Scope and governance of terrestrial sand mining around Accra, Ghana

Sand is a crucial resource for the construction of urban infrastructure and constitutes an integral part of the built environment. In Ghana, terrestrial sand mining on farmlands is widespread in the rural and peri-urban communities adjoining the country's capital, Accra. Despite an estimated mining volume of 765 truckloads per day, corresponding to about 4.55 Mio m3 annually, the governance of sand has received little research attention. To fill this knowledge gap, this paper examines the scope and governance of terrestrial sand mining around Accra. Qualitative data were collected from 30 key informants, including landowners, officials of local government authorities, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Minerals Commission (MINCOM), sand miners, truck drivers, and staff of real estate companies. Besides, three Focus Group Discussions (FGD) were held with Farmer-Based Organizations (FBOs), complemented by a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the mining process and sand trucking. The results showed that sand mining in the study areas was governed by several regulatory agencies with limited inter-institutional collaboration. Illegal sand mining was widespread in the study areas due to bureaucratic licensing procedures, inadequate collaboration among the regulators, bribery of some regulatory officials by the miners, insufficient monitoring of miners, particularly at night, and landowners' preference for sand mining over farming as a result of prompt monetary gains. The revenues from sand mining accrued to the miners, landowners, and truck drivers who controlled capital or land, while the livelihoods of the majority of the local residents were negatively affected due to the environmental degradation. The findings call for a review of the existing licencing process and collaboration among the regulatory agencies to foster enforcement of the existing laws to ensure sustainable sand mining around Accra.