Arnandale farm, just like much of its surrounding areas in and around Shamva, a small town north east of Harare gives a sad sight of faltered maize fields succumbing to an el Niño induced drought that has hit hard on much of the country and the entire Sub-saharan region.
By Kudzanai Gerede
In recent history, food insecurity has never reached intricate levels as currently looming for local villagers; with generally fair to bumper harvests conventionally sustaining this remote community but currently, the status quo points to a long lean year.
For most people here, the apparent poor harvests have rendered economic prospects sour as under-development is stifling growth opportunities for locals.
Little Shamva center which thrives on agricultural prosperity of the surrounding farms by offering a market for fresh local produce has seen the prevailing conditions already punctuating low trade volumes; there is generally little hope.
However, a panoramic view adjacent to Arnandale farm juxtaposes ailing maize fields and huge barren hills of mining debris from the now defunct mining operations believed to have been carried out by a German corporate decades ago and general convictions of large gold remains in this entire region are rife.
For this culturally preservative society, men have found a new economic mainstay to subvert the impeding calamity by engaging in artisanal mining.
Artisanal mining has always been practiced in this community for a period of time, only by a few village outlaws as the vast population concentrated on land cultivation but this year has seen a growing number of new comers into this laborious occupation driven by poor crop performance.
Along the meandering Pote River dozens of work pits where alluvial mining takes places are harbored. Hundreds of people in small groups of threes and fours work on the river beds on high alert of the ever marauding authority operatives as villagers do not hold certification to carry out mining activities.
They use shovels, picks, wheel barrows, chisels and metal bars among other simple hand tools with substantial amount of gold yielded on a daily basis.
“I have mined here for over 5 years with very few of us operating from this farm but lately we have realized a growing numbers of people joining us as a result of crop failure in our fields,” notes Calistas Mbirimi of Anardale farm.
“Women have also joined us but most of them prefer digging river sand which they sell to construction companies for building purposes whilst men go deeper for gold along Pote River,” he adds.
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Arnold Magasa also from the same farm says there is abundant gold in the Shamva area but due to limited resources, lack of expertise and constant raids by local authorities they cannot dig deeper to boost their production.
“As you can see here, we do not have any other forms of livelihood except for those who do crop cultivation and mining. If we can be allowed to mine in an orderly manner we are prepared to do so, and if they provide us with a piece of land which we won’t be harassed by council operatives,”
In this area each group produces over 2 grams of gold per day and it is sold for not less than $ 20 dollar per gram. There plenty of gold buyers who travel from Harare every day and sometimes offer them working tools such as wheelbarrows and shovels for free to boost production.
“We are able to eke a living through mining here. We are sending our children to school, clothing and buying enough groceries for the family and also earn extra for pastime activities like drinking beer,” adds Magasa.
Artisanal mining have become a major economic event for most villagers in the country’s mining locations. There is however information gap between artisanal miners and government departments following the decriminalization of artisanal mining only if miners form mining syndicates.
Under the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe orchestrated program, artisanal and small scale miners are required to form syndicates of 6 members or more and register with the authorities which earns them a mining certificate as a way of formalizing their activities and delivering their produce through formal channels.
Zimbabwe Miners Federation Chief executive officer, Mr wellington Takavarasha emphasized the role of artisanal miners in propping gold output and how the sector was helping alleviating poverty as a revenue earner in most resource rich but marginalized communities.
“Zimbabwe now that have been declared drought hit, the only recourse in the collapsing economy is artisanal mining which is more of a livelihood activity so we are going to find a lot of people joining the activity,” he stressed.
