Ebola is having a devastating impact on Sierra Leone’s informal mining sector, which provides a livelihood to some of the country’s poorest people

Ebola is having catastrophic economic consequences for Sierra Leone, where the disease is running rampant.

The country, together with the two other Mano River Union states, Liberia and Guinea, are presently in economic paralysis. Despite being natural resource-rich countries, inflation, food prices and currency exchange rates have soared, international investors have fled, and industries have come to a grinding halt. World Bank estimates suggest that the Ebola outbreak could cost the West African economy $32.6bn (£20.3bn) by the end of 2015, unless the epidemic is rapidly contained.

In Sierra Leone, the macro-economic impacts of the crisis came into sharp focus two weeks ago, when the country’s second largest iron ore producer, London Mining, went into administration. The London-listed company was one of the country’s largest employers, providing jobs for 1,400 local people at its mine in Marampa, and contributing an estimated 10% to GDP. While the company has been hard hit by a 40% drop in the global price of iron ore, it seems that the disruption caused by the Ebola epidemic served as the final nail in the coffin.

The Ebola crisis is having devastating consequences on Sierra Leone’s macro-economy, but it is also having far reaching knock-on effects at the micro-level, suppressing informal livelihood opportunities for poor people. This is particularly the case for those who are dependent on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) – low-tech, labour-intensive mineral extraction and processing activities that generate disposable income for hundreds of thousands of families in an employment-constrained economy.

With many parts of the country in effective quarantine and regional trade routes blocked off, there are enormous logistical challenges for ASM. It is Sierra Leone’s second largest employer after agriculture and provides a livelihood for an estimated 200,000-300,000 individuals and their families. It is also an activity that is characterised by a high degree of mobility, and it often takes place in confined spaces where there is poor hygiene. While the spread of Ebola has forced many ASM operators to abandon mining altogether, tight border controls implemented to halt the spread of disease have also made activities within the ASM sector increasingly difficult.

ASM does not merely generate income for poor people, but it interlocks closely with a host of other downstream and ancillary activities that drive the rural economy. This micro-economy is defined by seasonal migratory labour streams, where individuals straddle different productive activities throughout the year, by moving freely between various geographic locations.

Artisanal diamond operators often combine farming and mining, with mining being undertaken predominantly in the dry season when river levels are low, and farming being carried out mainly during the rainy season. The income generated from diamond mining is frequently reinvested into farming, or the expansion of cash crops, such as coffee, cocoa and kola nuts.

Restrictions on the movement of people have severely curtailed both artisanal diamond and gold mining. Before the crisis, artisanal gold mining, being a female-dominated activity, provided a steady and reliable income for women. Gold revenue contributed to the cost of essential household expenses, including food, clothes, school fees and books, and family medical costs.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Women mining gold in Kono, Sierra Leone. Photograph: Roy Maconachie

These earnings also provided women with the necessary ‘start-up’ capital to create farming associations, revive agricultural labour clubs and rebuild trading networks that were rendered dysfunctional during the war. This prominent gender dimension to the sector suggests that artisanal gold mining is, in normal circumstances, an important vehicle for alleviating poverty and enhancing food security, as it puts income directly into the hands of women.

Restrictions on movement are not only affecting producers, but also buyers, many of whom travel from as far as Guinea to do business. Reports indicate that sourcing patterns are also being affected. Buyers in Surat, India, where an estimated 80% of the world’s diamonds are cut and polished, have stopped sending their traders to West Africa and have even returned parcels originating from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, over fears of the disease.

Everyday life in rural Sierra Leone is a challenge at the best of times, with many people in the alluvial mining areas experiencing some of the worst poverty in the country. While Ebola has had a devastating effect on the mining sector – both large-scale, like London Mining, and small-scale – the predominant national response to restrict mobility has been particularly damaging to the ASM sector and the livelihoods of those it supports.

It has had an impact upon the day-to-day survival of hundreds of thousands of people within the gold and diamondiferous areas of the country. This indicates that managing the risk of further contagion is a doubly challenging task, given that the trade networks and population mobility that define the rural economy are also potential pathways to spread the disease further.

Ebola control must involve a process of rapid identification of cases, followed by removal and isolation of those infected for treatment. Public health education is also key. But a truly holistic approach to containing the disease, without cutting the lifelines that support the livelihoods of Sierra Leone’s rural inhabitants, must first start with a detailed understanding from all agencies involved, of the country’s rural landscapes and an appreciation of the micro-economic patterns and processes that are central to rural society.

Roy Maconachie is senior lecturer in international development at the University of Bath

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