IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v56y2014icp62-76.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Aid with Blinkers: Environmental Governance of Uranium Mining in Niger

Author

Listed:
  • Larsen, Rasmus Kløcker
  • Mamosso, Christiane Alzouma

Abstract

The role of development cooperation in fostering improved environmental governance of extractive industries in African countries exposed to the expanding global uranium frontier remains ambiguous. With primary data, this paper demonstrates how foreign aid to Niger has ignored grievances on grave environmental impacts and rampant institutional failures while a crisis discourse on desertification and food insecurity diverts attention from geopolitical interests in mineral wealth. We argue that aid delivery remains insufficient to address structural deficiencies cemented by decades of investment-friendly ‘politics of mining’ and conclude that domestic reforms must be backed by stronger transnational accountability mechanisms to overcome corporate impunity.

Suggested Citation

  • Larsen, Rasmus Kløcker & Mamosso, Christiane Alzouma, 2014. "Aid with Blinkers: Environmental Governance of Uranium Mining in Niger," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 62-76.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:56:y:2014:i:c:p:62-76
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2013.10.024
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X13002362
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2013.10.024?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brunnschweiler, Christa N. & Bulte, Erwin H., 2008. "The resource curse revisited and revised: A tale of paradoxes and red herrings," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 248-264, May.
    2. Hilson, Gavin & Ackah-Baidoo, Abigail, 2011. "Can Microcredit Services Alleviate Hardship in African Small-scale Mining Communities?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 1191-1203, July.
    3. Anthony Bebbington & Jeffrey Bury & Denise Humphreys Bebbington & Jeannet Lingan & Juan Pablo Muñoz & Martin Scurrah, 2008. "Mining and social movements: struggles over Mining and social movements: struggles over livelihood and rural territorial development in the Andes," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 3308, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    4. Smith, Shirley M. & Shepherd, Derek D. & Dorward, Peter T., 2012. "Perspectives on community representation within the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative: Experiences from south-east Madagascar," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 241-250.
    5. Rob D. van den Berg & David Todd, 2011. "The full road to impact: the experience of the Global Environment Facility Fourth Overall Performance Study," Journal of Development Effectiveness, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(3), pages 389-413, September.
    6. Bryceson, Deborah Fahy & Jønsson, Jesper Bosse, 2010. "Gold Digging Careers in Rural East Africa: Small-Scale Miners' Livelihood Choices," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 379-392, March.
    7. Melissa Leach & James Fairhead, 2000. "Fashioned Forest Pasts, Occluded Histories? International Environmental Analysis in West African Locales," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 31(1), pages 35-59, January.
    8. Tierney, Michael J. & Nielson, Daniel L. & Hawkins, Darren G. & Roberts, J. Timmons & Findley, Michael G. & Powers, Ryan M. & Parks, Bradley & Wilson, Sven E. & Hicks, Robert L., 2011. "More Dollars than Sense: Refining Our Knowledge of Development Finance Using AidData," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 1891-1906.
    9. Nadia Molenaers & Leen Nijs, 2009. "From the Theory of Aid Effectiveness to the Practice: The European Commission's Governance Incentive Tranche," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 27(5), pages 561-580, September.
    10. Barlow, Robin & Snyder, Wayne, 1993. "Taxation in Niger: Problems and proposals," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 21(7), pages 1179-1189, July.
    11. Hilson, Gavin, 2012. "Family Hardship and Cultural Values: Child Labor in Malian Small-Scale Gold Mining Communities," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(8), pages 1663-1674.
    12. Bleischwitz, Raimund & Dittrich, Monika & Pierdicca, Chiara, 2012. "Coltan from Central Africa, international trade and implications for any certification," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 19-29.
    13. Hilson, Gavin, 2012. "Corporate Social Responsibility in the extractive industries: Experiences from developing countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 131-137.
    14. Slack, Keith, 2012. "Mission impossible?: Adopting a CSR-based business model for extractive industries in developing countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 179-184.
    15. Campbell, Bonnie, 2012. "Corporate Social Responsibility and development in Africa: Redefining the roles and responsibilities of public and private actors in the mining sector," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 138-143.
    16. Turner, Matthew D. & Ayantunde, Augustine A. & Patterson, Kristen P. & Patterson, E. Daniel, 2012. "Conflict Management, Decentralization and Agropastoralism in Dryland West Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 745-757.
    17. Otto, James M., 1997. "A national mineral policy as a regulatory tool," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(1-2), pages 1-7, June.
    18. Warnaars, Ximena S., 2012. "Why be poor when we can be rich? Constructing responsible mining in El Pangui, Ecuador," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 223-232.
    19. Spiegel, Samuel J., 2012. "Governance Institutions, Resource Rights Regimes, and the Informal Mining Sector: Regulatory Complexities in Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 189-205.
    20. Levine, Arielle, 2002. "Convergence or Convenience? International Conservation NGOs and Development Assistance in Tanzania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 1043-1055, June.
    21. Bebbington, Anthony & Humphreys Bebbington, Denise & Bury, Jeffrey & Lingan, Jeannet & Muñoz, Juan Pablo & Scurrah, Martin, 2008. "Mining and Social Movements: Struggles Over Livelihood and Rural Territorial Development in the Andes," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 2888-2905, December.
    22. Susanna Davies, 1992. "Green conditionality and food security: Winners and losers from the greening of aid," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 4(2), pages 151-165, March.
    23. Kolstad, Ivar & Wiig, Arne, 2009. "Is Transparency the Key to Reducing Corruption in Resource-Rich Countries?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 521-532, March.
    24. Jeremy Keenan, 2008. "Uranium Goes Critical in Niger: Tuareg RebellionsThreaten Sahelian Conflagration," Review of African Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(117), pages 449-466, September.
    25. Sato, Jin & Shiga, Hiroaki & Kobayashi, Takaaki & Kondoh, Hisahiro, 2011. "“Emerging Donors” from a Recipient Perspective: An Institutional Analysis of Foreign Aid in Cambodia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 2091-2104.
    26. Chhotray, Vasudha & Hulme, David, 2009. "Contrasting Visions for Aid and Governance in the 21st Century: The White House Millennium Challenge Account and DFID's Drivers of Change," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 36-49, January.
    27. Dam, Lammertjan & Scholtens, Bert, 2012. "The curse of the haven: The impact of multinational enterprise on environmental regulation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 148-156.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Atangana Ondoa Henri, 2019. "Heavily indebted poor countries initiative (HIPC), debt relief, economic stability and economic growth in Africa," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 89-121, May.
    2. Michener, Gregory, 2015. "Policy Evaluation via Composite Indexes: Qualitative Lessons from International Transparency Policy Indexes," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 184-196.
    3. Huber, Amelie & Joshi, Deepa, 2015. "Hydropower, Anti-Politics, and the Opening of New Political Spaces in the Eastern Himalayas," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 13-25.
    4. Hilson, Gavin & Goumandakoye, Halima & Diallo, Penda, 2019. "Formalizing artisanal mining ‘spaces’ in rural sub-Saharan Africa: The case of Niger," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 259-268.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kotsadam, Andreas & Tolonen, Anja, 2016. "African Mining, Gender, and Local Employment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 325-339.
    2. Fernando Morante-Carballo & Néstor Montalván-Burbano & Maribel Aguilar-Aguilar & Paúl Carrión-Mero, 2022. "A Bibliometric Analysis of the Scientific Research on Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-29, July.
    3. Veldhuizen, Caroline & Desouza, Kevin C. & Bandara, Wasana & Chang, Artemis, 2022. "How much is not enough: Corporate social responsibility and beyond in the resources sector," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    4. Van Alstine, James & Barkemeyer, Ralf, 2014. "Business and development: Changing discourses in the extractive industries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 4-16.
    5. Moomen, Abdul–Wadood & Dewan, Ashraf, 2016. "Analysis of spatial interactions between the Shea industry and mining sector activities in the emerging north-west gold province of Ghana," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 104-111.
    6. Bezzola, Selina & Günther, Isabel & Brugger, Fritz & Lefoll, Erwin, 2022. "CSR and local conflicts in African mining communities," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    7. Van Alstine, James & Manyindo, Jacob & Smith, Laura & Dixon, Jami & AmanigaRuhanga, Ivan, 2014. "Resource governance dynamics: The challenge of ‘new oil’ in Uganda," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 48-58.
    8. Matthew Himley, 2014. "Monitoring the Impacts of Extraction: Science and Participation in the Governance of Mining in Peru," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(5), pages 1069-1087, May.
    9. Haslam, Paul Alexander, 2021. "The micro-politics of corporate responsibility: How companies shape protest in communities affected by mining," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    10. Roy Maconachie & Radhika Srinivasan & Nicholas Menzies, 2015. "Responding to the Challenge of Fragility and Security in West Africa," World Bank Publications - Reports 22511, The World Bank Group.
    11. Frederiksen, Tomas, 2018. "Corporate social responsibility, risk and development in the mining industry," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 495-505.
    12. Symeou, Pavlos C. & Zyglidopoulos, Stelios & Williamson, Peter, 2018. "Internationalization as a driver of the corporate social performance of extractive industry firms," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 27-38.
    13. Adams, Dawda & Adams, Kweku & Ullah, Subhan & Ullah, Farid, 2019. "Globalisation, governance, accountability and the natural resource ‘curse’: Implications for socio-economic growth of oil-rich developing countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 128-140.
    14. Fritz, Morgane M.C. & Maxson, Peter A. & Baumgartner, Rupert J., 2016. "The mercury supply chain, stakeholders and their responsibilities in the quest for mercury-free gold," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 177-192.
    15. Abdul–Wadood Moomen & Ashraf Dewan, 2017. "Probing the Perspectives of Stakeholder Engagement and Resistance Against Large‐Scale Surface Mining in Developing Countries," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(2), pages 85-95, March.
    16. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Walter, Götz & Van de Graaf, Thijs & Andrews, Nathan, 2016. "Energy Governance, Transnational Rules, and the Resource Curse: Exploring the Effectiveness of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 179-192.
    17. Lauwo, Sarah & Kyriacou, Orthodoxia & Julius Otusanya, Olatunde, 2020. "When sorry is not an option: CSR reporting and ‘face work’ in a stigmatised industry – A case study of Barrick (Acacia) gold mine in Tanzania," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    18. Raimund Bleischwitz, 2014. "Transparency in the Extractive Industries: Time to Ask for More," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 14(4), pages 1-9, November.
    19. Moomen, Abdul–Wadood, 2017. "Strategies for managing large-scale mining sector land use conflicts in the global south," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 85-93.
    20. Isacowitz, Jenna Jade & Schmeidl, Susanne & Tabelin, Carlito, 2022. "The operationalisation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in a mining context," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:56:y:2014:i:c:p:62-76. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.