The tribute system as a funding model for artisanal and small-scale mining: a Zimbabwean case study

摘要

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) is an important and indispensable activity especiallyin the developing world. Appropriately funded, it can be a key means of livelihood for manypeople, it can be one of the mainstays of the economy, providing revenue to governmentthrough taxes and mineral sales. It is also useful in exploiting mineral deposits that would beotherwise uneconomical to mine through large-scale mining (LSM). However, the activityneeds to be properly managed to avert environmental disasters and promote sustainabledevelopment (SD). ASM is mainly a poverty-driven activity, hence the miners do not havethe appropriate financing to be able to mine sustainably. At the same time, governments thatpromulgate regulations unconducive for ASM need to be more practical, since governmentsdo not have sufficient alternative means of livelihood for the miners. This calls for wellplannedand organized capacity-building in the sector by governments and large-scale minersto address challenges to sustainable mining in ASM. Funding is currently one of theconstraints to mineral development for both LSM and ASM. The funding constraint iscompounded for ASM because of the unorganized nature of the activity. This paper illustratesthe use of the tribute system as one of the plausible funding mechanisms governments canemploy in a bid to foster SD in ASM. Funding goes a long way in addressing several ASMchallenges, as detailed in this paper. A compelling case study of Zimbabwe's chrome miningindustry is used to illustrate the success of the tribute system as a funding model.