The formalization of artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Colombia and its contribution to the

63 Pages·2017·0.91 MB·English

by  Michael Havel

The formalization of artisanal and
small-scale gold mining in
Colombia and its contribution to
the Sustainable Development
Goals

CORNELIA HAVEL
September 2017

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the
MSc in Sustainable Development for Distance Learning Students of the
University of London, Centre for Development, Environment and Policy
(CeDEP), School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
Declaration form

I have read the information about plagiarism in the dissertation guidelines and I
understand what it means. I hereby certify that the dissertation is entirely my own work,
except where indicated.
I hereby declare that the work embodied in this dissertation is original work undertaken
by myself, and that it has not been submitted, either in the same or different forms, to
this or any other university for a degree.
I also declare that this dissertation does not draw from any other work prepared under
consultancy or other professional undertaking, by myself or jointly with other authors
in any way.
I agree to this dissertation being made available to other distance learning students via
CeDEP’s virtual learning environment.

Signature: September 11, 2017

Name: CORNELIA HAVEL

Dissertation word count: 9,939
Word count of excluded elements: 4,348
Table of content
List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... 5
List of Figures .................................................................................................................... 6
List of Appendices ............................................................................................................. 7
Abstract ............................................................................................................................. 8
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................10
2. Literature Review .......................................................................................................12
2.1 The Sustainable Development Goals ..................................................................12
2.2 Artisanal and small-scale mining globally ............................................................13
2.3 Artisanal and small-scale mining and sustainable development ..........................14
2.4 The origins of artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Colombia ........................14
2.5 Contemporary artisanal and small-scale gold mining ..........................................16
2.5.1 Classification of artisanal and small-scale gold mining .................................16
2.5.2 Challenges of artisanal and small-scale gold mining ....................................17
2.5.3 The informality of artisanal and small-scale mining ......................................18
2.5.4 The formalization of artisanal and small-scale mining ..................................19
3. Research Design and Methods ..................................................................................22
3.1 Research questions ............................................................................................22
3.2 Research methods ..............................................................................................22
3.3 Data collection ....................................................................................................23
3.4 Data analysis ......................................................................................................24
3.5 Methodological weakness ...................................................................................24
4. Results ......................................................................................................................26
4.1 The formalization objective ..................................................................................26
4.2 Strengths of the formalization policy ....................................................................26
4.3 Weaknesses of the formalization policy ...............................................................26
4.4 Success in implementation ..................................................................................26
4.5 Challenges of formalization .................................................................................27
4.6 The contribution of formalization to the Sustainable Development Goals ............31
5. Analysis ........................................................................................................................41
6. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................45
Bibliography ......................................................................................................................47
Appendix 1: List of Acronyms ...........................................................................................49
Appendix 2: Participants focus group ................................................................................50
Appendix 3: Participants expert interviews .....................................................................51
Appendix 4: Interview guide (Spanish) ..............................................................................52
Appendix 5: Response table (Spanish) ...........................................................................53
Appendix 6: Formalization Policy – Document Analysis .................................................54
List of Tables

Table 1 Key stages in the Framework data analysis .............................................................24
Table 2 Summary of expert opinions on ASM, formalization and the Sustainable
Development Goals ..............................................................................................................36

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List of Figures

Figure 1 Sustainable Development Goals.............................................................................12
Figure 2 Formalization Program ...........................................................................................20
Figure 3 Result chart document analysis ..............................................................................31
Figure 4 Relevance of ASM for sustainable development .....................................................32
Figure 5 The potential contribution of formalization to sustainable development...................33
Figure 6 The real contribution of formalization to sustainable development ..........................34
Figure 7 Result chart of expert opinions ...............................................................................35

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List of Appendices

Appendix 1: List of Acronyms ..............................................................................................49
Appendix 2: Participants focus group ...................................................................................50
Appendix 3: Participants expert interviews .........................................................................51
Appendix 4: Interview guide (Spanish) .................................................................................52
Appendix 5: Response table (Spanish) ...............................................................................53
Appendix 6: Formalization Policy – Document Analysis ....................................................54

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Abstract

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) has been a livelihood option for many
Colombians throughout centuries. It is often the only income opportunity in remote
regions and a driver of local economies. The public opinion of the sector is poor as the
sector is associated with illegality, social conflict and environmental destruction.

International experience shows that ASM has the potential to be a driver of economic
and social development and a strategy for poverty eradication in developing countries.
Informality has been identified as one of the main barriers to unfold this potential. As a
result, the Colombian government started a formalization initiative to create a
competitive sector that generates development, social equity and wellbeing, reduces
poverty and fairly distributes resources.

This research investigates if the inclusion of artisanal and small-scale miners into the
formal economy improves the economic, social and environmental performance of the
sector to positively contribute to sustainable development.

The results show that the published formalization policy is a valuable tool to improve
the economic, social and environmental impact of ASM. Still, the implementation of
formalization has been weak and there has been no evidence of positive change on a
noteworthy scale. Main barriers are a weak and instable legal and political system, a
non-existent territorial order and conflict in mining regions.
The creation of a favourable environment is a precondition for formalization to unfold
its potential and transform ASM into a positive contributor to sustainable development.

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Acknowledgements

A big thank you to my colleagues from the Alliance for Responsible Mining who
provided me with their knowledge and the contacts of key experts.

Thank you Diego Torres Joya for your support, patience and love throughout the
process.

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1. Introduction

In September 2015, the international agenda for Sustainable Development was
published. 17 Sustainable Development Goals were defined to guide nations on their
path towards eradicating poverty and achieving “sustainable development in its three
dimensions — economic, social and environmental— in a balanced and integrated
manner” until 2030 (United Nations 2015, p.1).

Colombia has been highlighted as a positive example of early incorporating the
Sustainable Development Goals into its national policy (Lucci et al. 2015, p.3). The
mining and energy sector was designated as one of the engines of Colombia’s
development (Departamento Nacional de Planeación 2013, p.140). The National
Development Plan claims that the sector will play a key role in driving inclusive and
sustained economic growth and will be important for job creation, thereby directly
contributing to poverty reduction (Departamento Nacional de Planeación 2013, p.113).
Mining has a long history in Colombia, and especially artisanal and small-scale mining
(ASM) has been a livelihood opportunity for many Colombians since colonial times
(Ministerio de Minas y Energía 2012, pp.6–14). Today, approximately 72% of mining
is ASM (Ministerio de Minas y Energía 2012, pp.6–14) and it is often the only livelihood
option in rural communities due to the lack of alternative economic opportunities (Güiza
& Aristizábal 2013, p.33). Therefore ASM is considered as a potential driver of poverty
eradication in rural areas (Defensoria del Pueblo 2010, p.11). Nevertheless, it has a
poor public image as it often causes negative impacts on miners, communities and the
environment (GDIAM 2016, p.10).
A frequently mentioned cause of the issues in ASM is the informality of the sector,
which is around 87% (Ministerio de Minas y Energía 2012, p.14). The lack of
formalisation hampers social development of miners and their communities as well as
environmental protection (Hentschel et al. 2003, p.9).
The Colombian government set itself the aim to formalize the sector by publishing the
“National Policy to formalize the Colombian Mining Sector” in 2014 and establishing a
formalization program for small-scale miners. This shall result in a competitive sector
which generates development, social equity and wellbeing, culminating in reduced
poverty levels and a fair distribution of resources (Ministerio de Minas y Energía 2014,
p.6; 34; 52).

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