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Abstract
This paper argues that a formalized and supported artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector could alleviate significant poverty in rural Malawi. It questions the efficacy of the government's decision to continue promoting a “farm first” strategy to address the country's poverty problem, given the limited capacity of smallholder agriculture to alleviate rural hardship on its own. More dynamic approaches to tackling rural poverty are desperately needed in Malawi. A strategy that fosters increased support to ASM could prove invaluable on this front, and would likely be well received because thousands of rural Malawians have already begun “branching out” into the sector. The biggest barrier to supporting this movement is at the policy level, where there may be some reluctance to sideline conventional “farm first” poverty alleviation strategies in favour of what may be perceived to be more radical, untested approaches. This is particularly significant for ASM, since Malawi has never been considered to be a “mining country” or to have any meaningful mineral potential.
Notes
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2. World Bank, Malawi: Poverty and Vulnerability Assessment.
3. World Bank, Malawi: Poverty and Vulnerability Assessment, 151.
4. Replacements for adjustment programmes, PRSPs are documents required by the World Bank and IMF before a country can be considered for debt relief. The methods deployed to produce a PRSP are, in theory, participatory and country-led.
5. IMF, Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.
6. Banchirigah and Hilson, “Deagrarianitation, Re-agrarianization and local economic development.”
7. IMF, Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, 14.
8. For example, Bryceson, “Deagrarianization and Rural Employment”; Barrett, Reardon and Webb, “Nonfarm Income Diversification”; Ellis, “Survey Article.”
9. Lay, Mahmoud and M'Mukaria, “Few Opportunities, Much Desperation,” 2714.
10. See Ellis and Biggs, “Evolving Themes in Rural Development 1950s–2000s.”
11. Krishna, “Smallholder Farming in Africa,” 18.
12. Barrett, Reardon and Webb, “Nonfarm Income Diversification.”
13. Bryceson, “The Scramble in Africa.”
14. Barrett, Reardon and Webb, “Nonfarm Income Diversification”; Reardon et al., “Agrifood Industry Transformation”
15. Reardon, Matlon and Delgado, “Coping with Household-Level Food Insecurity”; Haggablade, Hazell and Brown, “Farm–Nonfarm Linkages in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa.”
16. See e.g. Wouterse and Taylor, “Migration and Income Diversification”, Batterbury, “Landscapes of Diversity.”
17. See e.g. Barrett, Reardon and Webb, “Nonfarm Income Diversification”; Little et al., “Avoiding Disaster.”
18. Smith, Gordon and Meadows, “Livelihood Diversification in Uganda”; Ellis and Bahigwa, “Livelihood and Rural Poverty in Uganda.”
19. Ellis and Mdoe, “Livelihoods and Rural Poverty in Tanzania.”
20. See e.g., Francis, “Rural Livelihoods, Institutions and Vulnerability”; Slater, “Differentiation and Diversification”; Twyman, Sporton and Thomas, “Where is the Life in Farming?”
21. Reardon, Crawford and Kelly, “Links Between Non-farm Income and Farm Investment.”
22. Reardon, Crawford and Kelly, “Links Between Non-farm Income and Farm Investment.”; Reardon, “Using Evidence of Household Income Diversification.”
23. Bryceson, “The Scramble in Africa,” 726.
24. Banchirigah and Hilson, “Deagrarianization, Re-agrarianization and Local Economic Development.”
25. Haggablade, Hazell and Brown, “Farm–Nonfarm Linkages in Rural sub-Saharan Africa,” 1174.
26. Reardon, Matlon and Delgado, “Coping with Household-Level Food Insecurity,” 1070–1.
27. Hilson, “Once a Miner Always a Miner.”
28. Ellis and Bahiigwa, “Livelihood and Rural Poverty in Uganda.”
29. Bryceson, “The Scramble in Africa.”
30. Dreschler, Small-scale Mining and Sustainable Development; Fisher, “Labour Integration and Social Exclusion in Artisanal Mining in Tanzania”; Fisher et al. “The Ladder that Gives us Wealth.”
31. Bryceson and Jonsson, “Gold Digging Careers in Rural East Africa”; Jonsson and Bryceson, “Rushing for Gold.”
32. Banchirigah and Hilson, “Deagrarianization, Re-agrarianization and Local Economic Development.”
33. Dreschler, Small-scale Mining and Sustainable Development, 137.
34. Maponga and Meck, “Illegal Artisanal Gold panning in Zimbabwe,” 353.
35. Barrett, Reardon and Webb, “Nonfarm Income Diversification.”
36. Mondlane and Shoko, “The Socio-Economic and Environmental Impacts,” 267.
37. Maponga and Ngorima, “Overcoming Environmental Problems in the Gold Panning Sector.”
38. IMF, Republic of Mozambique: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, 139.
39. IMF, Republic of Mozambique: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, 131.
40. IMF, Republic of Tanzania: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, 6.
41. IMF, Republic of Tanzania: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, 7.
42. IMF, Republic of Tanzania: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, 6.
43. Kitula, “The Environmental and Social-economic Impacts”; Fisher, “Occupying the Margins”; Fisher et al., “Ladder that Gives us Wealth.”
44. IMF, Republic of Tanzania
45. IMF, Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.
46. World Bank, Sustainable Management of Mineral Resources.
47. For example, Chilowa, “The Impact of Agricultural Liberalization”; Harrigan, “U Turn and Full Circles”; Chirwa, “Commercialization of Food Crops in Rural Malawi.”
48. Van Donge, “Disordering the Market”; Harrigan, “U Turn and Full Circles.”
49. Harrigan, “U Turn and Full Circles,” 848.
50. Chilowa, “The Impact of Agricultural Liberalization”; Orr and Mwale, “Adapting to Adjustment.”
51. Chilowa, “The Impact of Agricultural Liberalization.”
52. Prowse, “Becoming a Bwana.”
53. Tobin and Knausenberger, “Dilemmas of Development.”
54. Orr, “Green Gold?”
55. Tobin and Knausenberger, “Dilemmas of Development”; Van Donge, “Disordering the Market.”
56. Orr, “Green Gold?”
57. Chirwa, Kydd and Doward, “Future Scenarios for Agriculture in Malawi”; Bryceson, “Ganyu Casual Labour.”
58. Peters, “Rural Income and Poverty.”
59. Tobin and Knausenberger, “Dilemmas of Development.”
60. Chilowa, “The Impact of Agricultural Liberalization”; Harrigan, “U Turn and Full Circles”; Denning et al., “Input Subsidies to Improve Smallholder Maize Productivity in Malawi.”
61. Peters, “Rural Income and Poverty.”
62. Denning et al., “Input Subsidies to Improve Smallholder Maize Productivity in Malawi.”
63. Harrigan, “U Turn and Full Circles”; Ellis, Kutengule and Nyasulu, “Livelihoods and Rural Poverty Reduction.”
64. Chirwa, Kydd and Doward, “Future Scenarios for Agriculture in Malawi.”
65. Government of Malawi, Population and Housing Census.
66. House and Zimalirana, “Rapid Population Growth and Poverty Generation in Malawi,” 147.
67. IMF, Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, 12.
68. Doward et al., “Modelling Pro-poor Agricultural Growth Strategies in Malawi”; Sanchez et al., “The African Millennium Villages.”
69. UNDP, Country Programme Action Plan, 8.
70. Denning et al., “Input Subsidies to Improve Smallholder Maize Productivity in Malawi.”
71. Denning et al., “Input Subsidies to Improve Smallholder Maize Productivity in Malawi.”
72. IMF, Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, 6.
73. IMF, Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, 6.
74. Orr, “‘Green Gold’?”; Chirwa, “Access to Land, Growth and Poverty Reduction in Malawi.”
75. Snyder, “Does Lootable Wealth Breed Disorder?”, 950.
76. Levinsohn, “The World Bank's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Approach”; Booth, “Missing Links in the Politics of Development”; Attaran, “An Immeasurable Crisis”; Adejumobi, “Governance and Poverty Reduction in Africa.”
77. See e.g. Hilson and Yakovleva, “Strained Relations.”
78. Harrigan, “U Turn and Full Circles.”
79. Chilowa, “The Impact of Agricultural Liberalization”
80. Orr, “‘Green Gold’?”, 348.
81. The government is working to improve agriculture, with special emphasis on improving seed varieties to increase crop productivity, and the intensification of research on animal and crop production technologies with the goal of promoting and improving farm mechanization. Another focus has been the development of irrigation agriculture (IMF, Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy). These efforts complement the intensified efforts being made to improve irrigation agriculture across Malawi, which have emphasized utilizing river water more productively and even drawing water from Lake Malawi for irrigation in the lake shore districts. See http://allafrica.com/stories/201001120037.html and /www.groundreport.com/Business/Kofi-Annan-s-Green-revolution-to-tap-water-from-La/2884820 (accessed May 14, 2010).
82. See Alwang and Siegel, “Labour Shortages on Small Landholdings in Malawi”; Ellis, Kutengule and Nyasulu, “Livelihoods and Rural Poverty Reduction in Malawi”; Peters, “Rural Income and Poverty.”
83. Kamanga, Vedeld and Sjaastad, “Forest Incomes and Rural Livelihoods in Chiradzulu District Malawi.”
84. Harrigan, “U Turn and Full Circles”; Denning et al., “Input Subsidies to Improve Smallholder Maize Productivity in Malawi.”
85. Takane, “Gambling with Liberalization.”
86. Sen and Chinkunda, “Economic Reforms and Rural Livelihoods in Malawi.”
87. Bench Marks Foundation, “Corporate Social Responsibility and the Mining Sector in Southern Africa”; World Bank, Malawi Mineral Sector Review.
88. Fisher, “Occupying the Margins”; Hilson, Yakovleva and Banchirigah, “To Move or Not to Move.”
89. ILO, Social and Labour Issues in Small-Scale Mines; Banchirigah, “How Have Reforms Fuelled the Expansion of Artisanal Mining?”; Hilson and Pardie, “Mercury.”
90. See analysis in Hinton, Veiga and Beinhoff, “Women and Artisanal Mining”; UNECA, “Reports on Selected Themes in Natural Resources Development in Africa”; Vieira, “Mercury-Free Gold Mining Technologies”; Hilson, “Once a Miner, Always a Miner.”
91. Several technological support schemes and educational programmes have been implemented for ASM operators in Zimbabwe, Ghana, Zambia and Tanzania. See Dreschler, Small-scale Mining and Sustainable Development; UNECA, “Reports on Selected Themes in Natural Resources Development in Africa.”
92. Government of Malawi, Mines and Minerals Policy, 10.
93. IMF, Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.
94. Davidson, “The Transformation and Successful Development of Small-scale Mining.”
95. See e.g. Labonne, “Small and Medium Scale Mining”; Mutagwaba, Mwaipopo-Ako and Mlaki, “The Impact of Technology on Poverty Alleviation.”
96. UNDP-SLP, Technology Strategy for Sustainable Livelihood, 22.
97. Coakley and Yagger, “Mineral Industry of Malawi”; Malunga, “Malawi Mineral Annual Review.”
98. Dreschler, Small-scale Mining and Sustainable Development.
99. Malunga, “Malawi Mineral Annual Review.”
100. Munthali, “Chimwadzulu Mine.”
101. Dreschler, Small-scale Mining and Sustainable Development; World Bank, Malawi Mineral Sector Review.
102. IMF, Malawi: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper; Bench Marks Foundation, “Corporate Social Responsibility and the Mining Sector in Southern Africa.”
103. Malunga, “Malawi Mineral Annual Review”; Government of Malawi, Mines and Minerals Policy.
104. See e.g. Maconachie and Binns, “‘Farming Miners or Mining Farmers’?”; Bryceson and Jonsson, “Gold Digging Careers in Rural East Africa.”
105. ILO, Social and Labour Issues in Small-Scale Mines; Hilson and Potter, “Why is Illegal Gold Mining so Ubiquitous in Rural Ghana?”
106. Government of Malawi, Mines and Minerals Act 1981; Government of Malawi, Mines and Minerals Policy.
107. The Mines and Minerals Act 1981 regulates all activities related to mining in Malawi, administered by the Commissioner for Mines. Under the Act, all minerals are vested in the President on behalf of the people of Malawi.
108. World Bank, Malawi Mineral Sector Review.
109. Dill, “A Review of Mineral Resources in Malawi”; UNESCO, “Mining.”
110. Hajat, “Malawi and its Minerals”; World Bank, Malawi Mineral Sector Review.
111. Hajat, “Malawi and its Minerals”; Bench Marks Foundation, “Corporate Social Responsibility and the Mining Sector in Southern Africa.”
112. World Bank, Malawi Mineral Sector Review.
113. Government of Malawi, Mines and Minerals Policy.
114. Dreschler, Small-scale Mining and Sustainable Development.
115. Dreschler, Small-scale Mining and Sustainable Development; Government of Malawi, Mineral Potential of Malawi, vol. 2.
116. World Bank, Malawi Mineral Sector Review.
117. UNDP, Country Programme Action Plan for 2008–2011.
118. DfID, DFID Malawi Country Assistance Plan 2007–2011.
119. World Bank, Malawi Mineral Sector Review.
120. Government of Malawi, State of the Environment Report.
121. UNESCO, “Mining.”
122. Dreschler, Small-scale Mining and Sustainable Development.
123. Government of Malawi, State of the Environment Report.
124. Licenses for small-scale miners are issued to Malawian citizens or foreigners who have lived in Malawi for at least four years.
125. Government of Malawi, State of the Environment Report.
126. For gemstones, most miners depend on foreign buyers, who buy directly. But with production taking place in very remote areas, it is especially difficult for operators to get their stones to Lilongwe, the country capital, which could explain why large quantities are smuggled and/or sold at low prices to foreign businessmen locally.