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

This policy brief examines the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector, highlighting the challenges of providing health support and maintaining supply chains in remote, informal settings. It discusses the role of the informal sector as an economic safety net and suggests that the recovery phase offers an opportunity for governments to build trust and advance sector formalization through public-private cooperation.

• The ASM sector is characterized by significant scale and high levels of informality, with an estimated 40.5 million people directly engaged in the sector in 2017 and approximately 80% of the total workforce operating informally.
• Government pandemic responses have been limited, with over half of IGF survey respondents unable to provide specific support to miners and over 80% of ASM respondents in the Delve initiative reporting no support, including a lack of masks and sanitizers.
• Lockdown measures and travel restrictions disrupted ASM supply chains and governance, leading to a 'buyers market' where artisanal gold producers saw site-level price drops of up to 40% despite high global prices.
• The pandemic exacerbated existing gender inequalities in the ASM sector, as women's work and incomes were disproportionately affected by increased domestic and childcare responsibilities following school closures.
• Despite disruptions, the informal ASM sector acted as an economic safety net for populations without alternative employment, and in Zimbabwe, ASM communities collectively funded 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} }