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Ayanfuri, part of the greater Obuasi complex in Ghana, is the subject of the country's first decommissioning plan following the pit's closure in September 2001. Prior to this, there was no national legislation in Ghana governing mine closure, which in certain instances resulted in foreign-owned miners leaving the country and abrogating their environmental and social responsibilities.

Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited (AGC), prior to the business combination with AngloGold in April 2004, was approached by the country's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to submit a formal decommissioning plan, which would serve as a possible blueprint for future closures. While much preparatory work was done to address issues like public safety, site stability, revegetation, provision of social infrastructure and sustainable livelihood support, it was not until AngloGold Ashanti was formed that the decommissioning plan finally got underway in July 2004. A six-year closure plan was proposed by the decommissioning team (based at the neighbouring Obuasi mine), comprising three years for the implementation of the decommissioning plan, followed by a three-year monitoring period, until a final closure certificate is finally issued by the EPA in 2010.

Consistent with the principle that communities should benefit from mining operations once they have ceased, an important element of AngloGold Ashanti's decommissioning plan was the establishment of a sustainable livelihood intervention programme for the communities in and around Ayanfuri mine. Seven communities were affected – the largest being Ayanfuri with a population of approximately 2,500; and Gyaman, Fobinso, Abnabna, Dadieso, Ntwintina and Nkonya with a combined total of 4,500 inhabitants. Consultation took place with the traditional chiefs or head of the community elders, female community leaders, youth representatives, representatives from NGOs, and representatives of each village to inform them of the decommissioning process and the implementation of income-generating activities for sustainable development following Ayanfuri's closure. This was an important exercise in rebuilding community trust since, up until that point, the perception was that the mine had abandoned them. They charged that, while the mine had assisted in building infrastructure, little effort had gone into capacity building.

Much of the mine's rehabilitated land was found to be suitable for sustainable livelihood support projects, including mined-out pits containing water which could be used for aquaculture. Reclaimed land could be used for crop production, grazing and forestry. Sites owned by individuals were also earmarked as areas for sustainable projects.

A number of organisations were invited to take part in discussions around setting up sustainable enterprises. The Minister of Food and Agriculture gave input with regard to farming; the Fisheries Department, which was approached to give expert guidance on aquaculture projects, showed an interest in using the proposed Ayanfuri ponds as a training site; and the Centre for Biodiversity Utilisation and Development (CBUD), from the Institute of Renewable Natural Resources at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, offered suggestions on a range of sustainable livelihood projects which it could assist in establishing.

Funded by the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Accra, the CBUD aims to stimulate and promote sustainable development through the use of natural resources, paying equal attention to conservation. Some of the projects it has proposed for future development include duck, rabbit and pig farming; honey production; aquaculture; and seedling nurseries. However, as requested by AngloGold Ashanti, the initial ventures were limited to training in snail and indigenous leafy vegetable farming; and grasscutter rearing (grasscutters are small rodents which are both a delicacy and a source of protein in Ghana and other African countries). The total CBUD budget for capacity building and start-up costs in these ventures was ?804,100,000 ($84,660).

Of the approximately 5,000 people who applied to take part in the projects, 1,000 were selected to take part in concurrent training in snail and vegetable farming and 100 for grasscutter rearing which has high start-up costs. Criteria for acceptance were that participants originate from the Ayanfuri enclave and, to ensure the security of ventures, that they own a piece of land next to their home. Participants who did not own land could request the community chief to make land available for individual projects. In order to empower as many people as possible, participants were expected to take part in skills transfer on completion of the programme. The one-year programme was split into three milestone stages:

• intensive six-month on-the-job training and capacity-building by a team of 19 CBUD trainers, who were seconded to residences on the mine (a CBUD office was established at Ayanfuri for the benefit of the community);
• appraisal of participants to assess those whose businesses had become viable enough to warrant micro-credit from the mine's ?640,000,000 ($67,368) micro-credit budget (banks do not offer credit to first-time applicants), as well as training in managerial, business, marketing and organisational skills; and
• demonstrated business expansion.

Training was carried out in groups, and those who reached the micro-credit milestone formed cooperatives, while at the same time retaining individual ownership of ventures. Of the 1,000 participants who originally started training in snail and vegetable farming, 300 successfully completed the milestones, to the point that they no longer required CBUD assistance, while the remainder continued with coaching. One hundred people trained in grasscutter rearing, of whom 30 have become fully self-sustaining.

While the programme has been fairly successful to date, it has not been without its challenges. These have included meeting the 2010 closure plan deadline, which the EPA has indicated is too ambitious; aligning community support with the mine's objectives; creating organised markets for products (currently produce reverts to the CBUD when markets cannot be found); and preparing for business expansion well ahead of the CBUD's scope of one year.

In terms of the decommissioning plan, AngloGold Ashanti's period of financial responsibility ended at the end of the year-long training programme in July 2005, after which funding was made available from CBUD donors to ensure the sustainability of current projects and to embark on new ones. However the decommissioning team continues to receive monthly progress reports on the projects. Although neighbouring Obuasi mine has a projected life-of-mine of 30 years, AngloGold Ashanti has given assurances that a programme of skills transfer will be extended to the eight communities in and around the mine, to ensure that sustainable livelihood programmes are firmly in place long before mine closure. Discussions have already commenced with the CBUD to this end.