Ghana’s informal mining harms health and the land – but reforms must work with people, not against them

Poverty is prevalent in most gold mining communities in Ghana. Wikimedia Commons

Artisanal small-scale mining has been practised in Ghana for over a century. In 2018, small-scale miners generated 2.1 million ounces of gold, accounting for 43.1% of total gold production in the country. The sector employs 60% of Ghana’s mining workforce.

But this production has come at a cost: water pollution, land degradation, the destruction of agricultural fields, and the discharge of hazardous elements like mercury into soil and water.