Estimating the impact of large-scale mining on local communities in sub-Saharan Africa (original) (raw)
Related papers
Mining and African Urbanisation: Population, Settlement and Welfare Trajectories
Routledge, London, 2014
Juxtaposing literatures on urbanisation and mining at a time when small-scale artisanal as well as large-scale mining operations are transforming many African economies, this book focuses on the interplay of Su-Saharan African mining and urbanisation in the context of global shifts in capital and labour flows. Classically, urbanisation has been identified with industrial expansion, but mining is a distinct subset of industrial activity, involving both artisanal and large-scale mining. Case studies of a wide variety of countries with long historical experience of large-scale mining (South African, Ghana, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Botswana), as opposed to more recent experiences of artisanal mining (Mozambique, Tanzania, and Sierra Leone), reveal that the mining surge in some countries and the slow-down in others where mining was formerly dominant encompasses a wide range of urban outcomes. In view of the cyclical boom-and-bust nature of mining activity and the sector's dependence upon finite resources and exposure to world market fluctuations, this book probes settlement patterns and welfare dimensions of urban change associated with African mining amidst an unprecedented spiral in global mineral prices. The contents of the book were earlier published as a special issue of the Journal of Contemporary African Studies 30(4), 2012.
The historical importance of mining in the economic development of Ghana is considerable and well documented with the country being the second most important producer of gold. The study determines the effect of mining on rural livelihoods by considering impact of gold mining on rural households. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods to analyse the extent of threat posed by mining and its activities on assets and rural livelihoods. The Livelihood Vulnerability Index results show that social, physical and human capital were vulnerable to the impact of mining whilst natural and financial capital were found to be moderately vulnerable as compared to that of non-mining communities. This means that livelihood resources were exposed to the detrimental impact of mining and its activities, hence making it difficult for livelihood outcomes to be achieved by rural households. Also the propensity score matching results obtained showed that households in mining communities...
PLOS ONE, 2021
Industrial mining projects can play an important role in global sustainable development if associated health risks are minimised and opportunities maximised. While a broad body of evidence from quantitative studies exists that establishes the interlinkages between mining operations and effects on public health, little research has been conducted investigating health impacts from the perspective of affected communities. This is particularly true in sub-Saharan Africa, where about a third of the remaining global mineral resources are endowed and health-related indicators for sustainable development are lagging behind. In this multi-country qualitative study, we explore community perceptions regarding impacts of industrial mining on their health and well-being. In nine study sites in Burkina Faso, Mozambique and Tanzania, we conducted 83 participatory focus group discussions with a total of 791 participants (385 men, 406 women). Our findings reveal a broad range of perceived impacts on...
The socio-economic wellbeing of small mining towns in the Northern Cape
2017
With South Africa being a developing country in many respects, the management of natural resources is of high importance. It should therefore be determined how these resources are managed and what happens to the capital generated by the extraction of these resources. The resource curse hypothesis will be used as a base to understand why there are so many underdeveloped communities in places where these resources are extracted. The aim of this study was to investigate the nature and extent of the economic and social conditions of the communities of small mining towns in the Northern Cape. The research objectives of the study were (1) to study the literature on the effects of mining on mining town communities as well as the responses to these effects on human well-being and quality of life; (2) to identify key dimensions and indicators to determine social and economic well-being; (3) to show the change in socio-economic well-being as well as demographics over a ten-year period, and id...
Journal of Eastern African Studies, 2023
This article interrogates place, process and people’s quest for enhanced welfare during the 2002-2012 global mineral price boom in northwest Tanzania. Mass migration of miners, traders and service providers generated diversified residential settlements. Processes of occupational change and urbanization, catalyzed by acquisition of employment, land, housing, and other possessions at six contrasting mining locations were compared from a geo-social perspective. Our surveyed gold and diamond mining sites represented different manifestations of the mining trajectory namely: 1) artisanal rushes, 2) mature artisanal and 3) industrial mining. The article investigates who benefitted locationally and who lost in residents' scramble to gain improved living standards. Survey data on 216 household heads’ occupations, educational backgrounds, consumption and investments were collected, followed by construction of a household welfare index revealing modest welfare improvements relative to rural consumption norms for the majority of interviewed resident households. However, in line with Picketty’s (2019) theoretical insights, extreme material inequality surfaced on the welfare spectrum between the outlier affluent and poor quintile groups. Those with higher educational attainment enjoyed superior welfare and occupational status, coalescing towards middle class formation. At the opposite end, single female-headed households stood out as extremely disadvantaged, handicapped by high child dependency ratios and occupational immobility.
Eureka and Beyond: Mining's Impact on African Urbanisation
Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 2012
This collection brings separate literatures on mining and urbanisation together at a time when both artisanal and large-scale mining are expanding in many African economies. While much has been written about contestation over land and mineral rights, the impact of mining on settlement, notably its catalytic and fluctuating effects on migration and urban growth, has been largely ignored. African nation-states’ urbanisation trends have shown considerable variation over the past half century. The current surge in ‘new’ mining countries and the slow-down in ‘old’ mining countries are generating some remarkable settlement patterns and welfare outcomes. Presently, the African continent is a laboratory of national mining experiences. This special issue on African mining and urbanisation encompasses a wide cross-section of country case studies: beginning with the historical experiences of mining in Southern Africa (South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe), followed by more recent mineralizing trends in comparatively new mineral-producing countries (Tanzania) and an established West African gold producer (Ghana), before turning to the influence of conflict minerals (Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone).
2018
Despite the impressive contribution of the mining sector to national government revenue, foreign reserves and other infrastructural development many stakeholders still argue that the adverse effects of mining erodes the benefits of mining. Ghana has a long history of mining which many stakeholders contend has negatively impacted on the growth of other important sectors of the Ghanaian economy and also causing other social problems in mining communities. This study uses quantitative data analysis techniques to assess the impact of the mining activities on the ability of households to continue farming in spite of their displacement by the mine. The study also examines how the mine operations impact on the socio-economic wellbeing of households within the locale of the mine’s operations. The study found that households that live within close proximity to the mining sites engage in less farming activities because large tracks of farmlands have been lost to the mining operations. At the ...