Land access rights in minerals’ responsible sourcing. The case of cobalt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abstract

Artisanal miners' access to economically and geologically viable lands in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)'s Copperbelt region is a core limitation to responsible cobalt sourcing programs. First established to respond to sourcing risks such as child labor and poor working conditions, responsible cobalt sourcing programs need to increase their scope to root causes. In this article I argue that with the increased attention on responsible sourcing of cobalt, actors across the supply chains should address land access rights issues to effectively tackle reputational risks. These risks affect the image of brand companies which then trickle the responsibility of addressing them down their supply chains. Commodified lands, distributed to private actors through concession-making, led to a highly competitive relationship between artisanal and industrial miners. The absence of available land now prevents the establishment of sustainable responsible sourcing programs. Building on Hilson, Sauerwein and Owen's concept of autonomous coexistence and recognizing the importance of context-sensitivity, I introduce the possibility to define autonomous cohabitation as an avenue for ensuring that artisanal miners securely access economically and geologically viable areas on industrial concessions in the DRC. I argue that companies involved in responsible sourcing programs should aim to develop autonomous cohabitation between ASM and LSM, in which long-term agreements, secured by the DRC state and its newly establish monopoly, the Entreprise Générale du Cobalt (EGC), ensure that land could be shared under specific legal terms, while the production would be sold to the monopoly established by EGC. Taking the example of two responsible sourcing programs, the Mutoshi Pilot Project (now inactive) and Better Mining, I argue that the current interest in visible risks hinders the capacity of these programs to successfully tackle root causes, including land access rights.