IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/lauspo/v80y2019icp259-268.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Formalizing artisanal mining ‘spaces’ in rural sub-Saharan Africa: The case of Niger

Author

Listed:
  • Hilson, Gavin
  • Goumandakoye, Halima
  • Diallo, Penda

Abstract

This paper contributes to the debate on the dynamics and impact of informal artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) – low-tech, labour-intensive mineral processing and extraction – in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on the case of Niger. The analysis draws on findings from interviews carried out with government officials in Niger's capital, Niamey, and artisanal miners in two of the country’s major artisanal gold-producing localities, Komabangou and M’Banga. Since it has gone virtually unexamined in the literature, Niger provides fresh perspectives on ASM’s informality in sub-Saharan Africa, a discussion which is rapidly gathering momentum in the region’s donor and development dialogues. Most of the moves taken to date to formalize and support ASM in the country have focused on the technical and financial aspects of the sector’s activities: emphasis has been placed on controlling the activity ad hoc, rather than proactively engaging and supporting operators.

Suggested Citation

  • Hilson, Gavin & Goumandakoye, Halima & Diallo, Penda, 2019. "Formalizing artisanal mining ‘spaces’ in rural sub-Saharan Africa: The case of Niger," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 259-268.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:80:y:2019:i:c:p:259-268
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.09.023
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026483771830735X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.09.023?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Asfaw, Solomon & Pallante, Giacomo & Palma, Alessandro, 2018. "Diversification Strategies and Adaptation Deficit: Evidence from Rural Communities in Niger," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 219-234.
    2. Joachim N. Binam & Frank Place & Arinloye A. Djalal & Antoine Kalinganire, 2017. "Effects of local institutions on the adoption of agroforestry innovations: evidence of farmer managed natural regeneration and its implications for rural livelihoods in the Sahel," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-28, December.
    3. Childs, John, 2014. "A new means of governing artisanal and small-scale mining? Fairtrade gold and development in Tanzania," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 128-136.
    4. Larsen, Rasmus Kløcker & Mamosso, Christiane Alzouma, 2014. "Aid with Blinkers: Environmental Governance of Uranium Mining in Niger," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 62-76.
    5. Siegel, Shefa & Veiga, Marcello M., 2009. "Artisanal and small-scale mining as an extralegal economy: De Soto and the redefinition of "formalization"," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(1-2), pages 51-56.
    6. Zezza, Alberto & Federighi, Giovanni & Kalilou, Amadou Adamou & Hiernaux, Pierre, 2016. "Milking the data: Measuring milk off-take in extensive livestock systems. Experimental evidence from Niger," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 174-186.
    7. Fisher, Eleanor & Mwaipopo, Rosemarie & Mutagwaba, Wilson & Nyange, David & Yaron, Gil, 2009. ""The ladder that sends us to wealth": Artisanal mining and poverty reduction in Tanzania," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(1-2), pages 32-38.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Arthur-Holmes, Francis & Abrefa Busia, Kwaku & Katz-Lavigne, Sarah, 2023. "‘We don't joke with our money’: Gender-based occupational segregation and women's remuneration negotiations in artisanal and small-scale mining," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    2. Pokorny, Benno & von Lübke, Christian & Dayamba, Sidzabda Djibril & Dickow, Helga, 2019. "All the gold for nothing? Impacts of mining on rural livelihoods in Northern Burkina Faso," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 23-39.
    3. Kumah, Richard, 2022. "Artisanal and small-scale mining formalization challenges in Ghana: Explaining grassroots perspectives," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    4. Sauerwein, Titus, 2020. "Gold mining and development in Côte d’Ivoire: Trajectories, opportunities and oversights," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    5. De Jong, Terah U. & Sauerwein, Titus, 2021. "State-owned minerals, village-owned land: How a shared property rights framework helped formalize artisanal diamond miners in Côte d’Ivoire between 1986 and 2016," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    6. Haikola, Simon & Anshelm, Jonas, 2020. "Evolutionary governance in mining: Boom and bust in peripheral communities in Sweden," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    7. Friedrich Schneider & Mangirdas Morkunas & Erika Quendler, 2021. "Measuring the Immeasurable: The Evolution of the Size of Informal Economy in the Agricultural Sector in the EU-15 up to 2019," CESifo Working Paper Series 8937, CESifo.
    8. Pereira, Vijay & Tuffour, James & Patnaik, Swetketu & Temouri, Yama & Malik, Ashish & Singh, Sanjay Kumar, 2021. "The quest for CSR: Mapping responsible and irresponsible practices in an intra-organizational context in Ghana’s gold mining industry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 268-281.
    9. Francis Xavier Dery Tuokuu & Uwafiokun Idemudia & Eugene B. G Bawelle & John Bosco Baguri Sumani, 2020. "Criminalization of “galamsey” and livelihoods in Ghana: Limits and consequences," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 44(1), pages 52-65, February.
    10. Osman, Adams & Owusu, Martin Tabi & Anu, Stephen Kwame & Essandoh, Sampson & Aboansi, Justice & Abdullai, Dennis, 2022. "Ban on artisanal mining in Ghana: Assessment of wellbeing, party affiliation and voting pattern of miners in Daboase, Western Region," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    11. Hook, Andrew, 2019. "Over-spilling institutions: The political ecology of ‘greening’ the small-scale gold mining sector in Guyana," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 438-453.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Juliana Segura-Salazar & Luís Marcelo Tavares, 2018. "Sustainability in the Minerals Industry: Seeking a Consensus on Its Meaning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-38, May.
    2. Baffour-Kyei, Vasco & Mensah, Amos & Owusu, Victor & Horlu, Godwin S.A.K., 2021. "Artisanal small-scale mining and livelihood assets in rural southern Ghana," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    3. Sauerwein, Titus, 2020. "Gold mining and development in Côte d’Ivoire: Trajectories, opportunities and oversights," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    4. Kilosho Buraye, Janvier & Stoop, Nik & Verpoorten, Marijke, 2017. "Defusing the social minefield of gold sites in Kamituga, South Kivu. From legal pluralism to the re-making of institutions?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 356-368.
    5. Roy Maconachie & Gavin Hilson, 2011. "Safeguarding livelihoods or exacerbating poverty? Artisanal mining and formalization in West Africa," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 35(4), pages 293-303, November.
    6. A. Cristina Ribeiro-Duthie & Líllian M.B. Domingos & Marina F. Oliveira & Patrícia C. Araujo & Renata C.J. Alamino & Ricardo S.V. Silva & James M. Ribeiro-Duthie & Zuleica C. Castilhos, 2017. "Sustainable development opportunities within corporate social responsibility practices from LSM to ASM in the gold mining industry," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 30(2), pages 141-152, July.
    7. Geenen, Sara, 2014. "Dispossession, displacement and resistance: Artisanal miners in a gold concession in South-Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 90-99.
    8. Hook, Andrew, 2019. "Fluid formalities: Insights on small-scale gold mining dynamics, informal practices, and mining governance in Guyana," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 324-338.
    9. Van Bockstael, Steven, 2019. "Land grabbing “from below”? Illicit artisanal gold mining and access to land in post-conflict Côte d’Ivoire," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 904-914.
    10. Thomas, Maxim J. & Veiga, Marcello M. & Marshall, Bruce G. & Dunbar, W. Scott, 2019. "Artisanal gold supply chain: Measures from the Ecuadorian Government," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    11. Paschal, Makungu & Kauangal, Jignesh, 2023. "Women position in artisanal and small-scale mining in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic literature review," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    12. Tesfaye, Wondimagegn & Tirivayi, Nyasha, 2020. "Crop diversity, household welfare and consumption smoothing under risk: Evidence from rural Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    13. Tschakert, Petra, 2016. "Shifting Discourses of Vilification and the Taming of Unruly Mining Landscapes in Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 123-132.
    14. Martinez, Gerardo & Smith, Nicole M. & Malone, Aaron, 2021. "Formalization is just the beginning: Analyzing post-formalization successes and challenges in Peru's small-scale gold mining sector," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    15. Poignant, Adrian, 2023. "Small-scale mining and agriculture: Evidence from northwestern Tanzania," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    16. Huber, Amelie & Joshi, Deepa, 2015. "Hydropower, Anti-Politics, and the Opening of New Political Spaces in the Eastern Himalayas," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 13-25.
    17. Salas-Urviola, Fernando B. & Calsina-Paricahua, Lesmes G. & Vilca-Salas, Ayde C., 2021. "Analysis of the formalization process of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM): Case region Puno-Peru," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    18. Mark Musumba & Cheryl A. Palm & Adam M. Komarek & Patrick K. Mutuo & Bocary Kaya, 2022. "Household livelihood diversification in rural Africa," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(2), pages 246-256, March.
    19. Premand, Patrick & Stoeffler, Quentin, 2022. "Cash transfers, climatic shocks and resilience in the Sahel," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    20. Bekele Gebisa Etea & Deyi Zhou & Kidane Assefa Abebe & Dessalegn Anshiso Sedebo, 2020. "Is income diversification a means of survival or accumulation? Evidence from rural and semi-urban households in Ethiopia," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(6), pages 5751-5769, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:80:y:2019:i:c:p:259-268. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joice Jiang (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/land-use-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.