Artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Ghana Evidence to inform an ‘action dialogue’ James McQuilken and Gavin Hilson Country Report Sustainable markets Keywords: August 2016 Artisanal and small-scale mining, livelihoods, informal economy, Ghana About the authors James McQuilken is a PhD researcher examining international development and extractive industries at Surrey Business School, University of Surrey. His thesis focuses on artisanal and small-scale mining and mineral certification schemes in sub-Saharan Africa. He can be contacted at
[email protected] Professor Gavin Hilson is Chair of Sustainability in Business at the Surrey Business School, University of Surrey, and Editor-in-Chief of The Extractive Industries and Society. For the past 15 years, he has carried out research on the social and interrelated environmental impacts of small-scale mining in developing countries, mostly in West Africa, producing more than 150 papers, chapters and reports on the subject. He received his Ph.D. from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine. He can be contacted at:
[email protected] Produced by IIED’s Sustainable Markets Group The Sustainable Markets Group drives IIED’s efforts to ensure that markets contribute to positive social, environmental and economic outcomes. The group brings together IIED’s work on market governance, environmental economics, small-scale and informal enterprise, and energy and extractive industries. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Eunice Adu-Darko, Stephen Okyere and Emmanuel Essel for their unwavering support during the fieldwork for the research. Their networks, insights and dedication have been invaluable. Additionally, the authors would like to thank IIED (notably Steve Bass, Abbi Buxton, and Matthew McKernan) for their support, undertaking of the dialogue, and for bringing greater attention to artisanal and small-scale mining — a sector that has been, and to a large extent continues to be, neglected in international development and policymaking circles.