| dc.description.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, envi-
ronmentally 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 ed-
ucation 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 sup-
port 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. | en_US |
