Semi-Structured Interviews

Semi-structured interviews were used to solicit data from different stakeholders in the small-scale mining activities and in the community as a whole. A semi-structured interview guide covering fairly specific topics was administered to respondents. The responses then provided directions for further questions. Semi-structured interviews were preferred to structured interviews because of the study’s interest in respondents’ point of view. As Bryman (2008) asserts, such interviews have an advantage over structured interviews when it comes to soliciting rich and detailed responses from interviewees. Semi-structured interviews were also used as opposed to unstructured interviews because of the desire to have a kind of guide for respondents and myself to prevent swaying away from the main objectives of this study. In addition, a kind of guide was needed so that the research assistant could familiarize himself, so he could conduct interviews on his own if the need ever arose16. Though an interview guide was used, it was varied considerable depending on the category of respondents being interviewed, So that when miners were interviewed, the emphasis was on their mining activities, and when small-farmers were

interviewed, the emphasis was on the effects of the mining activities on their farmlands and farming activities.

Some of the interviews were conducted in English, with the literate respondents, and some were held in Namdam17. Since this language is similar to Grushie, my mother tongue, I was able to communicate fairly well with most the illiterate respondents. Whenever there was a difficulty in communication between any respondent and myself, the research assistant came in to explain and clarify things.

The first interview was held with the ‘Gate Keeper’ for the research. This first interview was meant to serve as an introduction to the area and the study. All issues that were thought to be relevant for the study were explored in this first interview.

Six male miners were interviewed. Two each from the three communities selected. The interest here was to solicit from these respondents the factors that led them into the mining activities. Their opinions on the effects of the mining activities on such economic and social factors as income, employment, infrastructure, education, health, housing and on other economic activities as farming were also collected. Two of the six miners interviewed were also small-farmers. One was a student and another described himself as a part-time business man. Only two said they were full time miners.

Three female miners also served as respondents in the semi-structured interviews. Two of these also work as small-farmers during the rainy season and sometimes trade in the local market. One woman each was interviewed from the three selected communities. These interviews were concerned with soliciting their views on the effects of the mining activities on their lives, the roles they play in the mining activities, and on gender relations in the study area. Another interview was also conducted with one woman who is a housewife. It is interesting to note here that though this woman works with her husband on the farm, she described herself as an unemployed housewife. To her, working on the family farm with her husband is part of her marital duties. It was observed that it is still fashionable to be described as a housewife here, unlike in Scandinavia, where Katrin Bennhold has noted that it is embarrassing to be called a housewife (International Herald Tribune 21/07-10). The interviews with the women afforded the research the opportunity to gain some insights into the effects of the mining activities on households, since women

by and large are the managers of most households in the study area, as well other parts of Ghana.

A nurse of the local clinic was also interviewed in an attempt to gain insights into the effects of the mining activities in the area on the health of the miners and the other inhabitants of the area. The assumption was that since most people in the area rely on the clinic for the treatment of their illnesses, the resident nurse would be privy to the kinds of illnesses suffered by the miners and was therefore the ideal person to give the study an insight into the effects of the ASM on health in the community.

Another interview was held with a teacher of the local Junior High School. The initial plan had been to interview the Head teacher, but he was unavailable. The mathematics teacher who doubled as the Assistant Head teacher agreed to take the interview. This interview gave the study an insight into the effects of the mining activities on school enrolment, attendance and education as a whole. Two students of the school were also interviewed to collect their opinions on the effects of the mining activities on their education and that of other students in the school. One student admitted he works with the miners after school and on weekends, and during the farming period; he helps his family on the farm.

Three small-farmers, one each from the three communities selected for the study were also interviewed to collect their views on the effects of the mining activities on their farming activities and farming in their communities as a whole. As the fieldwork was conducted during the dry season, getting the small-farmers to participate in the interviews was one of the easiest among all respondents, since they did not have to go to work on their farms. Below is a figure showing the composition of the different respondents in the interviews.