ARTISANAL AND SMALL-SCALE MINING (ASM) AND COVID-19: RESPONDING TO THE PANDEMIC

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted the livelihoods of millions in the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector, exacerbating existing challenges of informality and poor infrastructure. While government responses were often limited—with over 80% of some surveyed miners receiving no support—the informal sector acted as a critical economic safety net. The document argues that recovery should leverage public-private cooperation to formalize the sector and build more responsible supply chains.

• The ASM sector supports a vast population, with an estimated 40.5 million people directly engaged in 2017 and over 120 million indirectly reliant on the sector. Informality is widespread, accounting for approximately 80% of the total workforce.
• Government pandemic responses to ASM communities have been limited; more than half of IGF survey respondents reported an inability to provide specific pandemic support, and over 80% of ASM respondents in the Delve initiative received no assistance, including a lack of masks and sanitizers.
• Lockdown measures and travel restrictions severely disrupted ASM supply chains and governance. These restrictions hindered the ability of inspectors to enforce laws and created a "buyers market" where artisanal gold producers saw site-level prices drop by as much as 40% despite high global prices.
• The pandemic worsened existing social inequalities, specifically increasing the burden on women in the ASM sector due to the closure of schools and increased domestic and childcare responsibilities.
• Despite disruptions, the informal ASM sector served as a vital economic safety net for populations without alternative employment. In Zimbabwe, some ASM communities demonstrated self-reliance by collectively funding a COVID-19 ward at a local hospital.

APA

Crawford, A., Lyster, O., & Rolfe, A. (2020). ARTISANAL AND SMALL-SCALE MINING (ASM) AND COVID-19: RESPONDING TO THE PANDEMIC. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2020-11/artisanal-small-scale-mining-covid-en.pdf

Chicago

Crawford, Alec, Olivia Lyster, and Adam Rolfe. ARTISANAL AND SMALL-SCALE MINING (ASM) AND COVID-19: RESPONDING TO THE PANDEMIC. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2020. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2020-11/artisanal-small-scale-mining-covid-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Crawford |first1=Alec |last2=Lyster |first2=Olivia |last3=Rolfe |first3=Adam |title=ARTISANAL AND SMALL-SCALE MINING (ASM) AND COVID-19: RESPONDING TO THE PANDEMIC |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=November 2020 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2020-11/artisanal-small-scale-mining-covid-en.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{crawford2020artisanal, author = {Crawford, Alec and Lyster, Olivia and Rolfe, Adam}, title = {{ARTISANAL AND SMALL-SCALE MINING (ASM) AND COVID-19: RESPONDING TO THE PANDEMIC}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2020}, month = nov, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2020-11/artisanal-small-scale-mining-covid-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }