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Spaces for contestation: The politics of community development agreements in Sierra Leone

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  • Conteh, Felix Marco
  • Maconachie, Roy

Abstract

Across mineral-rich sub-Saharan Africa, it has become increasingly common for mining companies to support development schemes in host communities where resource extraction takes place. The negotiation of so-called ‘community development agreements’ (CDAs), provides an opportunity to address the social and environmental impacts of mining, while at the same time serving as a platform through which company-community relations can be mediated. Unlike discretionary corporate social responsibility programmes, in many countries, CDAs are embedded in law, invoking parties’ mutual commitments and responsibilities. Such initiatives have been heralded as ‘game–changers’, promising equitable redistribution of wealth, structured community development and stable investment climates for extractives companies. However, factors that concern the process of their negotiation, coupled with structural weaknesses, can affect their implementation, transforming them into spaces of contestation which can threaten their potential. Drawing upon fieldwork carried out in Sierra Leone between 2013–2018, this paper critically explores the contested nature of CDAs. Focusing on two different case studies in the south and east of the country, it argues that such agreements will only contribute to genuine development in host communities if the longstanding issues that have stalled the pre-existing forms and instruments of community development are systematically addressed.

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  • Conteh, Felix Marco & Maconachie, Roy, 2019. "Spaces for contestation: The politics of community development agreements in Sierra Leone," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 231-240.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:61:y:2019:i:c:p:231-240
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2019.02.016
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. Felix Marco Conteh, 2014. "Chiefs, NGOs and alternative conflict resolution mechanisms in post-conflict Sierra Leone," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(142), pages 516-529, October.
    5. Ciaran O'Faircheallaigh, 2013. "Community development agreements in the mining industry: an emerging global phenomenon," Community Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(2), pages 222-238, May.
    6. Maconachie, Roy, 2009. "Diamonds, governance and 'local' development in post-conflict Sierra Leone: Lessons for artisanal and small-scale mining in sub-Saharan Africa?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(1-2), pages 71-79.
    7. Roy Maconachie, 2010. "‘New spaces’ for change?: Diamond governance reforms and the micro‐politics of participation in post‐war Sierra Leone," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 30(3), pages 191-202, August.
    8. Caitlin Ryan, 2018. "Large-scale land deals in Sierra Leone at the intersection of gender and lineage," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 189-206, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Pijpers, Robert Jan, 2024. "Global corporations and local dependencies: Resource redistribution and the reconfiguration of dependency relations in Sierra Leone," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 33(C).

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