Property Rights and Artisanal Mining

The first section of this issue brief reviews the largely under-recognized place of the ASM sector in national economies. Next, it describes briefly how ASM has been at the root of many resource conflicts in developing countries—particularly in west and central Africa. This is followed by a discussion of how the clarification of property rights contributes to the reduction of conflicts over mineral resources. By way of illustration, the USAID Property Rights and Artisanal Diamond Development (PRADD) project shows how the clarification of tenure arrangements can encourage greater transparency in the diamond-mining sector and incentivize rehabilitation of landscapes damaged by artisanal mining practices. The issue brief concludes with a short summary of the types of interventions USAID might consider for strengthening tenure and property rights regimes in the ASM sector.
Release Date: Monday, April 1, 2013File:  Property Rights and Artisanal Mining