Abstract
Despite the impressive contribution of the mining sector to national government revenue, foreign reserves and other
infrastructural development many stakeholders still argue that the adverse effects of mining erodes the benefits of
mining. Ghana has a long history of mining which many stakeholders contend has negatively impacted on the growth
of other important sectors of the Ghanaian economy and also causing other social problems in mining communities.
This study uses quantitative data analysis techniques to assess the impact of the mining activities on the ability of
households to continue farming in spite of their displacement by the mine. The study also examines how the mine
operations impact on the socio-economic wellbeing of households within the locale of the mine’s operations. The
study found that households that live within close proximity to the mining sites engage in less farming activities
because large tracks of farmlands have been lost to the mining operations. At the broader community level, the study
revealed that a household in a mining community is more likely to be poor compared to an identical household in a
non-mining community. Conversely, mining operations rather reduce the probability of native households to be poor
compared to non-native households.
