TY - JOUR
T1 - Rural Poverty and Artisanal Mining in Sub-Saharan Africa
T2 - New Perspective through Environment–Poverty Paradox
AU - Justice, Issah Musah Surugu
AU - Ahenkan, Albert
AU - Bawole, Justice Nyigmah
AU - Yeboah-Assiamah, Emmanuel
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, © 2017 Institute of Rural Management.
PY - 2017/10/1
Y1 - 2017/10/1
N2 - Attempts to discuss small-scale artisanal mining (ASM) within the lenses of environment–poverty paradox have had two contending schools of thought. The first lens is the most dominant and holds that a single factor, ‘poverty’, drives people into ASM. The second lens contends that multiples of complex factors better explain who and why rural populations elect to enter employment in ASM. The literature appears to have largely focused on the single perspective, while the multi-complex web of factors has been largely ignored or at best just mentioned in passing. Employing the multi-complex perspective, this article provides a novel framework for unpacking the multiple factors that drive rural people into ASM in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We argue that a single factor (‘poverty’) is inadequate to explain why rural people choose ASM as an alternative livelihood source and any policy intervention based on such perspective may rarely succeed. Our discussion highlights that institutional failure, including foreign/external takeover, poor politico-regulatory environment and unfavourable climate have sanctioned rural people to engage in such arduous and unsafe livelihood support activity which degrades the environment. Both theoretical and empirical studies from SSA have been used to support the argument.
AB - Attempts to discuss small-scale artisanal mining (ASM) within the lenses of environment–poverty paradox have had two contending schools of thought. The first lens is the most dominant and holds that a single factor, ‘poverty’, drives people into ASM. The second lens contends that multiples of complex factors better explain who and why rural populations elect to enter employment in ASM. The literature appears to have largely focused on the single perspective, while the multi-complex web of factors has been largely ignored or at best just mentioned in passing. Employing the multi-complex perspective, this article provides a novel framework for unpacking the multiple factors that drive rural people into ASM in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We argue that a single factor (‘poverty’) is inadequate to explain why rural people choose ASM as an alternative livelihood source and any policy intervention based on such perspective may rarely succeed. Our discussion highlights that institutional failure, including foreign/external takeover, poor politico-regulatory environment and unfavourable climate have sanctioned rural people to engage in such arduous and unsafe livelihood support activity which degrades the environment. Both theoretical and empirical studies from SSA have been used to support the argument.
KW - Artisanal mining
KW - environment
KW - environment–poverty paradox
KW - poverty
KW - sub-Sahara Africa
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85032511234&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0973005217730274
DO - 10.1177/0973005217730274
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85032511234
SN - 0973-0052
VL - 13
SP - 162
EP - 181
JO - International Journal of Rural Management
JF - International Journal of Rural Management
IS - 2
ER -