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. 2023 Mar 17;9(4):e14616.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14616. eCollection 2023 Apr.

Artisanal and small-scale mining in Tanzania and health implications: A policy perspective

Mwemezi J Rwiza  1 , Erasto Focus  1   2 , Jonas Bayuo  1   3 , Joseph Modest Kimaro  4 , Matthias Kleinke  5 , Theresia J Lyasenga  6 , Jerry T Mosses  7 , Janeth Marwa  1
Affiliations

Artisanal and small-scale mining in Tanzania and health implications: A policy perspective

Mwemezi J Rwiza et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

The mineral sector, especially its small-scale subsector, has become significant in the emerging economies of the Global South. Tanzania is the focus of this policy exposition paper because, aside from Ghana and South Africa, Tanzania is ranked 4th in Africa in terms of its mineral deposits and small-scale mining activities. The focus is also on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) because ASM operations have significantly increased in recent times across this mineral-rich country of East Africa. This is done against a negative backdrop-labelling of ASM as unsustainable, environmentally unfriendly, inefficient, and illegal. Tanzania has made some progress to respond to some of the challenges in the mining sector to improve the micro and macroeconomics of the country. Some areas remain challenging including the lack of proper environmental health education for the ASM miners; the lack of clear national-level policies to guide health-related matters in the ASM subsector, and the small capital investment of the ASM subsector to support healthy mining practices. The details related to the persistence of these challenges are not well known, particularly those that pertain to policymaking. This article attempts to evaluate the policy environment of the ASM subsector in Tanzania and propose appropriate actions for the future of mineral resource policymaking in Tanzania.

Keywords: Artisanal; Environment; Mining; Tanzania; Trace elements.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Authors' interpretation of the working environment at one of the ASMs in Tanzania as a result of a field research visit in 2020.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Framework of the policymaking process in Tanzania as modified by Mattee [52]. Black solid lines and boxes indicate the original flipped top-down and the red dashed lines and boxes indicate revisions by Mattee [52]. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Proposed integrated approach to policymaking in the ASM subsector.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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