The Socio-environmental impacts of small-scale mining operations in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem municipality in Ghana

Thesis(Master) --KDI School:Master of Development Policy,2016Small-scale gold mining looked upon as a necessary evil has the potential of creating employment and generating revenue and hence economic growth and poverty alleviation. Smallscale gold mining operations are often unregulated and appear to be more destructive. It adversely impacts individuals, environment and communities with livelihood implications. The study therefore examined the socio-environmental impacts of small-scale gold mining operations in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality in Ghana. Data was obtained from households, miners, community leaders, Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly, the Minerals Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency by using questionnaires and interview guides. Secondary data sources were also used. The study revealed that miners use both underground and surface mining in extracting mineral ore. Though there are many small-scale gold mining companies/groups, only 15 are licensed with a greater majority operating at the blind side of the law in the Municipality. The study again brought to bare that the impacts of small-scale gold are both positive and negative. Positively, it generates employment, income, promotes local economic development, boosts trade and its profitable over other economic activities. However, its inefficient exploitation has brought about serious environmental damages that have affected the livelihoods of many households as well as threatening the socio-economic lives of the people. Individuals whom small-scale gold mining operations have affected adopt various coping strategies for their survival though not sustainable. Accordingly, it is important to regulate the activities of small-scale gold mining to make it sustainable and be able to harness its development prospects by putting in more efforts by all stakeholders especially the government.1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION 2 UNDERSTANDING SMALL-SCALE MINING AND ITS SOCIO ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS: A CONCEPTUAL OVERVIEW 3 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY AREA AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 4 MODE OF OPERATIONS OF SMALL-SCALE GOLD MINING AND LIVELIHOOD ISSUES IN THE TARKWA-NSUAEM MUNICIPALITY 5 SMALL-SCALE GOLD MINING AND THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT IN THE TARKWA-NSUAEM MUNICIPALITY 6 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONSOutstandingmasterpublishedSeth OPOKU MENSAH

Regional Income Differences in Ghana: The Importance of Socio-Demographic and Ethnicity

Income differences have gained increased attention among policy makers and economists in Ghana and around the world. Several factors affect income differences in and across different geographical levels in the Country. The Paper therefore presents a comparative analysis of regional income differences in Ghana with regional panel data for 1960, 1970, 1984 and 2000. The results show a relationship between socio-demographic factors and regional income differences. It was identified that ethnicity and religion have different impacts on regional income; Christians have positive effect on regional income but not Muslims and Akans. Again, high population density in a region reduces the mean regional income; similarly, high concentration of population over 60years reduces the average regional income. Evidence from the results empirically emphasize that, regions with high share of aged population, Akans, Muslims and high population density have low regional income compared with regions with high share of Christians and low share of Akans. Keywords: ethnicity, Ghana, income differences, religion, socio-demographic

The Role of Agriculture in the Economic Empowerment of Women in the Ejisu Juaben Municipality in the Ashanti Region of Ghana

Agriculture has been the main pillar of Ejisu Juaben Municipality’s development contributing to the development of industry and all other sectors of its economy. Women are the most important actors in food chain beginning from production, marketing and intra household distribution of food as well as other post harvest activities. Women therefore remain the centre-piece of food security in the Municipality. This notwithstanding, women in agriculture in the Municipality has limited access to resources than their male counterparts. These are in the areas of access to credit, agricultural extension services, land, market among others. The Study found out that all these limit the women’s ability to increase their productivity and hence income. The Study therefore concludes that there is the need to reconsider issues of land tenure system, access to and control over productive resources such as credit and extension services. As these factors combine to either enhance and/or restrain their economic empowerment, the Study proposes that addressing such challenges will in the short to medium and long term improve upon their household, municipal and national food security. Keywords: Agriculture, Empowerment, Women Empowerment, Women’s Economic Empowerment, Women in Agricultur

Co-Managing Ecosystem Services of Forest Reserves in Ghana: The Case of the Bobiri Forest Reserve (BFR) in Kubease in the Ashanti Region of Ghana

The communal/admitted rights of the people of Kubease to the Bobiri Forest Reserve (BFR) allow the locals to collect certain quantities of specific Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) for personal use without any payment. However, if these NTFPs are to be collected in larger quantities for commercial purposes, a permit is needed. The communal/admitted rights of the Community to the ecosystem services of the Reserve make them important stakeholders in its management. Over the years however, there have been the over exploitation and continual decline of the ecosystem services provided by the Reserve. The Study concludes that there is the need to put in place the right institutional and legislative framework that allow the knowledge and understanding of all stakeholders to be reflected in making and implementing sustainable forest management decisions. Here, the resource users are important, as they directly tend to have a greater knowledge of their local environment. Keywords: Co-Management, Ecosystem Services, Livelihood, Stakeholder

Mining, Environment and Community Conflicts: A Study of Company-Community Conflicts over Gold Mining in the Obuasi Municipality of Ghana

The environment, its natural resources and development capacity remains a contentious element in the development process of human society. In Ghana, similarly as Africa and other developing countries, there is a huge dependence of environmental resources for economic growth and development. Mining gold resources is directly engulfed in this environment and natural resource exploitation process. While mining companies capitalize on their contribution to development and provision of social services, local communities refute and demand abrogation of large-scale gold mining on their "˜land'. Through an informant data collection approach and secondary data collection, the study analyzes cases of company-community disputes over gold mining and the underpinning issues, the dispute resolution strategies, and the weaknesses in the existing framework. Cases of disputes centered on compensation, resettlement packages, unfulfilled promises, mistrust and lack of alternative livelihoods for economically displaced groups. The dispute resolution strategy is also seen as being too bureaucratic, poorly connected to the cultural and social intricacies of local communities and primarily company oriented. The Study proposes the need for a new framework that considered communities as integral but not peripheral in the general national framework as well as sustaining and enhancing local alternative livelihoods and community led co-designed sustainable development plans

Goldfields Ghana Limited, Tarkwa Mines and Community Infrastructure Development in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality of Ghana

Mining activities are recognizable and visibly seen in the nature and scope of its activities in Africa. Even though there is growing concern of the negative dimensions of mining activities on the environment and even socio-cultural conditions of mining communities, mining projects can have major socio-economic impacts. With varying perspectives on the real impact of mining companies, development of mining communities remains a critical issue. The mining companies have always responded to these assertions with a catalogue of social development programmes and interventions for supporting community growth and development through their Corporate Social Responsibilities. This Paper therefore studies the community infrastructure development of mining companies with regards to Goldfields Ghana Limited, Tarkwa Mines in Ghana. It also highlights the benefits, prospects and challenges encountered in the course of providing these community infrastructures. Data for the Study was obtained from both primary and secondary sources. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used in the selection of the target population. The Study proposes measures to inform policy formulation in determining the development dynamics of mining companies and their contribution to community infrastructure development within their catchment communities

Prenatal Household Air Pollution Alters Cord Blood Mononuclear Cell Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number: Sex-Specific Associations.

BACKGROUND: Associations between prenatal household air pollution (HAP) exposure or cookstove intervention to reduce HAP and cord blood mononuclear cell (CBMC) mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid copy number (mtDNAcn), an oxidative stress biomarker, are unknown. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pregnant women were recruited and randomized to one of two cookstove interventions, including a clean-burning liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stove, or control. Prenatal HAP exposure was determined by serial, personal carbon monoxide (CO) measurements. CBMC mtDNAcn was measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Multivariable linear regression determined associations between prenatal CO and cookstove arm on mtDNAcn. Associations between mtDNAcn and birth outcomes and effect modification by infant sex were explored. RESULTS: LPG users had the lowest CO exposures (p = 0.02 by ANOVA). In boys only, average prenatal CO was inversely associated with mtDNAcn (β = -14.84, SE = 6.41, p = 0.03, per 1ppm increase in CO). When examined by study arm, LPG cookstove had the opposite effect in all children (LPG β = 19.34, SE = 9.72, p = 0.049), but especially boys (β = 30.65, SE = 14.46, p = 0.04), as compared to Control. Increased mtDNAcn was associated with improved birth outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Increased prenatal HAP exposure reduces CBMC mtDNAcn, suggesting cumulative prenatal oxidative stress injury. An LPG stove intervention may reverse this effect. Boys appear most susceptible

Prenatal Household Air Pollution Exposure, Cord Blood Mononuclear Cell Telomere Length and Age Four Blood Pressure: Evidence from a Ghanaian Pregnancy Cohort.

Associations between prenatal household air pollution exposure (HAP), newborn telomere length and early childhood blood pressure are unknown. Methods: Pregnant women were randomized to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stove, improved biomass stove or control (traditional, open fire cook stove). HAP was measured by personal carbon monoxide (CO) (n = 97) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (n = 60). At birth, cord blood mononuclear cells (CBMCs) were collected for telomere length (TL) analyses. At child age four years, we measured resting blood pressure (BP) (n = 97). We employed multivariable linear regression to determine associations between prenatal HAP and cookstove arm and assessed CBMC relative to TL separately. We then examined associations between CBMC TL and resting BP. Results: Higher prenatal PM2.5 exposure was associated with reduced TL (β = -4.9% (95% CI -8.6, -0.4), p = 0.03, per 10 ug/m3 increase in PM2.5). Infants born to mothers randomized to the LPG cookstove had longer TL (β = 55.3% (95% CI 16.2, 109.6), p < 0.01)) compared with control. In all children, shorter TL was associated with higher systolic BP (SBP) (β = 0.35 mmHg (95% CI 0.001, 0.71), p = 0.05, per 10% decrease in TL). Increased prenatal HAP exposure is associated with shorter TL at birth. Shorter TL at birth is associated with higher age four BP, suggesting that TL at birth may be a biomarker of HAP-associated disease risk

Global age-sex-specific mortality, life expectancy, and population estimates in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1950–2021, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background: Estimates of demographic metrics are crucial to assess levels and trends of population health outcomes. The profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on populations worldwide has underscored the need for timely estimates to understand this unprecedented event within the context of long-term population health trends. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 provides new demographic estimates for 204 countries and territories and 811 additional subnational locations from 1950 to 2021, with a particular emphasis on changes in mortality and life expectancy that occurred during the 2020–21 COVID-19 pandemic period. Methods: 22 223 data sources from vital registration, sample registration, surveys, censuses, and other sources were used to estimate mortality, with a subset of these sources used exclusively to estimate excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2026 data sources were used for population estimation. Additional sources were used to estimate migration; the effects of the HIV epidemic; and demographic discontinuities due to conflicts, famines, natural disasters, and pandemics, which are used as inputs for estimating mortality and population. Spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression (ST-GPR) was used to generate under-5 mortality rates, which synthesised 30 763 location-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 1365 surveys and censuses, and 80 other sources. ST-GPR was also used to estimate adult mortality (between ages 15 and 59 years) based on information from 31 642 location-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 355 surveys and censuses, and 24 other sources. Estimates of child and adult mortality rates were then used to generate life tables with a relational model life table system. For countries with large HIV epidemics, life tables were adjusted using independent estimates of HIV-specific mortality generated via an epidemiological analysis of HIV prevalence surveys, antenatal clinic serosurveillance, and other data sources. Excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 was determined by subtracting observed all-cause mortality (adjusted for late registration and mortality anomalies) from the mortality expected in the absence of the pandemic. Expected mortality was calculated based on historical trends using an ensemble of models. In location-years where all-cause mortality data were unavailable, we estimated excess mortality rates using a regression model with covariates pertaining to the pandemic. Population size was computed using a Bayesian hierarchical cohort component model. Life expectancy was calculated using age-specific mortality rates and standard demographic methods. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were calculated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered values from a 1000-draw posterior distribution. Findings: Global all-cause mortality followed two distinct patterns over the study period: age-standardised mortality rates declined between 1950 and 2019 (a 62·8% [95% UI 60·5–65·1] decline), and increased during the COVID-19 pandemic period (2020–21; 5·1% [0·9–9·6] increase). In contrast with the overall reverse in mortality trends during the pandemic period, child mortality continued to decline, with 4·66 million (3·98–5·50) global deaths in children younger than 5 years in 2021 compared with 5·21 million (4·50–6·01) in 2019. An estimated 131 million (126–137) people died globally from all causes in 2020 and 2021 combined, of which 15·9 million (14·7–17·2) were due to the COVID-19 pandemic (measured by excess mortality, which includes deaths directly due to SARS-CoV-2 infection and those indirectly due to other social, economic, or behavioural changes associated with the pandemic). Excess mortality rates exceeded 150 deaths per 100 000 population during at least one year of the pandemic in 80 countries and territories, whereas 20 nations had a negative excess mortality rate in 2020 or 2021, indicating that all-cause mortality in these countries was lower during the pandemic than expected based on historical trends. Between 1950 and 2021, global life expectancy at birth increased by 22·7 years (20·8–24·8), from 49·0 years (46·7–51·3) to 71·7 years (70·9–72·5). Global life expectancy at birth declined by 1·6 years (1·0–2·2) between 2019 and 2021, reversing historical trends. An increase in life expectancy was only observed in 32 (15·7%) of 204 countries and territories between 2019 and 2021. The global population reached 7·89 billion (7·67–8·13) people in 2021, by which time 56 of 204 countries and territories had peaked and subsequently populations have declined. The largest proportion of population growth between 2020 and 2021 was in sub-Saharan Africa (39·5% [28·4–52·7]) and south Asia (26·3% [9·0–44·7]). From 2000 to 2021, the ratio of the population aged 65 years and older to the population aged younger than 15 years increased in 188 (92·2%) of 204 nations. Interpretation: Global adult mortality rates markedly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, reversing past decreasing trends, while child mortality rates continued to decline, albeit more slowly than in earlier years. Although COVID-19 had a substantial impact on many demographic indicators during the first 2 years of the pandemic, overall global health progress over the 72 years evaluated has been profound, with considerable improvements in mortality and life expectancy. Additionally, we observed a deceleration of global population growth since 2017, despite steady or increasing growth in lower-income countries, combined with a continued global shift of population age structures towards older ages. These demographic changes will likely present future challenges to health systems, economies, and societies. The comprehensive demographic estimates reported here will enable researchers, policy makers, health practitioners, and other key stakeholders to better understand and address the profound changes that have occurred in the global health landscape following the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, and longer-term trends beyond the pandemic

ASSESSING THE LIVELIHOOD GAINS OF FOREST HOST COMMUNITIES AND THE MANAGEMENT OF THE BOBIRI FOREST RESERVE (BFR) IN GHANA

The Study assesses the livelihood gains of forest host communities and management of the Bobiri Forest Reserve in Ghana. The communal/admitted rights of the people of Kubease to the Reserve allow the locals to collect certain quantities of specific NTFPs for personal use without any payment. However, if these NTFPs are to be collected in larger quantities for commercial purposes, a permit is needed. The communal/admitted rights of the Community to the ecosystem services of the Reserve make them important stakeholders in its management. Over the years however, Co-Management practices of the Reserve have been that of consultation with limited exchange and/or no involvement of the Community. There is also the lack of legislative support in co-managing the BFR. The resultant effects have been the over exploitation and continual decline of the ecosystem services provided by the Reserve as well as an unequal power distribution between the resource users, resource managers and other stakeholders. The Study therefore proposes the development of Co-Management guidelines that have the capacity to empower poor resource users to sustainably manage the Forest resources together with the resource managers and other stakeholders. Here, Co-Management is seen as a type of partnership between non-governmental and governmental natural resource users and managers in which management is formally shared, usually under an agreement. Sharing of management responsibilities is seen as a means of reducing the over exploitation of the Forest resources and hence resource sustainability. The Study concludes that there is the need to put in place the right institutional and legislative framework that allows the knowledge and understanding of all stakeholders to be reflected in making and implementing sustainable forest management decisions. Here, the resource users are important, as they directly tend to have a greater knowledge of their local environment. The resource users position as disadvantaged groups should therefore be enhanced by giving them direct representation in decision making and allowing them to benefit from collective action. The Study draws insight from Co-Management approaches and is guided by qualitative investigation. Semi-structured in-depth interviews, participant observation, focus group discussion and other secondary data sources are the methods applied