Impact of Gold Panning on The Socio-Political Organization of Local Populations in Burkina Faso: Case of Dagara in the Province of Ioba

Apart from the multiple visible and directly describable impacts on the physical environment, gold panning is the cause of profound socio-political upheavals, especially in rural areas. The purpose of this study is to understand the social impact of gold panning among the Dagara , one of the ethnic groups of Burkina Faso, very attached to ancestral values. Based on a participatory approach, the data is essentially qualitative. Purposive sampling based on age and gender was used. In total, around ten octogenarians, around twenty men aged between 10 and 50 and around twenty women in the same age range were concerned. The collection tools are, among others, the interview guide, the observation sheet, interviews and discussion groups. Following the manual counting, the data was processed with Spss 20.0 and Excel 2016 software. Data analysis reveals that the populations unanimously noted a depravity of morals. The elderly depict acculturation, the disrespect of elders, customs and mores. Young men and women blame the current demands of life and the need to have and maintain a certain lifestyle, however that may be. The causes of his behavior are essentially dropping out of school, the consumption of narcotics, the meteoric rise. As for the consequences, there are attacks of all kinds, prostitution, dropping out of school, the departure of able-bodied workers, the abandonment of the primary sector, the destruction of sacred sites. The gerontocracy, social cement, is dangerously crumbling and the social balance is dying. This disorganization of the social fabric is already leading to loss of human life and if it is not controlled will lead to the loss of African values, the bases of our development.