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. 2023 Mar 13;9(3):e14417.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14417. eCollection 2023 Mar.

Ecological aspects shaping child labour in Tanzania's artisanal and small-scale gold mines: A qualitative inquiry

Emmy Metta  1   2 , Ramadhani Abdul  1 , Alison Koler  3 , Eveline Geubbels  1
Affiliations

Ecological aspects shaping child labour in Tanzania's artisanal and small-scale gold mines: A qualitative inquiry

Emmy Metta et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Background: This study describes factors promoting child labour in small-scale gold mines in rural Tanzania, a pernicious problem despite the country's adoption of laws and regulations intended to curb it.

Methods: Employing a phenomenological design, we collected qualitative data using focus group discussions and in-depth interviews to describe factors promoting children's engagement in small-scale gold mining activities in three districts in Tanzania. Data analysis applied constructs from the ecological system theory.

Results: Child labour was reported to be common in the small-scale gold mines and abject household poverty was reported as the main factor pushing children to work in the mines because of their respective households' inability to provide for their basic needs. Other underlying factors stated included divorce and family disintegration and limited diversification of income-earning activities. The migratory nature of artisanal mining led some miner parents to not prioritize the education of their children. Furthermore, peer pressure and parental influence, especially of mothers, promoted entry into mining or reinforced its continuation. Early socialisation of children as future miners and lack of perspective and societal expectations of other life trajectories contributed to persistent child labour within mining communities. At the government level, the study participants mentioned poor reinforcement of mining regulations as another factor that legitimised child labour in the mines.

Conclusion: Since factors promoting child labour in small-scale gold mines are multifaceted, efforts for its elimination require a multi-layered approach aimed at addressing the root-causes at the micro-, meso-, exo- and macro-level systems.

Keywords: Artisanal gold mining; Child labour; Ecological factors; Tanzania.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
An example of how codes were categorized into themes and how family codes were linked to the theoretical concepts.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Ecological Systems Theory on child labour in small-scale gold mines. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)
Image 1
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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