The artisanal mine, means or not of achieving the objectives of sustainable development?
Audio 02:04
An artisanal mine in the village of Lumwira in central Malawi (illustrative image).
AMOS GUMULIRA / AFP
By: Claire Fages Follow
5 mins
The artisanal mine has a very bad reputation, but it also allows 40 million people around the world to earn a living.
At a time when the Covid is expected to push up to 100 million people back into poverty, the NGO Pact and the Minerals and Materials Company of the University of Delaware have studied the impact of this activity on each of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Publicity
This is a first: until now, only the impact of the industrial mine on the sustainable development objectives had been measured so precisely.
For the artisanal mine, the report of the rapporteurs is mixed.
This activity has broad beneficial effects.
It improves the income of the poorest families (objective 1 and 10), allows them to feed themselves (objective 2), to look after themselves (objective 3), to educate their children (objective 4).
Economic and social advantages
It promotes the economic emancipation of women in rural areas (objective 5).
The extraction of metals such as cobalt, of which 20% to 40% in the DRC come from tens of thousands of small mining operators, makes it possible to achieve objective 7 of access to sustainable energy and 13 of control and adaptation of populations against climate change.
It promotes objectives 8, 9 and 11 of economic growth, through its export earnings and the doping effect on other sectors, the gradual industrialization of rural areas, the improvement of local infrastructure, roads, towns, villages. .
It also enables civil society to be associated with the public and private sectors in developing countries (objective 17).
Human exploitation and environmental degradation
But artisanal mining also has negative effects on a majority of development objectives.
The uncontrolled use of mercury, cyanide, diesel ... endangers the health of populations, the quality of water and natural environments.
We are moving away from objectives 3, 6, 12, 13, 14 and 15.
On the spot, the working conditions, housing and care are pitiful and compromise the achievement of objectives 8, 9 and 11. Not to mention cases of exploitation, including children, contrary to objectives 4 and 8. Some mines are in the hands of criminal networks or armed groups, which is contrary to Sustainable Development Goal 15: peace, justice and good governance.
Finally, artisanal mining often competes with agriculture and can lead to an inflation of food products, undermining objective 2.
Need for regulation
The authors recommend to regulate the artisanal mine.
Formalize and supervise minors' access to the basement, help them to train and finance themselves, to exploit the resource more properly, to help them find legal outlets ... would make it possible to mitigate the negative effects and amplify the positive effects of this activity.
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