✦ LIBER ✦

AGRICULTURE AND ARTISANAL GOLD MINING IN SIERRA LEONE: ALTERNATIVES OR COMPLEMENTS?

✍ Scribed by Laurent E. Cartier; Michael Bürge

Book ID: 102349805
Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
Year: 2011
Tongue: English
Weight: 218 KB
Volume: 23
Category: Article
ISSN: 0954-1748
DOI: 10.1002/jid.1833

No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

This article explores a number of the productivity and marketing difficulties that are hindering the establishment of sustainable livelihoods in small‐scale agriculture in Sierra Leone. The emergence of the artisanal gold mining and trading sector in the central part of the country and synergies between farming and mining cycles are discussed. It is argued that small‐scale agriculture and artisanal mining are not livelihood alternatives but are instead livelihood complements. The potentially catalysing role of gold income in reinvigorating non‐mining activities is critically examined. Recent findings that explain the differing profitability of farming and mining are presented. Finally, a policy outlook is offered on how these fragile dynamics could be harnessed to promote sustainable livelihoods in rural Sierra Leone. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

📜 SIMILAR VOLUMES

RE-AGRARIANISING LIVELIHOODS IN POST-CON

RE-AGRARIANISING LIVELIHOODS IN POST-CONFLICT SIERRA LEONE? MINERAL WEALTH AND RURAL CHANGE IN ARTISANAL AND SMALL-SCALE MINING COMMUNITIES

✍ Roy Maconachie 📂 Article 📅 2011 🏛 John Wiley and Sons 🌐 English ⚖ 396 KB

## Abstract In mineral‐rich regions of Sierra Leone, the diversification of livelihood portfolios is widespread and local actors have long pursued complex and dynamic strategies that involve the intertwining of farming and mining economies. This article examines recent evidence from two impoverishe