Mining the Cocoa Farm in Osino Community, Ghana

Abstract

This paper throws its weight to other writings on mining and livelihood. It assessed illegal small scale mining activities and how it affect cocoa farmers’ livelihood with specific reference to a community in Ghana. A qualitative approach was adopted. The research design was a case study and largely descriptive. Primary data was culled from 35 respondents including affected cocoa farmers, miners and some key stakeholders. It was supported with reports, books and online publications. A purposive sampling technique was used to identify respondents and focus group discussions were held. Key informant interviews and observations were also used for data collection. Afterwards, a content analysis was done on the text and image data generated. Results were presented and discussed under appropriate themes. Results from the findings showed that cocoa farming was the main source of income for people in the community but unfortunately their farms were destroyed and this had had a ripple effect on their livelihood. Again, farmlands were not seized for illegal mining activities; rather it was bought and paid for under compelling circumstances. It was concluded that, both commodities contribute to the nation’s development; hence one should not be substituted for the other, rather, small scale mining should be done in a legal and properly planned manner so not to affect cocoa farmers’ livelihood negatively.