MIGNEX Case Study Brief (original) (raw)
Related papers
2020
This chapter analyses migration to small-scale gold mining sites in Mali and Burkina Faso. It investigates the extent to which these promote development in communities of destination, and examines migrants’ profiles and reasons to migrate. It finds that gold miming sites draw considerable flows of internal and cross-border migrants, which have intensified in the past 10 years. Whereas artisanal gold mining previously attracted temporary migrants, it now appears to have established itself as an economic activity leading to long-term settlement on the sites. Artisanal gold mining promotes economic development, attracts secondary migration through new businesses and services, and represents an alternative to agriculture, absorbing youth unemployment and providing an alternative to migration to cities for young people.
Youth Mobility in an Isolated Sahelian Population of Mali
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2013
This article uses fieldwork collected in four villages of the Sarnyéré Dogon in Mali between 2002 and 2010 to explore the impact of unprecedented individual youth mobility. This small Sahelian population has been challenged by declining natural resources and an opening up to the outside world. Temporary migration of families before each rainy season or harvest has always been part of this population’s adaptation to an arid environment, but youth mobility, especially among girls, is new. Although migration is short term and over relatively short distances, it is an increasingly prevalent alternative to agricultural subsistence strategies. Whereas economic reasons underpin boys’ mobility, for young unmarried girls, the predominant driving force is the discovery of the outside world. Broadly speaking, youth migration in this population is one part of changing intergenerational and gender relations and is especially related to youths’ more individual choices of spouse.
Perspectives on migration patterns in Ghana's mining industry
Resources Policy, 2009
This paper examines migration patterns in Ghana's mining sector, and briefly highlights linkages between stages of mine development and migration flows. The growth, stagnation and closure phases of mine development may each be characterised by distinct migration patterns. The paper concludes with policy-relevant implications of the dynamics of migration patterns in the mining sector, arguing in particular that Ghana is, in addition to traditionally being a country of destination, becoming a transit area for prospective migrant miners.
Stop Irregular Migration; Ghana and the Brong Ahafo Region Need You Alive
Bazaanah Prosper
In our world today, there is no longer a single state or country that can claim to be untouched by the phenomenon of mobility of persons. However, irregular migration has been found to be a threat to millions of lives, property, security, national growth and development. Several push and pull factors have been found by researchers and civil society organizations to be the major causes of this problem. In Ghana, the phenomenon is particularly prevalent among the youth, who easily become victims with the hope for making it quick in life, often without knowing the risks and dangers involved in embarking on such adventures. Despite increased security crackdowns, forced mass expulsions by North African security forces, imprisonment and even sometimes brutal murder of irregular migrants on the Libyan desert, thousands of West African migrants still attempt the perilous desert crossing from northern Niger, through Libya with Europe as their ultimate destination. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that up to 35,000 sub-Saharan irregular migrants leave for North Africa and Europe every year. The total number of international migrants has increased from an estimated 175 million in 2000 to 232 million persons in 2015, the United Nations has stated. Many of these migrants are exposed to severe physical abuse and sometimes psychological obstacles on their journey including exposure to disease, lack of food and water, confiscation of documents and in the worst case scenario, tragic death!. In 2015, Ghana was ranked first among some ten (10) other countries from which migrants traveled to Italy by sea and is the top five in the whole of Africa. Poverty, hunger, unemployment and social pressures reinforced by the unfavourable weather conditions and hopelessness among the teaming unemployed graduates are among the basic issues found in this paper to be the major reasons for young people migrating outside their communities. The paper is not in the least, seeking to discourage young people from travelling, but it advocates for young people to follow the proper means of travelling. A combination of efforts among stakeholders, including the churches, embassies, the Muslim communities, social clubs, schools and families should lead the campaign of discouraging young people from such risky journeys. Life is more precious than anything else the world can offer. Read summary version of the article published by the Daily Graphic in Ghana: http://www.graphic.com.gh/opinion/57449-stop-irregular-migration.html
Rushing for Gold: Mobility and Small-scale Mining in East Africa
Development and Change 40(2), 249-79, 2009
African rural dwellers have faced depressed economic prospects for several decades. Now, in a number of mineral-rich countries, multiple discoveries of gold and precious stones have attracted large numbers of prospective small-scale miners. While their ‘rush’ to, and activities within, mining sites are increasingly being noted, there is little analysis of miners’ mobility patterns and material outcomes. In this article, on the basis of a sample survey and interviews at two gold-mining sites in Tanzania, we probe when and why miners leave one site in favour of another. Our findings indicate that movement is often ‘rushed’ but rarely rash. Whereas movement to the first site may be an adventure, movement to subsequent sites is calculated with knowledge of the many risks entailed. Miners spend considerable time at each site before migrating onwards. Those with the highest site mobility tend to be more affluent than the others, suggesting that movement can be rewarding for those willing to ‘try their luck’ with the hard work and social networking demands of mining another site.
Child rural-rural migration in West Africa
This paper reviews available empirical studies on children's mobility within rural areas in the West African region. note that while there is evidence that the number of children migrating is high and growing, there are no reliable estimates on child migration globally, regionally and even within national contexts. This is because, as with adult migration, patterns and flows of child migration are diverse and complicated, and attempts to capture them are fraught with methodological challenges, including the absence of standardised definitions of migrants and migration; variation in data collection methods and the kinds of data gathered; and the difficulty of capturing incidences of undocumented forms of migration. Additionally, research into child migration has peculiar problems. Children's movements are often hidden within figures for adults and families. Even when child migration is the subject of research, focus is often on specific categories of child migrants, such as refugees and trafficked children or on particular destinations, such as urban market centres, or cocoa plantations. 1 All this means that we lack comprehensive information on all varieties of child migration and in forms that are comparable across the region (ibid.)