Thomas Nti, IJSRM Volume 08 Issue 03 March 2020 [www.ijsrm.in] EM-2020-1661 International Journal of Scientific Research and Management (IJSRM) ||Volume||08||Issue||03||Pages||EM-2020-1661-1676||2020|| Website: www.ijsrm.in ISSN (e): 2321-3418 DOI: 10.18535/ijsrm/v8i03.em03 Illegal Mining and Sustainability Performance: Evidence from Ashanti Region, Ghana 1 Thomas Nti*, 2YinFei Chen, 3Bright Parker Quayson, 4Fred Yeboah Agyei 1,2,3 School of Finance and Economics, Jiangsu University, P.R. China, 212013 4 Department of Forestry Science, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, Ghana Keywords: Illegal Mining, sustainability performance, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) 1. Introduction Illegal mining as an activity undertaken without state approval in places like game reserves, forest reserves and or near water bodies even with a mining license Illegal [1]. Illegal mining in Ghana over the years has been on the rise in many areas of the country because of its appealing nature [2] to the neglect of its negative impacts on the citizenry. About 20 million people worldwide engage in illegal mining and contribute almost one-fourth of the world's gold output [3]. There are about 300,000-500,000 illegal miners in Ghana and their total contribution to GDP amounts to $461.1 million since 1989 [4]. [5] observed that illegal mining could be a tool to reduce poverty but at the same time bring negative impacts on its environments underscoring urgent intervention from the government and the citizens at large to pursue sustainability. According to [6], the greater contributions of mining revenue comes from small scale miners who are mostly illegal. Consequently, illegal mining activities can generate social, environmental and economic impacts [7] [8] and this has increasingly gotten attention from the Ghana government by bringing into effect the interministerial task force popularly known as operation vanguard by the public to help curb or eradicate the problems. Given the contributions and the effects of illegal mining, the need for improvement in sustainable performance is a vital aim for both industry and the economy at large [9]. Several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations for 2030 will be in doubt without substantial contributions from the mining sector which serves as raw materials for the manufacturing sector to create employment and valued addition along the supply chains of material goods [10]. Additionally, the bid to boost the production of mineral raw materials can cause social, environmental and economic impacts, which can also compromise the goals of other sustainable development targets. Resource use can cause either positive, negative or both impacts in communities with these resources which Abstract The As illegal mining in Ghana has become increasingly rampant ever, this study aimed at examining the effect of illegal mining on the dimensions of sustainability performance among crop farmers and the challenges they face because of illegal mining in the Ashanti Region, Ghana. To investigate the intriguing connections among illegal mining and sustainability performance among crop farmers, this paper draws on multidisciplinary literature and collects empirical data from 250 respondents in the Atwima Nwabiagya and Atwima Mponua Districts, Ghana to test the proposed model and hypotheses using structural equation modeling. All three (3) elements or paradigms of sustainability performance were negatively affected by illegal mining activities. It was also observed that a significant positive relationship exists among all the elements of sustainability performance hence a consequence on one element may affect the other. Unlike most research on illegal mining that has been theoretical, this study represents one of the few empirical analyses of how illegal mining may affect sustainability performance. Thomas Nti, IJSRM Volume 08 Issue 03 March 2020 [www.ijsrm.in] EM-2020-1662 is evident in the scholarly debate on the ''resource curse'' hypothesis which postulates that countries blessed with natural resources tend to have a slower growth rate than resource-poor countries [11]. Many researchers from different fields have recently made enormous contributions to the literature on illegal mining [12][13][14][15]; the sustainability aspect has received little attention [16]. Sustainability is a calculated approach to meet the desires of the current generation without affecting the prospects of yet unborn ones to secure their future [17] which uses the Tripod-Bottom Line concept-environmental conservation, social responsibility, and economic development. Sustainability is essential to curb the negative repercussions left by illegal mining on its vicinity hence many institutions including governments are looking for ways to ensure sustainable programs to mitigate social and environmental issues not forgetting the minerals industry through the Global Mining Initiat ive [18]. The government and its agencies also need to pursue sustainability in its combat of illegal mining since it is essential for achieving environmental quality to have clean air, natural resources, and a non-toxic environment. Additionally, sustainability determines the state of our health largely because our environment affects our health directly. According to [19], deforestation and land degradation end up in some 18% of world carbonic dioxide emissions. [20] Observed that most of our natural resources are shrinking because of logging, illegal mining activities and other developmental issues. Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Ghana 2012 [21] puts the rate of deforestation at 2.0% which results in a yearly loss of about 135.000ha. Prospective small-scale miners can apply for a license but the process is cumbersome due to bureaucratic processes which makes illegal mining activity more appealing [22]. The government has created complex regulatory environmental regulations procedurally, but unsuccessful in the area of on-site support and extension services [23] to curb the negative effects of illegal mining activities. Currently, there is limited research work on illegal mining and sustainability hence the study aims at looking at activities of illegal mining and sustainable performance of farmers. 2. Conceptual framework and hypotheses development 2.1 Illegal mining According to [24], illegal miners are seen as ' threatening, '' danger, '' threat, '' headache, '' challenge ' and ' a problem, ' which need a strategic and comprehensive solution to combat with accompanying sustainable practices. The government sees illegal mining as a blockade of the future economy [24] in dealing with the nuisance [24]. The day-to-day activities of illegal miners are considered destructive to the environment, the social setting and the economy in general by development agencies thus illegal activities largely have longterm negative impacts on its actors and the economy at large. Most often, illegal miners engage in fierce confrontations with landowners and large-scale foreign miners [22]. Illegal mining is inversely related to a low level of education and directly related to high unemployment rates in developing countries [12]. Rural households make bread and butter choices based on natural resources (land, water, forest resources), social capital (interpersonal networks, team membership, and association), human capital (education, skills, health), physical capital (irrigation channels, equipment, roads), and money capital (cash, savings, and cattle). How to and the means to amass these capital form a household's resource methods and the relationship it has with the environment [25] [26]. For instance, households with high educational background and low endowments of natural capital (land and forest) are more likely to earn their sustenance from nonfarm work as a way of both coping with natural resource scarcity to get the highest returns from education. On the other hand, households with little educational background and a high natural capital base (forest) are more likely to earn a living from mining goods because they lack the skills and resources to diversify their sources of income [27]. Besides, decisions on livelihoods are determined by many contextual factors, including structural factors (market working, land tenure systems, common property regimes), cultural factors (gender roles, spiritual land association), fiscal factors (local and international demand for locally produced goods) and environmental changes (climate change) [28]. This menace has caused greater depletion of the land and its uses have caused a huge change in the cropland and crop production [29]. Illegal gold operations are located on fertile agricultural lands in rural areas, which have caused prevalent ecological degradation [30][31]. It Thomas Nti, IJSRM Volume 08 Issue 03 March 2020 [www.ijsrm.in] EM-2020-1663 has been shown to harm agriculture with effects such as pollution, land grabbing having a direct impact on rural income and living [32][33]. The activities of illegal miners pose a danger to the lands used for agriculture because it has affected farmlands and rendered food insecurity in most family units in the communities [34]. In most cases, logging and clearing of the surface soil have caused agricultural degradation, soil erosion, water bodies' contamination, and aquatic life. Their activities culminated in heavy machinery land depletion, resulting in nutrient loss and soil fertility for farming purposes[35]. Mining operations are generally carried out where agricultural activities are typically dominant and the spillage of chemicals such as cyanide and mercury affects crops and health risks to farmers, leading to unproductive farmland and moving farmers from sustainable livelihoods to alternative income-generating enterprises. [36][37]. 2.2 Sustainable performance The notion of sustainable performance and development is a widely used term in many areas of activity related to the lifetime of a person. There has been a broad concern for the requirement towards mounting tools to translate the thought and goals of sustainability into real action and into measures to judge progress towards them. Most researchers have paid an excessive amount of attention to coverage instead of the impact numerous human activities are having on sustainable performance and development. The aim of achieving sustainability is growth that meets the needs of this generation whereas not undermining the potential of future generations to satisfy their wishes (Towards Sustainable Mining-TSM, 2019)[38][39]. This means that each of the paradigms that make up the sustainability performance defines the community obligations of companies to improve social, economic including environmental performance. The International Council of Mines and Metals [40] therefore outlines that sustainable development framework includes an undertaking by miners to add to the social, economic and environmental advancement in areas where miners operate [40] Despite the dynamic economic growth of the countries blessed with natural resources, control of these resources is essential [41] to ensure sustainability. Fundamental to sustainable performance dimension is the use of performance indicators to capture and fuse information about the 3 key areas involved, namely Social, environmental and economic [42][43]; social, meaning care for the farmers and even the illegal miners at their workplace and community development  ecological, ensuring the protection of natural resources and the environment in the face of illegal mining activity  procedural and ec`onomic activities safeguarding economic growth According to [43], social responsibility means ensuring the workplace is safe for all economic actors for working which includes the social aspects of mining, including but not limited to the families of miners and the environment. Economic growth means realizing long-run sustainability concerning each planned production volumes and achieving economic efficiency obtained from the sale of the mined minerals [43]. Protection of natural resources and the environment means concern for the layer and the protection of its resources by its rational acquisition, characterized by savings in its depletion [43]. Thus, government and citizens alike should take steps to reduce the negative impacts on the environment by illegal mining hence pursuing sustainability. Thomas Nti, IJSRM Volume 08 Issue 03 March 2020 [www.ijsrm.in] EM-2020-1664 According to the [44] presently under development for measuring mining company performances in terms of social, environmental and economic practices, there is the need to include efforts towards contributing to SDGs. Sustainable performance is a continuing process and not a temporary undertaking. It has clearly defined goals and recommended ways of achieving them in all of the preceding key areas [45]. 2.2.1 Social Elements The social orientation of every society is guided by the long stand for certain norms and customs. The concentration of illegal mining activities negatively impacted society and its cultural values and practices such as prostitution, drug abuse, inadequate housing, and school dropouts is because of the rise of illegal mining in most mining areas [46]. [30] postulates that over the last two decades, communities on the tassels of largescale mining projects have been subjected to the increasing use of intimidation, abuse, violence, and violations of human rights by mining companies and state security agencies, including forceful evictions, arbitrary arrests, illegal detention, the demolition or burning of villages, beatings, shootings, dog attacks, rape, and murder. Sometimes extreme poverty, illiteracy and the low consciousness that mining communities have about their rights have provided grounds for the violation of the rights of communities by these mining companies and state securities. 2.2.2 Environmental Elements Activities of illegal miners and its consequences are degrading to the land and other resources significantly. Illegal mining activities account for the reduced rain forest and rich topsoil for cultivation coupled with deforestation and the generating of waste [47]. Another devastating effect from this menace is water contamination due to the addition of large amounts of materials to the water from illegal mining activities hence not good for human use [48]. The rise of illegal mining companies has resulted in stream toxic waste from cyanide spillages, acid extract drainage, tailings leakages, mine waste disposal, and mine pits. They do not follow environmental standards, as a result, they release a harmful substance that finds its way into water bodies, and contaminate it. Minerals extraction from the soil irrespective of the technique adopted results in the destruction of the landscape without due process. Illegal miners have cleared some places known to be forest reserve to accommodate surface mining by illegal miners [48]. This practice has led to the removal of large quantities of topsoil, leaving the land bare and susceptible to erosion. The elimination of the topsoil often renders the land practically incapable of supporting crop farming 2.2.3 Economic Elements The mining sector is a significant contributor to formal and informal employment in countries that have gold and other ores. [49] Claimed that approximately, 20,000 people are employed in large-scale mining whilst 500,000 people are employed in the small-scale sector. The mining industry also generates revenue for the Fig1. Elements that create the terms of sustainable Performance Thomas Nti, IJSRM Volume 08 Issue 03 March 2020 [www.ijsrm.in] EM-2020-1665 internal economy through salaries, wages and other payments made to employees, contractors, and taxes on salaries of employees, and social security contributions from employees and their employers. Communities, where the activities of these mining take place, do not often benefit from investment opportunities, employment, and royalties paid to them and other accompanying settlements [49]. Despite the benefits that a country generates from the mining industry, the negative effects of illegal mining cannot be understated. One of the known negative effects of illegal mining within a community is the high cost of living. Communities near mines experience the outrageously high cost of living in every aspect of their daily life expenditures; there is a high price tag beyond the reach of an average person including food, accommodation, health, water [34]. This makes life a hectic one for the average person in the community. The factors responsible for the high cost of living in mining communities are usually a result of the disparities in income which usually favors the top hierarchy [34]. Again, illegal mining has withdrawn a significant percentage of the labor force from agriculture in these communities and other income-generating activities by taking farmland away and holding out the false promise of revenue. The fall in food production in some illegal mining communities with a relatively high population and high unemployment accounts for high food prices. 2.3 Illegal mining versus resource abundance The resource abundance theory postulates that countries particularly Less Developed ones endowed with natural resources tend to have high rates of poverty. It stresses that the abundance of minerals and fuel in less developed countries (LDC) contribute to come up with negative developmental outcomes as well as poor economic performance, growth collapse, high levels of corruption and ineffective governance [50]. Naturally, resource gifted countries experience bad or worse economic and political outcomes than countries with no endowment [51]. The rationale behind this phenomenon resulted from a variety of reasons such as Dutch disease, rent-seeking, crowding out of human capital and crowding out of social capital The Dutch disease is an economic concept coined in 1960 in the Netherlands. It denotes the potential negative effects natural resource windfalls and accompanying appreciations of the exchange rate can have on the entire economy for instance potential dangers of oil booms[50]. While it may be expected to see better development outcomes after countries discover natural resources, resource-rich countries tend to have higher rates of conflict and authoritarianism, and lower rates of economic stability and economic growth, compared to their non-resource-rich neighbors[53]. The unfavorable effects of natural resources on the economy can be emphasized through two perspectives: a market-based viewpoint focusing on macroeconomic mechanisms and a political economy approach stressing the role and effectiveness of institutions [54] [53]. While there are numerous challenges unique to mineral extractions, governments of such countries can make policy decisions that can help avoid some of the negative consequences of these extractions and maximize the benefits. This study uses the tenets of the resource curse theory to identify how well-endowed resource can be a swearword. The target areas for this study may not be an exception. [55] investigated the socio-economic and environmental influences of mining on immediate communities around Borini Porono quarry in Kogi State, central Nigeria and found out that the mining activities have resulted in cracking of buildings; pollution of various kinds (air, noise, and land) to the environment. [55] Recommended the government need to make it mandatory for mining companies at both large and smallscale not to mention illegal miners, to submit environmental impact assessment. Again, [56] examined the effect that artisanal mining has on the poor rural agricultural communities with purposive sampling and data analyzed and concluded that it has attracted able-bodied labor from irrigation farming to join the artisanal mining activity thereby decreasing the productive capacity of the irrigation scheme. [57] Explored the effects of illegal mining on crop production in the Amansei Central district of Ghana and said that the illegal mining business has attracted many able-bodied men causing a reduction in productivity and water pollution. He concluded that there should be political and communal wills to eradicate illegal mining otherwise known as galamsey activities in rural communities of Ghana. [58] conducted a study on mining activities in Prestea in the western region of Ghana and found out that galamsey deplete environmental resources such as water, soil, the landscape, vegetation, the ecosystem, Thomas Nti, IJSRM Volume 08 Issue 03 March 2020 [www.ijsrm.in] EM-2020-1666 among others and left many major rivers in the region heavily polluted. Fig 2: The research model Hypotheses From the literature, people with zero income can smoothen consumption through borrowing, stealing, receiving alms and will be prepared to engage in whatever activity irrespective of its outcome [59][60][61]. Government and its agencies brand illegal mining as evil and detractors to development but those agencies grant concessions to these illegal miners and even go to the extent of providing security for these miners [62]. We, therefore, hypothesized that: H1a: Citizens activities are positively related to illegal mining H1b: Government activities are positively related to illegal mining Governments and Citizens activities alike complement each other in the illegal mining business that has a telling effect on social, environmental and economic elements of sustainable performance [63]. We, therefore, posit that: H2a: Illegal mining has a negative effect on the social elements of sustainable performance H2b: Illegal mining has a negative influence on the environmental elements of sustainable performance H2c: Illegal mining has a negative effect on the economic elements of sustainable performance Methodology 3.1. Description of the study area The Atwima Mponua and the Atwima Nwabiagya Districts are two of the 254 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in Ghana, and forms part of the 43 of MMDAs in the Ashanti Region with Nyinahin as its Administrative capital [64]. Thomas Nti, IJSRM Volume 08 Issue 03 March 2020 [www.ijsrm.in] EM-2020-1667 Fig 3: Geographical map of Atwima Mponua District The district is located in the southwestern part of the Ashanti Region and lies between longitude 2o00‟W and 20 32‟W and latitude 6o 32‟N and 60 75‟N covering a land area of 1,883.2 square kilometers. According to [64], persons of 15 years and older by occupations shows that workers in agricultural farming, forestry, and fishing constitute the largest occupational group of about 79.0% in the district. The Atwima Mponua District is predominantly agrarian like most rural Districts in Ghana. Most of the population is into Agriculture, followed by Commerce, Manufacturing, and Service. For agriculture, there are three main types of crop farming practices in the District namely; mono-cropping, mixed cropping, and plantation cropping. The primary occupation of the people in the district is farming [64]. 3.2. Data, sampling technique, and sample size The study used primary data, which was a cross-sectional study on 250 randomly selected household heads. A prototype questionnaire from existing literature on the impact of mining on the sustainability performance of farmers was adapted to gather information on household demographic characteristics. Additionally, an independent section collected information on illegal operations, which makes this dataset useful for this study. Households were chosen using a two-stage sampling method. First, two districts in the region were selected following the criteria of 1) the community is a place where illegal mining activities are practiced; 2) where the majority of the people in the district are crop farmers. In the second stage, households were randomly selected from a list including all the households in the community, which was provided by community leaders. 250 persons were interviewed and asked to respond to the structured questionnaire. Thomas Nti, IJSRM Volume 08 Issue 03 March 2020 [www.ijsrm.in] EM-2020-1668 Table 1: Selected Communities and Sample size District or Community Sample size Atwima Nwabiagya 125 Atwima Mponua district 125 Total 250 Source: Author's computation (2019) 3.3 Investigate the influence of illegal mining on sustainability performance in mining communities After data collection, data analysis was performed to examine the postulated model and its paths. Illegal mining is deemed to have an impact on sustainability performance as a dependent variable, which is made up of three elements: Social, environmental and economic elements. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to reach an adequate fit factor structure for the measurement model. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique was used to analyze the hypothesized structure. The aim was to investigate the impact of illegal mining on these elements of sustainability performance. Table 2: Reliability Indicators Variables No. of Items Cronbach Alpha Illegal mining 4 .725 Social Element 4 .866 Environmental Element 5 .804 Economic Element 4 .774 17 Source: Field data (2019) The reliability coefficients in table 2 for illegal mining, social element, Environmental element, and Economic elements are .725, .866, .804 and .774 respectively, with all Cronbach alpha values higher than .70, indicating the high internal consistency of each scale instrument. 4. Data Analysis and Discussions Per results as presented in table 3, it is evident that out of the 250 respondents who completed the survey questionnaire through interviews, 77 of them were women representing 30.8% whilst 173 of them were men representing 69.2%. It is however clear that the majority of respondents to this survey were men, those between the age group of 18-34 were the majority with 51.6% while those less than 18 were the lowest with 6.8%. This adds to other reports that men constitute the general active agricultural working force (particularly crop farming) and that of the mining sector. On the educational level, the majority of the respondents were having secondary education (S.H.S and vocational) representing 44.8%, followed by Basic education (primary and J.H.S) with 30.8% and those with tertiary qualification being the least with 24.4% as shown in table 3. This adds to other reports that men constitute the general active agricultural working force (particularly crop farming) and that of the mining sector. Most of the respondents were Ghanaians representing 94.0% whereas 6.0% were foreigners. 64.2% of the respondents have stayed in this community for 6 years and over whereas 37.6% of the respondents have resided in the same community for 0-5 years, which affirms their responses, are accurate or near accurate. Most of the respondents were household heads with 68.4% being household heads and 31.6% being dependents. Most of the respondents indicated they were engaged in some sort of occupation ranging from crop farming-34.4%, livestock farming-5.6%, hunting-3.6%, mining-8.0% with others representing 48.4%. Most of the respondents showed that their alternative source of livelihood was illegal mining (galamsey) with 72.4%followed by gifts from friends and relatives, 18.8%; borrowing, 8.0% and begging, 0.8%. Most respondents indicated that 3-5 persons made up their household representing 56.8% with respondents who indicated 9 and above persons in their household as the least with 3.6%. Again, respondents with less than 10 acres farm size were 54.8% but respondents with 10 acres and above farm size were 45.2%, which suggests that most of the respondents prefer to keep Thomas Nti, IJSRM Volume 08 Issue 03 March 2020 [www.ijsrm.in] EM-2020-1669 quite a small farm size. More so, the estimated output (0-1000) bags represented 86% whereas 1001 bags and above represented 14.0%. A detail of the demographic information is given in the table above. Participate in illegal mining Frequency Percentage Yes 218 87.2% No 32 12.8% Table 4: Statistics on Respondents participation in Illegal Mining The majority of the respondents, 168 out of 250 indicated that they are negatively affected by illegal mining activities on their crop farmlands representing 67.2% whilst 82 respondents (32.8%) indicated they are positively impacted by illegal mining from table 4. Results presented in Table 4 show asymptotically that cocoa, which is the highest cash crop of the country, was affected mostly by illegal mining operations followed by cassava farms. It is assumed that most farmers lost their source of income since these are tradit ional crops that most farmers grow in these areas. 4.1 Hypothesis testing The structured data on illegal mining and sustainability performance (N = 250) were analyzed using SEM. First, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was undertaken on the data, then the resulting factor structure was cross-validated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). This procedure is routinely adopted, reduces measurement error, creates more accurate SEM models, and allows for greater confidence in the resulting analyses [65][66]. This 2-step process allows for a diagnostic stage, where inaccuracies with the outcome measures can be ironed out, followed by a confirmatory phase, where the latent structure is cross-validated [67]. Following the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, model path analysis was used to give a summary of the effect between illegal mining and sustainability performance and its elements. Table 5: Rotated Factor Loadings Variables Estimate S.E C.R label Respondents level of agreement to the use of one or two excavators and some other simple tools as an indication of the existence of illegal mining in the study area 0.827 0.101 8.18811881 Respondents level of agreement to mining at dawn or late in the night as an indication of the existence of illegal mining in the study area 0.712 0.123 5.78861789 Respondents level of agreement to mining in unauthorized locations as an indication of the existence of illegal mining in the study area 0.81 0.17 4.76470588 Respondents level of agreement to miners without proper documents(no license) as an indication of the existence of illegal mining in the study area 0.514 0.108 4.75925926 Respondents level of agreement to two or more people in a secluded environment 0.31 0.114 2.71929825 Social Elements Rankings on social effect (large scale corruption) on sustainable performance 0.824 0.111 7.42342342 Rankings on social effects (dispossession of properties) on sustainable performance 0.782 0.12 6.51666667 Thomas Nti, IJSRM Volume 08 Issue 03 March 2020 [www.ijsrm.in] EM-2020-1670 Rankings on social effects (injuries to life) on sustainable performance 0.698 0.134 5.20895522 Rankings on social effects (theft and drugs) on sustainable performance 0.598 0.185 3.23243243 Rankings on social effects (prostitution, teenage pregnancy, and school dropouts) on sustainable performance 0.623 0.245 2.54285714 Environmental Elements Rankings on environmental effects (Water pollution) on sustainable performance 0.824 0.1 8.24 Rankings on environmental effects (Air pollution) on sustainable performance 0.759 0.104 7.29807692 Rankings on environmental effects (Lumbering) on sustainable performance 0.785 0.125 6.28 Rankings on environmental effects (open mining pits) on sustainable performance 0.636 0.211 3.01421801 Rankings on the environmental effect (Land degradation) on sustainable performance 0.681 0.215 3.16744186 Economic Elements Rankings on economic effect (employment creation) on sustainable performance 0.564 0.245 2.30204082 Rankings on economic effect (destruction of arable lands) on sustainable performance 0.644 0.208 3.09615385 Rankings on economic effect (high cost of living and fall in output) on sustainable performance 0.876 0.123 7.12195122 Rankings on economic effect (generates income) on sustainable performance 0.891 0.119 7.48739496 Source: Field data (2019) The items loading on the Factor reflected illegal mining and the elements that made up sustainability performance. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) CFA was conducted on the items representing illegal mining and sustainability performance: social elements, environmental elements, and economic elements. Fig 6 describes the full model with standardized parameter estimates. Thomas Nti, IJSRM Volume 08 Issue 03 March 2020 [www.ijsrm.in] EM-2020-1671 Figure6: Confirmatory factor analysis Note: ILm = illegal mining, Se = Social Elements, EnE = Environmental Elements, Ece = Economic Elements. ILm1-Level of an agreement to the use of one or two excavators and some other simple tools as an indication of the existence of illegal mining ILm2Level of an agreement to mining at dawn or late in the night as an indication of the existence of illegal mining ILm3Level of an agreement to mining in unauthorized locations as an indication of the existence of illegal mining ILm4Level of an agreement to miners without proper documentation (no license) as an indication of the existence of illegal mining ILm5-Level of an agreement to two or more people in a secluded environment Se1-Rankings on social elements (theft and drugs) on sustainable performance Se2Rankings on social elements (injuries to life) on sustainable performance Se3Rankings on social elements (dispossession of properties) on sustainable performance Se4Rankings on social elements (large-scale corruption) on sustainable performance Se5Rankings on social elements (prostitution, teenage pregnancy, and school dropouts) on sustainable performance EnE1Rankings on environmental elements (water pollution) on sustainable performance EnE2Rankings on environmental elements (air pollution) on sustainable performance EnE3Rankings on environmental elements (lumbering) on sustainable performance Thomas Nti, IJSRM Volume 08 Issue 03 March 2020 [www.ijsrm.in] EM-2020-1672 EnE4Rankings on environmental elements (open mining pits) on sustainable performance EnE5Rankings on the severe effect of environmental elements (Land degradation) on sustainable performance Ece1Rankings on economic elements (generates income) on sustainable performance Ece2Rankings on economic elements (high cost of living and fall in output) on sustainable performance Ece3Rankings on economic elements (destruction of arable lands) on sustainable performance Ece4Rankings on economic elements (employment creation) on sustainable performance Broken green arrow= effect of Illegal Mining on Social elements, Economic elements and Environmental elements, orange arrow= relationship between variables In terms of the effect or influence among the latent variables, illegal mining had a significant negative effect on social element of sustainability performance (β = -.360, p < .05, r = -.70); illegal mining again was found to have a significantly negative effect on environmental element of sustainability performance (β = -.450, p < .05, r = -.75). Finally, another significantly negative effect was found between illegal mining and economic element of sustainability performance (β = -.301, p < .05, r = -.67). This means that illegal mining had a significant negative effect on all the 3 elements of sustainability performance. There was a significantly positive relationship among all the elements of sustainability performance. An indication all areas of sustainability performance are of equal importance hence overemphasizing and undervaluing in one area usually leads to a crisis across the entire scheme. Fig 7: Relationship among elements of sustainability performance Social Elements Environmental Elements r=.58'' Environmental Elements Economic Elements r=.50'' Economic Elements Social Elements r=. Source: Field survey (2019) Table 6: Mode Path Analysis Summary Predictor Variable Criterion variable Standard regression Illegal mining Social Elements -.70** Illegal mining Environmental Elements -.75** Illegal mining Economic Elements -.67** Social Elements Environmental Elements .58** Environmental Elements Economic Elements .46** Economic Elements Social Elements .49** 2 X =10.69 DF=4 Source: Field survey (2018)* p < .10; ** p < .05; *** p < .01 Thomas Nti, IJSRM Volume 08 Issue 03 March 2020 [www.ijsrm.in] EM-2020-1673 Table 7: Fit indices of the structural model Absolute Fit Level Incremental Fit Parsimonious Fit Level GFI(Goodness of Fit) RMSEA RMR AGFI CFI NFI X2/DF SMC(R2) 0.956 0.028 0.03 0.905 0.952 0.954 2.67 S.E=0.251 ENV.E=0.235 ECO.E=221 Source: Field survey (2019) The model provided a good fit to the data (CFI = 0.952, RMSEA = 0.028, RMR = 0.03, X 2 /DF = 2.67) suggesting that the predicted model fitted the observed data. The inspection of the standardized residual covariance supported the adequate fit of the model. The squared multiple correlation (SMC) values, which are similar to those in the regression analysis, show that this model accounts for 0.251 of the variances in social elements, 0.235 of the variances in environmental elements and 0.221 of the variances in economic elements of sustainability performance. Summary of Findings 1. H1: Illegal mining has a negative influence on the social elements of sustainability performance was accepted. 2. H2: Illegal mining has a negative effect on the environmental elements of sustainability performance was accepted. 3. H3: Illegal mining has a negative impact on the economic elements of sustainability performance was accepted. 5. Conclusion and Recommendation The study on the influence of illegal mining on the sustainability performance of crop farmers in the Ashanti region of Ghana was deemed more relevant for academia and industrial, government and private sector, and grant providing agencies in their policy or strategic implementations. It is concluded from this study that all the elements of sustainability performance were negatively affected by illegal mining activities. It was also observed that a positive relationship exists among all the elements of sustainability performance hence an influence on one element may affect the other. This study suggests the following recommendations for policy implication: The government of Ghana should pay close attention to organizing education at the local government level to inform rural folks who primarily destroy crop farmlands and forests for quick money from illegal mining. Again, there should be a conscious effort towards job creation since the majority of the respondents indicated unemployment as the driving force behind their engagement in illegal mining. Moreover, socio-economic factors including sex, age, educational level, household monthly income and peer influence for illegal mining, and perceived risk in mining should be given keen attention by government and NGOs in the development of any policy framework with the of the aim of addressing illegal mining activities in Ghana. References [1] Teschner, "Small-scale mining in Ghana: The government and the galamsey," Resour. Policy, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 308–314, 2012. [2] Yeboah, "Porters provide important and useful services to their clients but their strategies expose them to vulnerability and exclusion in the city . Unfortunately , little research and attention has targeted this poor group and no specific policies have been im," vol. 56, no. 3, pp. 42–60, 2010. [3] Akpan, C. O. (2004). 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