Livelihoods

Citation:

Authors: Akua O. Britwum , Dzodzi Tsikata, Angela D. Akorsu , Matilda Aberese Ako

Annotation:

“This technical paper is part of the ISSER ActionAid-Ghana Gender and Land Rights Project that seeks to address, through research and advocacy, critical issues of women’s land rights. The Gender and Land Rights Project is premised on the notion that agriculture continues to engage the vast majority of working people in Ghana despite evidence pointing to the intensification of livelihood diversification and a reduction in the proportion of the population living in rural areas” (Britwum et al. 2014, 1).

Topics: Agriculture, Gender, Women, Land Tenure, Livelihoods, Rights, Land Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Ghana

Year: 2014

Citation:

Barragán Romano, Rossana. 2020. “Women in the Silver Mines of Potosí: Rethinking the History of ‘Informality’ and ‘Precarity’ (Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries).” International Review of Social History 65 (2): 289–314. 

Author: Rossana Barragán Romano

Abstract:

Underground mining in Potosí was a male sphere. Nevertheless, women were actively involved in the early stages of silver mining in Potosí, when traditional technologies were still in use. They also played an important role in the local ore market. After the introduction of new technology and the reorganization of the labour force, the process of refining ore was much more complicated. Women then participated in some stages of the process: in selecting the ores and sieving. This implies that mining is a complex process with a labour and gender division that has been underrated and underestimated. More importantly, women became owners of rudimentary mills (trapiches) where the ore was processed, selling different amounts of silver to the Spanish authorities, making their living in this way.

Topics: Extractive Industries, Gender, Gender Roles, Women, Livelihoods Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Bolivia

Year: 2020

Citation:

Tyagi, Niharika, and Smriti Das. 2020. “Standing up for Forest: A Case Study on Baiga Women’s Mobilization in Community Governed Forests in Central India.” Ecological Economics 178 (November). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106812.

Authors: Niharika Tyagi, Smriti Das

Abstract:

The forest history in India is fraught with struggles between the forest dwelling communities and the state. While the state usurped power over forests, excluding the communities and privileging commercial interests; the alienation of communities from their own land and homes resulted in mobilization across different sites. The movement for protection of forest commons assumed significance through the decade of 1970s that saw the famous Chipko movement in Uttarakhand and other forms of resistance across the country. The demand upon the forests that had intensified with subsistence, commercial and urbanization pressures, further enhanced with pressures of globalization. The consequent environmental degradation and dispossession of the communities of their resources resulted in varieties of environmentalism. In the arena of environmental conflict, Central India has been a hotbed of contest with forcible evictions, increasing base of extractive industries and steady militarization. The tribal communities in Central India faced serious threat from a monolithic state as it prioritized ‘national development’ goals over social equity and environmental justice. Rooted in this inequity was widespread discontent and social mobilization across the forested landscape. The local mobilization in Baiga Chak area of Central India clearly marked recognition of their socio-cultural embeddedness in their natural setting, particularly forest. What was unique in this movement was the uprising of Baiga women to assert their rights over the forest contrary to their traditionally defined role. It gradually led to collectivization of demand for recognition of Baiga communities’ historical relationship and claims over forest resource. Using the framework of Feminist Political Ecology, this paper examines Baiga women’s movement against Forest Department’s unlawful practices in Baiga Chak region of Central India. Using a case-based approach, the paper addresses the following questions: What factors led to the feminized grassroots environmental movement? How have women’s bargaining power and gender relations evolved at the local level consequently? What effect does women’s resistance have on community governed forest systems? In response to state usurpation that threatened the livelihood and household well-being, Baiga women collectively struggled to regain control over local forest resources. The analysis of this gendered environmental movement establishes an intersection between local structural, economic and ecological concerns and signals possibility of several gendered social movements in contested resource geographies.

Keywords: women's movements, feminist political ecology, gender roles and relations, forest commons

Topics: Environment, Extractive Industries, Feminisms, Feminist Political Ecology, Gender, Gender Roles, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Indigenous, Land Grabbing, Livelihoods, Rights, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 2020

Citation:

Rutherford, Blair, and Laila Chemane-Chilemba. 2020. “The Governance of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining in Manica District, Mozambique: Implications for Women’s Livelihoods.” Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne Des Études Africaines 54 (1): 139–56. 

Authors: Blair Rutherford, Laila Chemane-Chilemba

Abstract:

ENGLISH ABSTRACT:
The mining sector in Mozambique, as in many parts of Africa, is viewed as a masculine industry; however, when it comes to artisanal and smallscale mining women play a very important role that in most cases is neglected or unknown. We examine both gendered practices and authority relations in different types of gold mining (alluvial and reef), their changes, and how this interacts with the current government initiative of having artisanal miners organize themselves in registered associations. Specifically, in the gold mines in Manica district, there is a major effort from the Mozambican government to organize the miners in associations. The process is bringing new dynamics to the activity for both women and men in terms of decision-making, access and opportunities, thus creating an impact for the livelihoods of both groups.

FRENCH ABSTRACT:
De même que dans beaucoup d’autres pays d’Afrique, le secteur minier au Mozambique est perçu comme une industrie masculine; cependant, en matière d’exploitation minière artisanale à petite échelle, les femmes jouent un rôle important qui, dans la plupart des cas, est négligé ou inconnu. Nous examinons à la fois les pratiques genrées et les relations d’autorité dans différents types d’exploitation de l’or (alluvionnaire et récifale), leurs modifications, et comment elles interagissent avec l’initiative gouvernementale actuelle qui pousse les mineurs artisanaux à s’organiser dans des associations déclarées. Plus précisément, dans les mines d’or du district de Manica, le gouvernement mozambicain fait un effort considérable pour que les mineurs s’organisent en associations. Ce processus apporte une nouvelle dynamique à l’activité, pour les femmes comme pour les hommes, en matière de prise de décision, d’accès et d’opportunités, créant ainsi un impact sur les moyens de subsistance des deux groupes.

Keywords: Mozambique, gender, artisanal mining, governance, genre, exploitation minière artisanale, gouvernance, mining

Topics: Extractive Industries, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Women, Livelihoods Regions: Africa, Southern Africa Countries: Mozambique

Year: 2020

Citation:

Buss, Doris, Sarah Katz-Lavigne, Otieno Aluoka, and Eileen Alma. 2020. “‘Remember the Women of Osiri’: Women and Gender in Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining in Migori County, Kenya.” Canadian Journal of African Studies   / Revue Canadienne Des éTudes Africaines   54 (1): 177-195.

Authors: Doris Buss, Sarah Katz-Lavigne, Otieno Aluoka, Eileen Alma

Abstract:

ENGLISH ABSTRACT:
In this paper, we explore women’s livelihoods and the operation of gender norms and structures in the Osiri artisanal gold mining area in western Kenya. While “women” and “gender” are seen as increasingly important to policy frameworks for developing mineral resources on the African continent, understandings of women’s roles in artisanal and small-scale mining, and of the importance of gender in structuring those livelihoods, remain limited. Drawing on field research conducted from 2014 to 2018, we demonstrate that while gender norms and structures operate to delimit women’s mining roles, in daily encounters women and men navigate, resist and sometimes reframe those norms. Further, we explore how gender norms may not impact all women the same and how other social variables, such as age, may also influence how women navigate their mining livelihoods.

FRENCH ABSTRACT:
Dans cet article, nous examinons les moyens d’existence des femmes et le fonctionnement des normes et des structures liées au genre dans la région aurifère artisanale de Osiri, à l’Ouest du Kenya. Alors que les « femmes » et le « genre » sont considérés comme étant de plus en plus importants pour les cadres politiques de développement des ressources minérales sur le continent africain, la compréhension du rôle des femmes dans l’exploitation minière et à petite échelle, et de l’importance du genre dans la structuration de ces moyens d’existence, reste limitée. En nous appuyant sur des recherches de terrain conduites entre 2014 et 2018, nous démontrons que si les normes et les structures liées au genre servent à délimiter le rôle des femmes dans l’exploitation minière, lors de leurs rencontres quotidiennes, les femmes et les hommes maîtrisent, contestent et, quelquefois, recadrent ces normes. En outre, nous examinons comment les normes de genre peuvent ne pas affecter toutes les femmes de la même façon, et comment d’autres variables sociales, telles que l’âge, peuvent aussi influencer la manière dont les femmes gèrent leurs moyens d’existence dans le secteur minier.

Keywords: artisanal and small-scale mining, women, gender, Kenya, feminist political economy, exploitation minière artisanale et à petite échelle, femmes, genre, économie politique féministe

Topics: Age, Extractive Industries, Feminisms, Feminist Political Economy, Gender, Gender Roles, Men, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Livelihoods Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Kenya

Year: 2020

Citation:

Zolnikov, Tara Rava. 2020. “Effects of the Government’s Ban in Ghana on Women in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining.” Resources Policy 65 (March). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2019.101561. 

Author: Tara Rava Zolnikov

Abstract:

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining operations have been conducted in Ghana for centuries. Over time, technological advances in the industry occurred and miners separated from large-scale mining and applied this knowledge to small-scale or individual mining practices. In March 2017, the government responded to a media campaign against environmental degradation and placed a ban against water pollution; this ban affected all informal gold mining operations because of the chronic use of mercury in gold extraction, which contributes to water contamination. The unintended consequences of this ban were that approximately 1 million people lost their jobs. A qualitative study was conducted to understand how small-scale gold mining affected female miners and in turn, the implications of the ban on these women and their families. There were 21 illegal female miners interviewed in Akwatia, Ghana. The results from this study confirmed that many female miners used their mining money to support their families. Because the ban blocked mining employment opportunities, the women were forced into unreliable and low-paying alternative jobs and were unable to pay for school fees and food. Unfortunately, while the ban may have improved the environment, it also contributed to adverse outcomes related to women and children's development, like inadequate nutritional needs and school dropout rates; thus, bans like this need to be reconsidered and readapted to address these immeasurable consequences.

Topics: Environment, Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Governance, Livelihoods Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Ghana

Year: 2020

Citation:

Rutherford, Blair, and Doris Buss. 2019. “Gendered Governance and Socio-Economic Differentiation among Women Artisanal and Small-Scale Miners in Central and East Africa.” Third World Thematics: A TWQ Journal 4 (1): 63–79. 

Authors: Blair Rutherford, Doris Buss

Abstract:

Drawing on qualitative research data from two gold artisanal and small-scale mining sites (ASGM), one in Democratic Republic of the Congo, the other in Uganda, this paper explores the authority arrangements that govern mining livelihoods in these sites, tracing their gendered forms and operation. The inter-relationship between these arrangements and women’s mining livelihoods is considered to further explore some of the socio-economic differentiation among women miners. In the context of increasing emphasis on formalizing the ASM sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, including through licenses and formation of associations and cooperatives, both the gendered organization of mine site governance and social differential among women miners have important implications. Formalization efforts in the ASM sector are rightly critiqued for failing to account for social differentiation that may allow elites to control licenses and associations. But also important, our research suggests, is the gendered inequalities that characterize existing authority arrangements, and the differentiation among women that may allow some women to organize and not others.

Keywords: artisanal and small-scale mining, gender, women's empowerment, governance, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda

Topics: Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Livelihoods Regions: Africa, Central Africa, East Africa Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda

Year: 2019

Citation:

Rutherford, Blair. 2020. “The Moral Politics of Gendered Labour in Artisanal Mining in Sierra Leone.” Development and Change 51 (3): 771–93. 

Author: Blair Rutherford

Abstract:

Drawing on current anthropological approaches to labour, this article examines some of the moral politics mobilized around women and artisanal mining in policy-inflected scholarship with reference to particular gold mining zones in Tonkolili district, Sierra Leone. In so doing, the article proposes that such a focus on labour not only allows one to appreciate how sentiments concerning (im)proper behaviour infuse wider policy proposals to amend social arrangements in regard to what is called ‘artisanal mining’, but it also offers insight into some of the enduring moral politics helping to constitute women as ‘family workers’ in the actual artisanal gold mining zones. The article suggests that examining the overlapping moral politics constituting women's labour practices provides a more supple understanding of the contested economic possibilities for women in this livelihood practice.

Topics: Economies, Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Livelihoods Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Sierra Leone

Year: 2020

Citation:

Nandi, Sulakshana, and Samir Garg. 2017. “Indigenous Women’s Struggles to Oppose State-Sponsored Deforestation in Chhattisgarh, India.” Gender & Development 25 (3): 387–403. 

Authors: Sulakshana Nandi, Samir Garg

Abstract:

ENGLISH ABSTRACT:
In Chhattisgarh state, nearly half the land area is covered with forests that are essential to the livelihoods and culture of the indigenous communities there. Tree felling has escalated in the past decades, with natural forests replaced by teak plantations. The article narrates the struggles of AAS, an organisation of indigenous women, for restoration of land and forest rights to the indigenous communities. It shows the importance of people’s organisations and their struggles for natural resource justice. Women have challenged the state, using a range of strategies.

SPANISH ABSTRACT:
En el estado de Chhattisgarh, casi la mitad del territorio se encuentra cubierta por bosques que resultan esenciales para proporcionar los medios de vida de las comunidades indígenas que ahí habitan y además se encuentran estrechamente ligados a su cultura. En las últimas décadas, ha repuntado la tala de árboles; ello ha dado lugar a la transformación de los bosques naturales en plantaciones de teca. El presente artículo narra las luchas de AAS, una organización de mujeres indígenas que busca restaurar el derecho a la tierra y los bosques de las comunidades indígenas. Además, da cuenta de la importancia que reviste la organización popular y sus luchas para obtener justicia en cuestiones vinculadas a los recursos naturales. Mediante varias estrategias, las mujeres han desafiado al Estado.

FRENCH ABSTRACT:
Dans l’État de Chhattisgarh, presque la moitié de la superficie terrestre est couverte de forêts qui sont essentielles pour les moyens de subsistance et la culture des communautés autochtones qui s’y trouvent. L’abattage d’arbres s’est intensifié au cours des quelques dernières décennies, et les forêts naturelles ont été remplacées par des plantations de teck. Cet article relate les luttes menées par AAS, une organisation de femmes autochtones, pour rétablir les droits fonciers et forestiers des communautés autochtones. Il montre l’importance des organisations de la population et des luttes qu’elles mènent pour obtenir la justice en matière de ressources naturelles. Les femmes ont remis l’État en cause en utilisant une variété de stratégies.

Keywords: deforestation, community health workers, social determinants of health, forest rights, indigenous rights

Topics: Environment, Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Health, Indigenous, Livelihoods, Rights, Indigenous Rights Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: India

Year: 2017

Citation:

Buss, Doris, and Blair Rutherford. 2020. “Gendering Women’s Livelihoods in Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining: An Introduction.” Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne Des Études Africaines 54 (1): 1–16. 

Authors: Doris Buss, Blair Rutherford

Abstract:

ENGLISH ABSTRACT:
Until recently, women were largely invisible as miners within the array of initiatives, laws and policies seeking to regulate mining in sub-Saharan Africa. This invisibility is beginning to change as gender and women are increasingly referenced in mining reform initiatives. In this paper, we provide an overview of extant research on gender and women’s livelihoods in artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), mostly of precious or high-value minerals, and some of the gaps that the papers assembled in this special issue address. This introductory paper also seeks to frame the special issue by questioning the forms of visibility of “women in mining” in policy and scholarly work. Knowledge claims about women and their mining work need to be emplaced within wider presumptions, power relations and political economies at various scales. Gender, we argue, provides an important analytical and methodological lens to critically consider the materialization of “women” in relation to ASM.

FRENCH ABSTRACT:
Jusqu’à récemment, les femmes étaient largement invisibles en tant que mineuses dans l’ensemble des initiatives, lois et politiques visant à réglementer l’exploitation minière en Afrique subsaharienne. Cette invisibilité commence à changer, à mesure que le genre et les femmes sont de plus en plus mentionnés dans les initiatives de réforme minière. Dans cet article, nous offrons un aperçu des recherches existantes sur le genre et les moyens d’existence des femmes dans l’exploitation minière artisanale et à petite échelle (EMAPE), principalement des minéraux précieux ou de grande valeur, et certaines des lacunes traitées par les articles réunis dans ce numéro spécial. Ce document introductif cherche également à encadrer ce numéro spécial en mettant en question les formes de visibilité des « femmes dans le secteur minier » dans les politiques et les travaux académiques. Les connaissances sur les femmes et leur travail dans le secteur minier doivent s’inscrire dans le cadre de présomptions plus larges, de relations de pouvoir et d’économies politiques à différentes échelles. Selon nous, le genre offre un important prisme analytique et méthodologique pour examiner, de façon critique, la matérialisation des « femmes », relativement à l’EMAPE.

Keywords: gender, women, mining, Sub-Saharan Africa, ASM, genre, femmes, secteur minier, Afrique subsaharienne, EMAPE

Topics: Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Livelihoods, Political Economies Regions: Africa

Year: 2020