Paper short abstract:

Mining in Ghana has resulted in changing forms of commons. This has put at risk the livelihoods of farmers. This mining–agriculture nexus has driven the emergence of contested commons, which has increased the focus on making mining and agriculture work together.

Paper long abstract:

Gold mining occurs in the same geographic areas as agriculture. They compete for similar productive inputs, like land, water and labour. Though gold mining and agriculture co-exist and interact as vital livelihood strategies rural communities in Ghana, their interaction creates troubling imbalances. Gold mining and agriculture complement each other in terms of income and labour flows. But they also compete significantly for land and water resources. This has brought in its wake contested claims over land and water resources.

The increasing extraction of gold has encouraged the privatization of existing public property rights and use over land and created new commons in the form of compensation for rural farmers affected by large-scale mining investments. As a result, multinational mining companies have undertaken projects in the form of corporate social responsibility. But do these 'new commons' deliver as they promise? How do existing institutional structures contribute to mitigating the cost associated with contested commons?

This study provides greater understanding into the mining-agriculture nexus from the standpoint of contested commons. This is important to to ensure that the two economic activities interact in a positive and balanced manner, producing social and economic development without disrupting the livelihoods of rural people whose lives are tied to farming in Ghana.