area.
Families may have to depend on neighbour villages land to build dwellings
but, there may not be suitable lands for farming. This could further compound
the relations between the local communities, governments and, the mining
sector.
Furthermore, the perceived threat to traditional land uses, as visualised in
Fig. 5, has not only consolidated lineage cohesion in the area but, has also
elicited a sharpened land boundary awareness between clans. Thus, the
recognition of villages beyond those directly hosting exploration and mining
activities addresses the traditional relations that link several villages of same
kinship ties together as one community (Cousins, 2009; Kapelus, 2002).
Companies see villages in isolation and usually misinterpret community, with
their western ideologies, as those in the immediate vicinity of their operations
(Jenkins, 2004). This further complicates issues because, villages in
developing countries do not live in isolation. Cousins (2009) explains that
villages in Africa have overlapping identities that define them as a community,
which is beyond a singular unit of settlement in the mining area. Thus,
community land holding arrangements include individual rights to households
and to kinship. Issues like land rights and use, a ecting one village, concern a
chain of others who would harness collective e orts to resist (Lentz, 2006;
Lentz and Nugent, 2000). In the study area, examples of such communities
include: Cherekpong, Eremon, and Yagha in the Nadowli-Kaleo, Lawra, and
Jirapa districts respectively. Involving these lineage network of communities
facilitates in addressing land use issues in the area.

With the decentralisation system, unit committees and assembly-men have

increasingly become very important stakeholders to rural decision making and
development processes in Ghana. Therefore, new

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A. Moomen

development activities on a community's land must first receive the support of

the assemblymen of the area before they proceed to the opinion leaders and
village Chief. In addition, there are a growing number of youth associations in
the communities, who contribute significantly to the future development
agenda and prospects of the communities. For instance, in one of the
communities, although the chief approved the fieldwork, the village youth
declined. They had to be convinced that this is purely research, guided by
code of conduct, and does not represent the exploration company onsite.
Thus, the strength of these groups must also be recognised in resource
development issues.
Importantly, the paper illustrates how critical a quantitative regional study
is in assessing rural spatial organisation as the starting point for more detailed,
multi-objective, multi-method analyses of rural space in mineral exploration
and mining. It also shows how such assessments enable the assemblage of
appropriate tools for targeted district and community level research. Another
advantage of the approaches used in this study is that they provide
opportunities for local stakeholders to express their understanding about new
projects with intuition and trend (Chambers, 1994). In particular, the
fieldwork highlights the value of initial broad-scale local engagement and
resource inventory. With this, it is possible to incorporate indigenous
knowledge, local systems of knowledge in the local environment where
exploration and mining activities are taking place (Kiker et al., 2005; Tripathi
and Bhattarya, 2004). However, a major limitation of the PRA methods is that
they are time consuming and labour intensive. To address this challenge, the
researcher guided over all group discus-sions; clarifying issues, reiterating
objectives, and coordinating analysis for proper time management and labour
saving.

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.

The ultimate aim of this research o ers a timely new opportunity

Appendix. Sampled villages by district

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

Resources Policy 51 (2017) 8593

A. Moomen

Lambussie Karni

Nayiribog
Naburinye
Sorguong
Yagra-Tangazu
Yagra Ku-Onzigre
Toto
Zinpen
Billaw
Zedong

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