{"title":"Harvesting “development minerals” for local needs in sub-Saharan Africa: The case of Malawi","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103851","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper critically reflects on the impact of “development minerals” on rural livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on the case of Malawi. It does so by analysing data collected at multiple quarrying sites in Lilongwe District, with the objective of assessing how production of these commodities can help meet Malawi’s commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Findings indicate that despite their extraction being associated with environmental problems, development minerals do impact positively on the livelihoods of Malawians in rural areas where very few viable alternative income-earning opportunities. To maximise the sector’s contribution to the SDGs in Malawi, however, greater emphasis must be placed on formalising and supporting quarrying operations and other activities oriented around development minerals.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":313,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Science & Policy","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Environmental Science & Policy","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901124001850","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This paper critically reflects on the impact of “development minerals” on rural livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on the case of Malawi. It does so by analysing data collected at multiple quarrying sites in Lilongwe District, with the objective of assessing how production of these commodities can help meet Malawi’s commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Findings indicate that despite their extraction being associated with environmental problems, development minerals do impact positively on the livelihoods of Malawians in rural areas where very few viable alternative income-earning opportunities. To maximise the sector’s contribution to the SDGs in Malawi, however, greater emphasis must be placed on formalising and supporting quarrying operations and other activities oriented around development minerals.
期刊介绍:
Environmental Science & Policy promotes communication among government, business and industry, academia, and non-governmental organisations who are instrumental in the solution of environmental problems. It also seeks to advance interdisciplinary research of policy relevance on environmental issues such as climate change, biodiversity, environmental pollution and wastes, renewable and non-renewable natural resources, sustainability, and the interactions among these issues. The journal emphasises the linkages between these environmental issues and social and economic issues such as production, transport, consumption, growth, demographic changes, well-being, and health. However, the subject coverage will not be restricted to these issues and the introduction of new dimensions will be encouraged.