Dealing with ambiguity: Policy and practice among artisanal gold miners

Abstract

In 1992, the World Bank published its Strategy for African Mining arguing that the endorsement of reformed mining codes1 could transform the underperforming African mining sector into a driver of economic recovery. The new mining codes that followed in many African countries expanded the opportunities for commercial, particularly foreign, mining companies and led to substantial rises in exploration and mining investments (Campbell 2004, 2009). In addition, the existence of artisanal mining and its importance for poverty reduction have gradually been recognized, which has resulted in efforts to legalize, formalize, and regulate the sector. Funds from the World Bank were allocated to draft new artisanal mining codes in a number of African countries with the stated aim of building human and institutional capacity in order to implement the legislation and address the sector’s associated problems (World Bank 1992, 2004). In tandem with the recognition of its importance, the artisanal mining sectorhas received increasing attention from the international donor community (Hilson 2005, 2007). Evidence suggests, however, that the impacts of the artisanal mining support programmes have been limited, mainly due to the failure of top-down support approaches to adequately involve beneficiaries, the limited capacity within government institutions, and the lack of knowledge about artisanal miners’ livelihoods (Banchirigah 2006; Hilson 2007). Hence, Hilson (2005) strongly advocates more baseline studies within artisanal mining settlements to provide information on the number, age, origin, ethnicity, and educational background of miners. In addition there is a strong need for a better understanding of the operationalactivities within artisanal mining. This is necessary not only to increase the efficiency of development projects aimed at improving living and working conditions in mining settlements but also to develop and adapt the regulatory mechanisms to long-enduring practices. If basic practices differ substantially from official prescriptions of the mining codes over an extended period of time this indicates that certain elements of the regulatory framework may need to be reconsidered. Moreover, this chapter stresses the need for understanding variations of organizational practices among artisanal mining settlements, how they have evolved and consolidated, and why they may differ significantly between settlements. Only by incorporating common practices as well as variations insome of the crucial organizational components is it possible to design robust and resilient changes to the regulatory artisanal mining framework. Considering the large body of literature on artisanal mining in Tanzania,research providing insight into the organization of artisanal gold mining activities is limited (Chachage 1995; Kulindwa et al. 2003; Mwaipopo et al. 2004; Fisher 2007, 2008). Moreover, these studies are based on research in settlements around the Lake Victoria Gold Fields, in particular Geita District, although gold is extracted by artisanal miners in at least 15 of mainland Tanzania’s 25 regions. Focusing on the organizational dynamics of the Matundasi and Londoni gold sites, which are two lesser-known artisanal gold mining settlements, this chapter contributes to knowledge on Tanzania and indeed the African artisanal gold mining sector more generally. The chapter begins with an account of the codes pertaining to artisanal miningin Tanzania, contrasting them with basic organizational practices in artisanal mining prevalent in the country. Subsequently, three pertinent operational components that vary in form and management practices between the two study sites are examined: dealing with licence acquisition, accessing working capital and sharing output. These components are considered vital for the proper manoeuvring of local artisanal mining operators, and the reasons for the variations are essential to understand for policy makers and development practitioners. Finally, we discuss the relevance of the findings for policy and development interventions targeting the artisanal gold mining sector in Tanzania.