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De-agrarianization, re-agrarianization and local economic development: Re-orientating livelihoods in African artisanal mining communities

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Abstract

This article contributes to the debate on livelihood diversification in rural sub-Saharan Africa, focusing specifically on the growing economic importance of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) in the region. The precipitous decline in the value of many export crops and the removal of subsidies on crucial inputs such as fertilizers have made smallholder production unviable, forcing many farmers to ‘branch out’ into non-farm activities to supplement their incomes. One of the more popular destinations for poor farmers is the low-tech ASM sector which, because of its low barriers to entry, has absorbed millions of rural Africans over the past two decades, the majority of whom are engaged in the extraction of near-surface mineral deposits located on concessions that have been demarcated to multinational corporations. The efforts made hitherto to control this illegal mining activity, both through force and regulation, however, have had little effect, forcing many of the region’s governments and private sector partners to ‘re-think’ their approaches. One strategy that has gained considerable attention throughout the region is intensified support for agrarian-orientated activities, many of which, despite the problems plaguing smallholder agricultural sector and challenges with making it more economically sustainable, are being lauded as appropriate ‘alternative’ sources of employment to artisanal mining. After examining where artisanal mining fits into the de-agrarianization ‘puzzle’ in sub-Saharan Africa, the article critiques the efficacy of ‘re-agrarianization’ as a strategy for addressing the region’s illegal mining problem. A case study of Ghana is used to shed further light on these issues.

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Notes

  1. Replacements for adjustment programs, PRSPs are documents required by the World Bank and IMF before a country can be considered for debt relief. The methods deployed to produce a PRSP are, in theory, participatory and country led.

  2. In this article, the terms ‘subsistence farming’ and ‘smallholder farming’ are used interchangeably, and are defined as activity carried out with the aim of producing product for the market and generating profit.

  3. http://www.twnafrica.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=66:mining-taxation-makes-tanzania-gain-less-from-mineral-resoources&catid=37:african-agenda&Itemid=58 (accessed 10 March 2009).

  4. There continues to be minimal recognition in policymaking circles that the illegal mining problem is something which mining sector reforms have created. The people who today choose to mine illegally in the region have earned significant notoriety because most work lands that have been demarcated by their governments to foreign multinational mining companies (see e.g. International Labor Organization (ILO) 1999; Kitula 2006; Hilson and Yakovelva 2007). However, in countries such as Ghana, Tanzania, The Democratic Republic of Congo and to some extent, Mali, significant portions of the lands that have been, and continue to be, awarded to these parties go unused. Many sections of these ‘virgin’ areas contain alluvial and other near-surface mineral deposits that are capable of supporting small-scale, manual activity, but which lie idle because they cannot be worked economically by large-scale mining companies (Mutemeri and Petersen 2002; Hilson et al. 2007). The subsistence groups who, in turn, congregate to these areas, however, are often branded ‘illegal’ and portrayed by the media as criminals who are stealing minerals ‘belonging to’ companies (see e.g. International Labor Organization (ILO) 1999; Tschakert and Singha 2007).

  5. In cases where artisanal miners are working in areas where the company has little interest in working, the motivation behind a sweep is unclear. In such instances, the most amicable solution would be for the company to relinquish unused lands, which would facilitate illegal operators obtaining a license.

  6. ‘AngloGold Ashanti’s approach to artisanal and small-scale mining’ http://www.anglogold.com/subwebs/InformationForInvestors/ReportToSociety06/artisanal-mining.htm (accessed 17 January 2008).

  7. ‘Poverty eradication and sustainable livelihood: focusing on artisanal mining communities’, United Nations Technical Cooperation http://esa.un.org/techcoop/flagship.asp?Code=RAF99023 (Accessed 1 December 2007).

  8. Research was carried out for the project in selected ASM communities in Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea and Mali.

  9. ‘Artisanal and illegal mining’, Barrick Gold http://www.barrick.com/CorporateResponsibility/Community/ArtisinalMining/default.aspx (accessed 4 January 2008).

  10. ‘AngloGold Ashanti’s approach to artisanal and small-scale mining’ http://www.anglogold.com/subwebs/InformationForInvestors/ReportToSociety06/artisanal-mining.htm (accessed 17 January 2008).

  11. ‘Case studies—Tanzania: 5.5. Understanding and working with artisanal miners in Africa’ http://www.anglogold.co.za/subwebs/InformationForInvestors/ReportToSociety05/values_bus_principles/community/c_cs_tzn_5_5.htm (accessed 5 January 2008).

  12. ‘A Case for the Establishment of Alternative Livelihood Project in Mining Communities in Ghana’ http://www.ghanamining.org/ghweb/en/ma/mincom.html (accessed 15 January 2008).

  13. A large rodent consumed in West Africa.

  14. Interview with government officer, Accra 05/05/08.

  15. ‘Barriers to Agricultural Trade’ http://www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/sections.php?magazine=84&sections=30 (Accessed 23 December 2007).

  16. The Ghanaian Government agreed to eliminate subsidies by 1990. By 1992, fertilizer prices had increased by 32%, and the costs of insecticides and herbicides had tripled. For example, the price paid by farmers for compound fertilizer in 1983 was 58 cedis/bag compared to 3,600 cedis/bag in 1989. During the same period, the cost of sulphate of ammonia rose from 45 to 2,350 cedis (Weissman 1990; Sarris and Shams 1992; Nyanteng and Seini 2000).

  17. ‘Galamsey Mining Cannot Be Equated to Small-Scale Mining’, Ghanaian Chronicle 07/06/05 www.theminingnews.org/news.ctm?newsID=826 (accessed 09 November 2008).

  18. Interview with local government officer 30/03/09.

  19. Interview, company officer, 01/08/05.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support received from the Foundation of Urban and Regional Studies, University of Manchester Alumni Fund, and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3), through a Tom Seaman Fellowship. The authors would also like to thank the editor, and the two referees who provided valuable feedbacks on the earlier drafts.

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  1. Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM), School of Environment and Development, The University of Manchester, Arthur Lewis Building, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

    Sadia Mohammed Banchirigah

  2. School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, The University of Reading, Earley Gate, P.O. Box 237, Reading, RG6 6AR, UK

    Gavin Hilson

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Banchirigah, S.M., Hilson, G. De-agrarianization, re-agrarianization and local economic development: Re-orientating livelihoods in African artisanal mining communities. Policy Sci 43, 157–180 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-009-9091-5

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