Effects of gold mining activities on rural households' material wellbeing in Osun State, Nigeria

This study investigated the effects of gold mining activities on rural households' material wellbeing in Osun State, Nigeria. It described rural households' socio-economic characteristics, the living conditions, their perception and also their level of material wellbeing. A multistage sampling procedure was used for the selection of 415 rural household heads in the mining affected communities (AC) and the non-affected communities (NAC). Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent t-test. Their mean annual household income was 772,320 ± 352800 and 2,682,720 ± 780,360 in the AC and NAC, respectively. Majority (78.1%) of the rural household heads in the AC now made use of borehole for domestic uses owning to high contamination of surface water while half (52.2%) of the NAC respondents were still using community stream or river. The rural household heads in the AC strongly opposed the statement that gold mining activities enhance marketing of agricultural produce (1.55 ± 0.64). Also, the NAC household heads disagreed with the statement that gold mining activities offer alternative incomes sources (1.49 ± 0.71). Virtually all (97.2%) AC household heads had significantly low material wellbeing due to high effects of the gold mining activities on them in contrast to the relatively high (99.5%) material wellbeing in the NAC. In conclusion, gold mining activities jeopardized the material wellbeing of its hosting rural community households. Strict policy-backed regulations should be implemented for the adequate relocation and compensation of rural household heads in gold mining areas.