Informing dialogue on artisanal and small-scale mining in Tanzania. A thematic review of challenges and solutions
Tanzania’s mining sector dates back several decades, and involves exploitation of various metals, gemstones and industrial minerals. Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) has long offered Tanzania’s impoverished population an opportunity for employment and income generation. But a range of issues continue to prevent ASM from becoming a profitable and responsible sector. Priority challenges identified through local research and engagement include an unsupportive environment for business; gender discrimination; tensions with large-scale miners and with government; inconsistent and complex land and licensing policies; and conflicting land uses. Through action-focused dialogue, multiple actors need to identify priority actions with clear roles and responsibilities within a roadmap for positive reform. Dialogue will need to address a number of key questions including: how can policymaking and implementation be made more participatory and gender-sensitive? What specific and realistic actions can be designed, what key responsible stakeholders identified, and what effective partnerships fostered to achieve a successful outcome? And what are the reciprocal obligations intrinsic to mutually respectful and beneficial relations across the sector?
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Available at https://www.iied.org/16635iied