Richard Kumah, PhD

Small-scale mining in Ghana supports over 6 million livelihoods. Cristina Aldehuela/Getty Images

September 10, 2024

Ghana is Africa’s largest gold producer, but it has an illegal mining issue: 5 essential reads

Godfred Boafo, The Conversation

Several of Ghana’s water bodies and forests have been destroyed by illegal small-scale mining.

All of Ghana’s main sources of drinking water have been contaminated by illegal mining activities. Wikimedia Commons

December 12, 2022

Ghana had a bad time in 2022 – 4 reads to catch up on what happened

Godfred Boafo, The Conversation

Through articles written by academic experts in the course of the year, The Conversation Africa takes a look back at Ghana in 2022.

Illegal gold mining is spreading rapidly in Ghana. Wikimedia Commons/Flickr

November 1, 2022

Ghana’s illegal mining continues because the rules and reality are disconnected

Richard Kumah, PhD, Queen's University, Ontario

Grassroots miners are disadvantaged by current regulations.

Gold is key to the economic survival of millions of Ghanaians. Knut-Erik Helle/Flickr

April 15, 2021

Ghana needs to rethink its small scale mining strategy. Here’s how

Richard Kumah, PhD, Queen's University, Ontario

The devolution of small-scale mining decisions to municipal and district assemblies working in collaboration with traditional authorities is key to saving the industry in Ghana.

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