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Safeguarding livelihoods or exacerbating poverty? Artisanal mining and formalization in West Africa

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  • Roy Maconachie
  • Gavin Hilson

Abstract

In recent years, policy mechanisms to support a formalized artisanal and small‐scale mining (ASM) sector in sub‐Saharan Africa have gained increasing currency. Proponents of formalization argue that most social and environmental problems associated with the sector stem from the fact that ASM is predominantly unregulated and operates outside the legal sphere. This paper critically examines recent efforts to formalize artisanal and small‐scale mining in West Africa, drawing upon recent fieldwork carried out in Sierra Leone, Ghana and Mali. In exploring the sector's livelihood dimensions, the analysis suggests that bringing unregulated, informal mining activities into the legal domain remains a considerable challenge. The paper concludes by confirming the urgent need to refocus formalization strategies on the main livelihood challenges and constraints of small‐scale miners themselves, if poverty is to be alleviated and more benefits are to accrue to depressed communities in mineral‐rich regions.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:natres:v:35:y:2011:i:4:p:293-303
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1477-8947.2011.01407.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gavin Hilson & Clive Potter, 2003. "Why Is Illegal Gold Mining Activity so Ubiquitous in Rural Ghana?," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 15(2‐3), pages 237-270.
    2. Mohammed Banchirigah, Sadia, 2006. "How have reforms fuelled the expansion of artisanal mining? Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 165-171, September.
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    4. 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.
    5. 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.
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    2. Allyson Green & Andrew D. Jones & Kan Sun & Richard L. Neitzel, 2015. "The Association between Noise, Cortisol and Heart Rate in a Small-Scale Gold Mining Community—A Pilot Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-15, August.
    3. 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).
    4. 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).
    5. Shitima, Christina & Suykens, Bert, 2023. "Formalization of sand mining in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    6. Obodai, Jacob & Bhagwat, Shonil & Mohan, Giles, 2024. "The interface of environment and human wellbeing: Exploring the impacts of gold mining on food security in Ghana," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    7. Rachidi, Ntebatše R. & Nwaila, Glen T. & Zhang, Steven E. & Bourdeau, Julie E. & Ghorbani, Yousef, 2021. "Assessing cobalt supply sustainability through production forecasting and implications for green energy policies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    8. 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).
    9. Rodriguez, Luz A. & Velez, María Alejandra & Pfaff, Alexander, 2021. "Leaders’ distributional & efficiency effects in collective responses to policy: Lab-in-field experiments with small-scale gold miners in Colombia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    10. 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.
    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.
    12. Katherine C. Malpeli & Peter G. Chirico, 2013. "The influence of geomorphology on the role of women at artisanal and small‐scale mine sites," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 37(1), pages 43-54, February.
    13. Anwar Endris Hassen, 2022. "Competency oriented management for sustainable artisanal and small‐scale mining sector development in Ethiopia," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 46(1), pages 116-135, February.

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