Small-scale mining, poverty and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa: An overview

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM)-low tech, labour intensive mineral processing and excavation activity-is an economic mainstay in rural sub-Saharan Africa, providing direct employment to over two million people. This paper introduces a special issue on 'Small-scale mining, poverty and development in sub-Saharan Africa'. It focuses on the core conceptual issues covered in the literature, and the policy implications of the findings reported in the papers in this special issue. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Good governance and the extractive industries in sub-saharan Africa

This article critically examines the challenges that come with implementing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)a policy mechanism marketed by donors and Western governments as a key to facilitating economic improvement in resource-rich developing countriesin sub-Saharan Africa. The forces behind the EITI contest that impoverished institutions, the embezzlement of petroleum and/or mineral revenues, and a lack of transparency are the chief reasons why resource-rich sub-Saharan Africa is underperforming economically, and that implementation of the EITI, with its foundation of good governance, will help address these problems. The position here, however, is that the task is by no means straightforward: that the EITI is not necessarily a blueprint for facilitating good governance in the region's resource-rich countries. It is concluded that the EITI is a policy mechanism that could prove to be effective with significant institutional change in host African countries but, on its own, it is incapable of reducing corruption and mobilizing citizens to hold government officials accountable for hoarding profits from extractive industry operations.

A framework for revitalisation of rural education and training systems in sub-Saharan Africa: Strengthening the human resource base for food security and sustainable livelihoods

Recent studies of the current state of rural education and training (RET) systems in sub-Saharan Africa have assessed their ability to provide for the learning needs essential for more knowledgeable and productive small-scale rural households. These are most necessary if the endemic causes of rural poverty (poor nutrition, lack of sustainable livelihoods, etc.) are to be overcome. A brief historical background and analysis of the major current constraints to improvement in the sector are discussed. Paramount among those factors leading to its present 'malaise' is the lack of a whole-systems perspective and the absence of any coherent policy framework in most countries. There is evidence of some recent innovations, both in the public sector and through the work of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), civil society organisations (CSOs) and other private bodies. These provide hope of a new sense of direction that could lead towards meaningful 'revitalisation' of the sector. A suggested framework offers 10 key steps which, it is argued, could largely be achieved with modest internal resources and very little external support, provided that the necessary leadership and managerial capacities are in place. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

'Agricultural poverty' and the expansion of artisanal mining in sub-Saharan Africa: Experiences from southwest Mali and southeast Ghana

Why do people engage in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) – labour-intensive mineral extraction and processing activity – across sub-Saharan Africa? This paper argues that ‘agricultural poverty’, or hardship induced by an over-dependency on farming for survival, has fuelled the recent rapid expansion of ASM operations throughout the region. The diminished viability of smallholder farming in an era of globalization and overreliance on rain-fed crop production restricted by seasonality has led hundreds of thousands of rural African families to ‘branch out’ into ASM, a move made to secure supplementary incomes. Experiences from Komana West in Southwest Mali and East Akim District in Southeast Ghana are drawn upon to illustrate how a movement into the ASM economy has impacted farm families, economically, in many rural stretches of sub-Saharan Africa.

Poverty traps in small-scale mining communities: the case of sub-Saharan Africa

This paper critically reflects on why, in many rural stretches of sub-Saharan Africa, scores of people engage in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) activity – low-tech, labour intensive mineral extraction – for lengthy periods of time. It argues that a large share of the region’s ASM operators have mounting debts which prevent them from pursuing alternative, less arduous, employment. The paper concludes with an analysis of findings from research carried out by the author in Talensi-Nabdam District, Northern Ghana, which captures the essence of the poverty trap now plaguing so many ASM communities in sub-Saharan Africa.

Climate change adaptation strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa: foundations for the future

Many institutions across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and many funding agencies that support them are currently engaged in initiatives that are targeted towards adapting rainfed agriculture to climate change. This does, however, present some very real and complex research and policy challenges. Given to date the generally low impact of agricultural research across SSA on improving the welfare of rainfed farmers under current climatic conditions, a comprehensive strategy is required if the considerably more complex challenge of adapting agriculture to future climate change is to bear fruit. In articulating such a strategy, it is useful to consider the criteria by which current successful initiatives should be judged.

Cultural phylogeography of the Bantu Languages of sub-Saharan Africa

There is disagreement about the routes taken by populations speaking Bantu languages as they expanded to cover much of sub-Saharan Africa. Here, we build phylogenetic trees of Bantu languages and map them onto geographical space in order to assess the likely pathway of expansion and test between dispersal scenarios. The results clearly support a scenario in which groups first moved south through the rainforest from a homeland somewhere near the Nigeria–Cameroon border. Emerging on the south side of the rainforest, one branch moved south and west. Another branch moved towards the Great Lakes, eventually giving rise to the monophyletic clade of East Bantu languages that inhabit East and Southeastern Africa. These phylogenies also reveal information about more general processes involved in the diversification of human populations into distinct ethnolinguistic groups. Our study reveals that Bantu languages show a latitudinal gradient in covering greater areas with increasing distance from the equator. Analyses suggest that this pattern reflects a true ecological relationship rather than merely being an artefact of shared history. The study shows how a phylogeographic approach can address questions relating to the specific histories of certain groups, as well as general cultural evolutionary processes.

Harnessing microbiome and probiotic research in sub-Saharan Africa: recommendations from an African workshop

To augment capacity-building for microbiome and probiotic research in Africa, a workshop was held in Nairobi, Kenya, at which researchers discussed human, animal, insect, and agricultural microbiome and probiotics/prebiotics topics. Five recommendations were made to promote future basic and translational research that benefits Africans.

Financial services for the poor within the formal/informal nexus in sub-Saharan Africa

This paper draws upon fieldwork undertaken across Kenya, Zambia, Mozambique and South Africa to present a reflective overview of the use of financial services amongst the poorest members of society. It considers the role that access to a portfolio of financial products and services may have as a contributory factor in poverty alleviation, but also how inappropriate use of these mechanisms may exacerbate a descent into poverty. This work draws upon the notions of poverty pools and the rise of fall of low income households in and out of poverty, alongside the contributory nature of vicious cycles of economic and political poverty. Drawing on fieldwork experiences it presents a synopsis of the types of financial mechanisms commonly in use on the African continent, as well as examples of public, private and civil society partnerships that are producing services specifically tailored for those in extreme and absolute poverty.

Social entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa

Responding to calls for a better understanding of the relationship between social enterprises and their environments, this article focuses on contextual influences on social entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa. We identify four predominantly African contextual dimensions, i.e., acute poverty, informality, colonial history, and ethnic group identity, and explore their influence on the way social ventures perceive themselves and on their choice of activities. Our empirical study of 384 social enterprises from 19 sub-Saharan African countries suggests that ethnic group identity and high poverty levels influence both self-perception and activity choices, while the country’s colonial history only influences self-perception and informality has no significant influence on either. These findings point to the need to consider both self-perception and the choice of activities in defining social entrepreneurship. Our study also highlights the importance of African contextual dimensions for understanding social entrepreneurship, and underlines the added value of incorporating insights from African data into management research more broadly.