Does participation in mining activities affect the profitability of food crops production? Evidence from Ghana

Even though previous studies have tried to establish the relationship between agricultural production and artisanal and small-scale mining, little is known with regard to the relationship between participation in mining activities and farm profitability. Meanwhile, the impact of participation in mining activities on the profitability of food crop production remains a topic for discussion among stakeholders in the mining and agriculture industries. In this article, we assessed the impact of participation in mining activities on the returns to food crop production by comparing the profitability of farmers engaged in mining activities with non-participants using primary data from 276 crop farmers in Ghana. The data was analysed using endogenous switching regression and propensity score matching. The results revealed that the age of respondents, household size, farm size, farmers’ perception of the impact of mining, participation in off-farm activities and low yield characteristics of farmers are common factors that influence the decision of the farmers to participate in mining activities. We also discovered that marital status negatively affects the profitability of both participants and non-participates. On the other hand, the cultivation of improved variety positively influences the profitability of both participant and non-participant groups. In addition, participation in off-farm activities and membership of farmer-based organization (FBO) tend to negatively influence participants’ profitability even though they had no significant impact on profitability of non-participants. Moreover, ownership of valuable assets and the number of extension visits positively influence the profit of non-participants but do not significantly affect that of the participants. Overall, it was revealed that participation in mining activities hurts the profitability of food crop production in the study area. The study therefore recommends that there should be increased sensitization exercises to help minimize the operations of illegal miners in Ghana, especially in the hubs of food crop production.