Tracing Gendered and Classed Dimension of Formalization of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Efforts in Mozambique

Abstract

Many formalization of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) policies in Africa emphasise property rights through mining titles and the mandatory creation of cooperatives. These are promoted as a means of poverty-alleviation, reducing environmental harms, and ensuring community benefits, which could include the empowerment of women. Through an examination of two World Bank-funded projects to increase foreign investment and ‘develop’ the Mozambique’s mining sector and the establishment of associations (later cooperatives) in ASM gold mining areas in Manica district, this paper examines how these efforts have expressed significant gendered and class inequities. It analyses how the authority and control rights of the associations/cooperatives privilege men who are local political or economic leaders, which in one case widely celebrated as an early and leading example of the benefits of formalization reduced access to gold mining livelihoods for women. The analysis concludes by suggesting the importance of examining who actually receives control rights in vehicles promoted in formalization efforts and how they are gendered and classed in practice, rather than assuming the declared collective benefits such as gender empowerment will emerge from them.

Keywords: Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), Mozambique, Formalization, Gender relations, Class dynamics