ABSTRACT

Artisanal and small-scale miners are facing unprecedented challenges due to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The paper adopts a practice-based approach to examine the impact of Covid-19 on gold and gemstone artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) practices in sub-Saharan Africa. It highlights the informality of ASM and discusses how the Ghana and Kenya governments’ measures have significantly increased the vulnerabilities of the miners and mining communities. Based on a document analysis of the governments’ responses to Covid-19, mining industry reports, and interviews with 29 mining stakeholders in Ghana and Kenya, the paper identifies the economic and social impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on gold and gemstone ASM in both countries. We highlight the key policy challenges and suggest actions that can help mitigate the negative impacts the pandemic has had on ASM, which include the need to address informality in the ASM sub-sector.

摘要

由于新型冠状病毒（Covid-19）大流行，个体和小型采矿者面临着前所未有的挑战。本文采用基于实践的方法来研究Covid-19对撒哈拉以南非洲的金和宝石手工及小规模采矿（ASM）行为的影响。它强调了ASM的非正式性，并讨论了加纳和肯尼亚政府的措施如何显着增加了矿工和采矿社区的脆弱性。基于对政府对Covid-19的回应的文件分析，采矿业报告以及对加纳和肯尼亚29个采矿业利益相关者的采访，本文确定了Covid-19大流行对金矿和宝石ASM的经济和社会影响。两国。