Mining, Power and Sustainable Development: Micro-Politics of Benefits Sharing in Ghana
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(Thesis)
Date
2019
Authors
Ofori, Jerome Jeffison
Editors
Advisors
Nursey-Bray, Melissa
Wanner, Thomas
Wanner, Thomas
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Thesis
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Abstract
The last two decades has witnessed the adoption of sustainable development principles within the mining industry, following the publication of the industry’s minerals and mining for sustainable development (MMSD) report in 2002. It has been argued by scholars and industry actors that mining companies can contribute to sustainable development by being environmentally responsible, improving the economic and social well-being of people affected by mining projects as well as creating mechanisms for a plurality of decision-making processes throughout the entire mining life cycle. Sustainable development however, is a contested development concept with no implementation blueprint. Unsurprising therefore, the exact meaning and application of sustainable development in the mining industry has been the subject of increasing academic debate. From the burgeoning literature that explores the links between mining and sustainable development, it is difficult to ascertain what sustainable development means to different actors, and how differences in its conception influences the extent to which mining may or not contribute to sustainable development in practice at the community level. This is critical given that at the community level, unequal power relations may exist and potentially shape how mining led sustainable development costs and benefits are shared. Thus, to fully discern the link between mining and sustainable development, it is imperative to unveil first the sustainable development rationalities of various actors and then how those rationalities or agendas are ritualised in practice taking into account contextual influences such as unequal power relations. Taking the sharing of mining benefits by governments and mining companies as a point of departure, this thesis explores how mining contributes to the sustainable development of communities affected by mining projects in Ghana. It does so by focussing on how mine benefits, in the form of redistributed revenues, are accessed, controlled and used by beneficiary communities. The thesis uses a political ecology analytical approach and draws on qualitative primary research data collected from three communities affected by Newmont Mining Corporation’s project in the Birim North District of Ghana. This thesis argues from the findings that, underlying the limited contribution of mining to sustainable development of mining communities in Ghana is a crisis of mining benefits sharing. The findings of this research show that, different actors including the government, mining companies and mining communities have different conceptions and agendas of sustainable development. Furthermore, within the communities, there are different conceptions of what sustainable development is between the elites and poor or non-elites. Overall, the government defines sustainable development in terms of economic growth; the mining companies, influenced by the need to maintain a social license, consider sustainable development to be about the creation a legacy. Community elites, such as chiefs, consider sustainable development to be about community infrastructure; whereas non-elites within the community, many of whom have lost access to their own farmlands due to mining developments, see sustainable development as that which will improve their livelihoods and economic outcomes. This study reveals that, community power imbalances have ensured that the mineral revenues allocated for community driven sustainable development, are ultimately controlled by local elites. The elites, through their unfettered powers, capture both the decision-making processes and the revenues to pursue their sustainable development agendas, to the detriment of the poor and marginalised non-elites. The elites do this by deploying different strategies to counteract the structures governing the use of the revenues. This thesis contributes empirically to understanding how benefit sharing for sustainable development processes work in practice and explains why some people gain while others lose in this equation. This thesis recommends the redesign of the current benefit sharing models being used by Newmont Mining and the government. The suggested new design will provide opportunities to correct the existing power imbalances and ensure that a sustainable development that benefits the communities as whole is achieved.
School/Discipline
School of Social Sciences : Geograpy, Environment and Population
Dissertation Note
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Social Sciences, 2019
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