•Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is the most important nonfarm activity in rural sub-Saharan Africa.•ASM and subsistence agriculture are closely interconnected throughout rural sub-Saharan ...Africa.•There is mounting evidence which points to ASM supporting subsistence farming economically throughout the region.•Policy, however, fails to recognize these very important dynamics, which has important implications for poverty alleviation and local economic development.
This paper reviews the literature on the linkages between subsistence agriculture and artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM)—low-tech mineral extraction and processing—in Sub-Saharan Africa. It focuses specifically on the economic impact of this symbiosis on the region’s rural households and the policy treatment of this very important phenomenon. As ASM has long been perceived as a nuisance, and a sector populated mostly by rogue entrepreneurs and therefore not seen to be particularly integral to regional economic development and poverty alleviation plans/strategies, donors and policymakers have, understandably, been reluctant to embrace this idea completely. The review seeks to stimulate a critical ‘rethink’ of ASM in Sub-Saharan Africa: the alleviation of poverty in rural Sub-Saharan Africa could hinge on recognizing and strengthening the bonds between the sector’s activities and subsistence farming. For this to happen, however, a radical change in policy ‘mind-set’ is needed. This is a necessary first step toward facilitating the overhaul of a policy and regulatory framework that, to date, has stifled the legalization of ASM in Sub-Saharan Africa, and which has consequently confined the sector’s activities to informal ‘spaces’.
This paper offers an alternative viewpoint on why people choose to engage in artisanal mining – the low tech mineral extraction and processing of mainly precious metals and stones – for extended ...periods in sub-Saharan Africa. Drawing upon experiences from Akwatia, Ghana's epicentre of diamond production since the mid-1920s, the analysis challenges the commonly-held view that the region's people are drawn to artisanal mining solely because of a desire ‘to get rich quick’. A combination of events, including the recent closure of Ghana Consolidated Diamonds Ltd's industrial-scale operation and decreased foreign investment in the country's diamond industry over concerns of it potentially harbouring ‘conflict’ stones from neighbouring Côte D'Ivoire, has had a debilitating economic impact on Akwatia. In an attempt to alleviate their hardships, many of the town's so-called ‘lifetime’ diamond miners have managed to secure employment in neighbouring artisanal gold mining camps. But their decision has been condemned by many of the country's policymakers and traditional leaders, who see it solely as a move to secure ‘fast money’. It is argued here, however, that these people pursue work in surrounding artisanal gold mining communities mainly because of poverty, and that their decision has more to do with a desire to immerse in activities with which they are familiar, that offer stable employment and consistent salaries, and provide immediate debt relief. Misdiagnosis of cases such as Akwatia underscores how unfamiliar policymakers and donors are with the dynamics of ASM in sub-Saharan Africa.
•Conflicts between large-scale and artisanal miners are intensifying in gold-rich developing countries.•Despite encouragement by donors and industry bodies, the idea of these parties partnering or ...cohabitating is unsustainable.•Mergers and acquisitions, and an ever-fluctuating gold price make cohabitation untenable for large-scale miners.•A policy of autonomous coexistence between artisanal and large-scale mining should rather be encouraged.
This article contributes to the debate on conflicts between artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) – low-tech, labour-intensive mineral extraction and processing – and capital-intensive large-scale mineral extraction in developing countries. It critiques the ability of what is referred to here as a strategy of cohabitation, or the idea that those engaged in both branches of the mining sector can and should forge amicable working partnerships, to resolve and prevent conflicts resulting from those engaged in the former encroaching on to, and working mineral deposits found within, concessions demarcated to parties involved in the latter. The idea that multinational companies extracting and/or exploring for gold – the mineral at the heart of most of these conflicts – should “allow” artisanal and small-scale operators to work particular areas of their concessions and that both parties can coexist in harmony is extremely short-sighted, far-fetched and untenable as a development strategy. As is explained, from the prospecting through to the production phase, an exploration/mining concession can change ownership several times and the global market price of gold can fluctuate markedly. Both factors heavily influence a gold mine’s strategy, including management’s perception and handling of ASM. Given these uncertainties, it is recommended that host governments and donors encourage the autonomous coexistence of both parties, an approach which would yield maximum returns economically and developmentally.
This article critically examines the policy environment in place for artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) – low-tech, labour-intensive mineral extraction and processing – in sub-Saharan Africa, ...with a view to determining whether there is adequate ‘space’ for the sector's operators to flourish as entrepreneurs. In recent years, there has been growing attention paid to ASM in the region, particularly as a vehicle for stimulating local economic development. The work being planned under the Africa Mining Vision (AMV), a comprehensive policy agenda adopted by African heads of state in February 2009, could have an enormous impact on this front. One of its core objectives is to pressure host governments into Boosting Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining by following a series of streamlined recommendations. It is concluded, however, that there is a disconnect between how entrepreneurship in ASM has been interpreted and projected by proponents of the AMV on the one hand, and the form it has mostly taken in practice on the other hand. This gulf must be rapidly bridged if ASM is to have a transformative impact, economically, in the region.
•Examines entrepreneurship at artisanal and small-scale mines in sub-Saharan Africa•A gulf exists between how it is viewed by host governments and its predominant form in practice.•Explains why most artisanal and small-scale mines in sub-Saharan Africa are unlicensed•Donors must study the context and backgrounds of operators before implementing policies.
This article offers preliminary reflections on the potential impact of COVID-19 on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) activities – low-tech, labor-intensive mineral extraction and processing – in ...sub-Saharan Africa. In doing so, it revisits the core ideas put forward in the literature in support of showcasing the sector more prominently in the region’s rural development strategies. For decades, scholars have been gathering evidence that points to ASM being the most important rural nonfarm activity in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as how, in providing a supplementary source of income, the sector helps millions of the region’s impoverished farm-dependent families cope with unexpected economic stresses and shocks. Sub-Saharan Africa has managed to avoid high numbers of COVID-19 infections and deaths thus far but it has already felt the economic impacts of the pandemic, perhaps nowhere more than in its remote rural areas, which are already poverty-stricken and produce food at mostly subsistence levels. Intensifying support for ASM, an economic activity which again, many rural Africans are already involved in and familiar with the benefits it provides, in rural development and adaptation plans linked to COVID-19, should be prioritized by the region’s governments and donors. Findings from ongoing research in Mali, Liberia and Ghana – the locations of three of the largest and most dynamic ASM economies in sub-Saharan Africa – reveal that despite its proven ability to stabilize and catalyze development in the region’s rural economies, that even this sector has been affected by COVID-19. They more importantly shed light on how the pandemic has impacted ASM-dependent communities, and importantly, offer clues on how to make the sector more robust and better position it to steer rural communities through the crisis.
This paper contributes to the debate on child labor in small-scale mining communities, focusing specifically on the situation in sub-Saharan Africa. It argues that the child labor now widespread in ...many of the region’s small-scale mining communities is a product of a combination of cultural issues, household-level poverty, and rural livelihood diversification. Experiences from Komana West, a subsistence gold panning area in Southern Mali, are drawn upon to make this case. The findings suggest that the sector’s child labor “problem” is far more nuanced than international organizations and policymakers have diagnosed.
This paper critiques contemporary research and policy approaches taken toward the analysis and abatement of mercury pollution in the small-scale gold mining sector. Unmonitored releases of mercury ...from gold amalgamation have caused considerable environmental contamination and human health complications in rural reaches of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia. Whilst these problems have caught the attention of the scientific community over the past 15–20 years, the research that has since been undertaken has failed to identify appropriate mitigation measures, and has done little to advance understanding of why contamination persists. Moreover, the strategies used to educate operators about the impacts of acute mercury exposure, and the technologies implemented to prevent further pollution, have been marginally effective at best. The mercury pollution problem will not be resolved until governments and donor agencies commit to carrying out research aimed at improving understanding of the dynamics of small scale gold mining communities. Acquisition of this knowledge is the key to designing and implementing appropriate support and abatement measures.
ABSTRACT
The issue of child labour in the artisanal and small‐scale mining (ASM) economy is attracting significant attention worldwide. This article critically examines this ‘problem’ in the context ...of sub‐Saharan Africa, where a lack of formal sector employment opportunities and/or the need to provide financial support to their impoverished families has led tens of thousands of children to take up work in this industry. The article begins by engaging with the main debates on child labour in an attempt to explain why young boys and girls elect to pursue arduous work in ASM camps across the region. The remainder of the article uses the Ghana experience to further articulate the challenges associated with eradicating child labour at ASM camps, drawing upon recent fieldwork undertaken in Talensi‐Nabdam District, Upper East Region. Overall, the issue of child labour in African ASM communities has been diagnosed far too superficially, and until donor agencies and host governments fully come to grips with the underlying causes of the poverty responsible for its existence, it will continue to burgeon.
This paper introduces a special section of the Canadian Journal of Development Studies, "The Africa Mining Vision: A Manifesto for More Inclusive Extractive Industry-Led Development?" Conceived by ...African ministers "in charge of mineral resources" with inputs and guidance from African Union Heads of State, the Africa Mining Vision (AMV) was officially launched in February 2009. The papers presented in this special section reflect critically on progress that has since been made with operationalising the AMV at the country level across Africa; the general shortcomings of the manifesto; and the challenges that must be overcome if the continent is to derive greater economic benefit from its abundant mineral wealth.
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