Assessment of the impacts of artisanal small scale gold mining on environmental governance

90 Pages·2017·2.44 MB·English

Assessment of the impacts of artisanal small scale gold mining on
environmental governance within the Mazowe catchment

BY
VIMBAI CHANDIWANA

JUNE 2016

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTERS OF SCIENCE IN
GEOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

i
DEDICATION
To my mother who is ever-sacrificing for me to achieve my dreams, my husband Leon who has
been there in trying times and my son Eli who is an everlasting source of joy.
ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank my supervisors Dr Chigumira and Dr Mabiza for their supervision and
guidance throughout the duration of the study. I would also like to thank Mr Kusangaya for his
input which guided me throughout the research, and all the members of the Geography and
Environmental Science Department for their comments. I would like to express my gratitude to
the following individuals who assisted me during the data collection period: Mr Funani, Daniel
Chiukira and Mr Gaza. I am grateful for the classmates I had who provided support and were a
wonder to work around during my studies.
Thank you to the Mazowe Catchment community, EMA, ZINWA, Mazowe catchment council
and all the respondents who were part of my study for this would have been impossible without
them. My mother Mrs A. Chandiwana, my husband Leon and my late grandfather M.Magore,
thank you for the support, inspiration and the faith you had in me.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents
DEDICATION ....................................................................................................................................... ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................................................................... i
TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................................... iv
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1
1.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1
1.2. Background .................................................................................................................................. 1
1.3. Research objectives ....................................................................................................................... 5
1.3.1. General objective ................................................................................................................... 5
1.4. Problem statement ........................................................................................................................ 6
1.5. Justification .................................................................................................................................. 6
1.6. Thesis outline ............................................................................................................................... 7
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................... 8
2.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 8
2.2. Theoretical framework .................................................................................................................. 8
2.3. Artisanal small-scale gold mining and its related conflicts ........................................................... 11
2.4. Conflicts associated with artisanal small-scale gold mining and agriculture ................................. 12
2.5. Environmental governance within the mining sector .................................................................... 14
2.6. Zimbabwean legislation on environmental governance ................................................................ 18
2.6.1. The Water Act of 1998 (20:25) ............................................................................................. 18
2.6.2. Environmental Management Act of 2002(20:27) .................................................................. 19
2.6.3. The Rural District Councils Act of 1989 (29:13) ................................................................... 19
2.6.4. The Forest Act of 1949 (19:05)............................................................................................. 19
2.6.5. The Mines and Minerals Act of 1961 (21:05) ....................................................................... 19
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................... 20
3.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 20
3.2. Aims and related methods ........................................................................................................... 20
3.3. Research design .......................................................................................................................... 21
3.4. Study area ................................................................................................................................... 23
3.5. Primary data collection ........................................................................................................... 25
3.5.1. Quantitative data ................................................................................................................ 25
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CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ......................................................................... 32
4.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 32
4.2. Summary of the artisanal small scale miners and mining activities .............................................. 32
4.3. Spatial distribution of artisanal miners and small-scale gold mills................................................ 35
4.4. Impact of artisanal small scale gold mining on environmental conflicts ....................................... 36
4.4.1.Land related conflicts ............................................................................................................ 37
4.4.2. Water-related conflicts ......................................................................................................... 49
4.4.3. Authority-related conflicts .................................................................................................... 55
4.5. Challenges faced by stakeholders in effecting good environmental management ............................. 56
4.6. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 59
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................................ 60
5.1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 60
5.2. Conclusions ................................................................................................................................ 60
5.3. Recommendations ....................................................................................................................... 62
References ............................................................................................................................................ 68
APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY ...................................................................................... 72
APPENDIX 2: FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS .............................................................. 77
APPENDIX 3: STAKEHOLER KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEW ...................................................... 78
APPENDIX 4: LOCATIONS OF ARTISANAL SMALL SCALE GOLD MINERS .............................. 81
APPENDIX 5: LOCATIONS OF GOLD STAMP MILLS IN UPPER MAZOWE ................................. 82

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1: Specific objectives and research questions .............................................................................. 5
Table 3.1: Research model .................................................................................................................... 20
Table 4.1: Percentage changes in land cover in the Upper Mazowe sub-catchment ............................... 48
Table 4.2: Water quality parameters of artisanal gold mining effluent ................................................... 51

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 3.2: Study area within Mazowe Catchment ................................................................................. 25
Figure 4.1: Demographic profile of artisanal miners ............................................................................... 32
Figure 4.2: Summary of artisanal miners and mining activities in Upper Mazowe sub-catchment .......... 34
Figure 4.3: Driving factors of artisanal gold mining ................................................................................ 35
Figure 4.4: Spatial distribution of artisanal miners and small-scale gold stamps…………………………………….36
Figure 4.5: Participatory drawing of land use changes between 2002 and 2016 (Jumbo)………………………43
Figure 4.6: Participatory drawing of land use changes between 2002 and 2016 (Bhuka) ........................ 45
Figure 4.7: Land-use patterns in Upper Mazowe sub-catchment in 2001 ............................................... 46
Figure 4.8: Land-use patterns in the Upper Mazowe sub-catchment in 2006 and 2015 .......................... 47
Figure 4.9: Respondents’ views presence of water conflicts ................................................................... 51
Figure 4.10: Flow direction map of Upper Mazowe sub-catchment ........................................................ 54
Figure 4.11: Environmental regulatory board in Upper Mazowe sub-catchment .................................... 56
LIST OF PLATES
Plate 1: land degradation caused by artisanal miners…………………………………………………………………………….38
Plate 2: Artisanal gold mining encroaching into sorghum field ............................................................... 40

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ABSTRACT
This study focused on assessing the impacts of artisanal small-scale gold activities on the
environmental governance of the Mazowe catchment. A representative sample of 32 respondents
was selected from three sites with the Upper Mazowe sub-catchment. To gain further
perspectives into the environmental conflicts occurring within the Mazowe catchment, 6 key
informant interviews and 3 focus group discussions were conducted. The findings from the
research showed that artisanal gold mining has surpassed agriculture as the main livelihood
activity, providing income for both men and women. Due to the success of artisanal gold mining
in the area, environmental conflicts among different users within the catchment became
inevitable, with the conflicts based on the usage of land and water resources. Most of the
conflicts occurred between artisanal gold miners and regulatory authorities due to the illegal
status of artisanal gold mining in Zimbabwe and the need for the regulatory authorities to
maintain the integrity of the environment while attempting to eliminate artisanal gold mining
activities. The conflicts within the Mazowe Catchment were reflective of how environmental
governance is being implemented in the area. The study recommends that the government
recognize artisanal gold mining activities and to provide opportunities for artisanal miners that
will formalize them as small-scale miners. Stakeholders should be funded to enable them to
rehabilitate the environment as well as to engage with artisanal small-scale gold miners so as to
minimize environmental conflicts and to impose good environmental governance within the area.

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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Introduction
In this first chapter, the aim and objectives of the research as well as the background of the
assessment of the impacts of artisanal small-scale gold mining on the environmental governance
within the Mazowe Catchment, Zimbabwe.
1.2. Background
Artisanal small scale mining (ASM) in developing countries is inclusive of both legal and illegal
operators (Shoko, 2002). ASM can be an individual or collective activity that is highly labour-
absorptive and involves the exploitation and raw material processing of mineral deposits
(Bryceson, 2015). The activity is generally characterized by a lack of technical and management
skills, as well as the production of minerals from uncertain reserves. Most artisanal miners are
informal, highly nomadic and do not usually set up proper infrastructure such as housing and
sanitation facilities (Bryceson et al. 2012) . The sector has catalyzed itself as a prompt primary,
secondary and tertiary employment opportunity for both skilled and unskilled people (Bryceson
et al. 2012). (Bryceson et al. 2012) . ASM has been advantageous in allowing the exploitation of
mineral ore bodies that are too small or remote for the intensive investment required for large-
scale, commercial mining (Hinton et al. 2003). According to Mawowa (2013), the ASM industry
provides a temporal survival strategy to poverty and unemployment. However, ASM is also
associated with social and economic problems such as diversion of livelihoods from sustainable
activities, substance abuse, child labour and environmental damage. The ASM sector has the
potential to negatively affect the communities in which it occurs, at times providing them with
little or no benefit. These negative social, ecological and economic impacts often lead to
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conflicts within the areas whereby ASM activities occur and the occurrence of conflicts is a
reflection of the state of environmental governance within a region. Environmental governance
describes the manner in which authority is exercised over natural resources by decision-makers
who range from governmental ministers, property owners to farmers (WRI, 2004).
In Zimbabwe, artisanal small scale gold mining has intensified due to increasing poverty levels
and perennial drought occurrences. This corresponds with findings within this research that show
that resettled farmers have resorted to ASM as an alternative livelihood, and are working in
cooperation with miners to allow mining activities on their farms. ASM has been adopted as part
of a coping strategy to minimize the negative effects of economic hardships and drought (Hayes
and Perks, 2012). Artisanal mining is potentially more lucrative than agriculture, gaining
momentum in the past two decades (Mabhena, 2012) . Zimbabwe has an estimated population of
500 000 people who are directly involved in ASM activities, with at least two million people
being sustained by it as a livelihood activity, both directly and indirectly (Spiegel, 2009). The
recent rise in artisanal gold mining in the country can be attributed to an economic decline that
has led to retrenchments, high unemployment rates as well as the increased incidence in droughts
(Spiegel, 2009). This has resulted in many people resorting to ASM as an informal livelihood
activity and farmers exploring non-agricultural incomes. This has made gold panning a primary
source of livelihood in resource-rich rural communities, with a complimentary relationship
existing between ASM and subsistence agriculture (Hilson, 2011), as will be discussed in
Chapter 4 . The classification of ASM is dependent on the size of the mining operation; their
legality; and the methods used to carry out the mining activities (Shoko, 2002 ;Mawowa, 2013).
For this study, ASM is inclusive of small, legal and illegal miners who use basic and rudimentary
methods and processes to extract mineral resources. According to Ncube (2015) ASM in the
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