Artisanal mining, gender and fair trade in Africa

There are a growing number of ethical standards that apply to mineral supply chains. They reflect a shift from reliance upon state-based regulation of mineral sectors towards using the market to stimulate more responsible practices, as appropriate to different scales of mining operation and an array of minerals and gemstones. Many initiatives are in pilot stage; therefore time is needed to tell whether they incorporate business models robust enough to facilitate the sustainability and scale needed for significant impact. Who or what they benefit and how, as evidenced through developmental and environmental outcomes, will need on-going evidence gathering. Visions for ethical mineral supply chains are laudable nevertheless the challenges for successfully and sustainably realising development benefits cannot be under-stated in a sector characterised by informality and exclusion. The Fairtrade system, associated with Fairtrade International and the Fairmined system, associated with the Alliance for Responsible Mining, are initiating an increasing number of projects on artisanal gold mining to empowerment artisanal mineral producers and local communities through trade and the delivery of socio-economic and environmental transformation. Applications for PhDs are invited that focus on the gender dimensions of ethical mineral supply chains. There are many different angles to this issue e.g. related to labour standards, gender empowerment, community dynamics, etc., and the precise focus can be determined in relation to the applicant’s own field of expertise, as can the geographical focus.