IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/minecn/v38y2025i2d10.1007_s13563-025-00502-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Balancing economic gains and environmental sustainability: the role of artisanal gold mining in achieving SDGs 1 and 15 in Gaoua, Burkina Faso

Author

Listed:
  • Wendkuuni Julien Tougma

    (Institut National Polytechnique Felix HOUPHET-BOIGNY)

  • Gnammytchet Barthélémy Koffi

    (Institut National Polytechnique Felix HOUPHET-BOIGNY)

  • Patrice Kouraogo

    (National Center for Scientific Research)

  • Kouakou Alphonse Yao

    (Institut National Polytechnique Felix HOUPHET-BOIGNY)

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to eliminate poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity by 2030. In Gaoua, artisanal gold mining is an essential source of income, but it also poses socio-economic and environmental challenges. This study assesses its impact on achieving SDG 1 (poverty eradication) and 15 (protecting and restoring terrestrial ecosystems), highlighting the synergies and trade-offs between economic development and environmental sustainability. The study uses a descriptive and analytical approach based on empirical data, focusing on the artisanal mining sites of Djikando and Gbourbi with qualitative and quantitative methods. The results show that 71% of artisanal miners exceed the guaranteed minimum wage (SMIG) of 45,000 FCFA, with an average annual income estimated at 1,800,000 FCFA, well above the poverty line of 351,170 FCFA per year in the commune. However, the sector faces economic and security instability, preventing the most vulnerable artisans from breaking out of their precarious situation in the long term, with 89% of them living in precarious conditions. About 27% of mining artisans use hazardous chemicals such as mercury and cyanide, threatening terrestrial ecosystems. Analysis of stakeholders' perceptions regarding environmental risks highlights major concerns such as deforestation, pollution, soil erosion and biodiversity loss, as well as their impacts on health. To achieve SDGs 1 and 15 simultaneously, the study recommends formalising the artisanal gold mining sector, restoring ecosystems through reforestation, regulating toxic substances and promoting gravimetric ore processing techniques.

Suggested Citation

  • Wendkuuni Julien Tougma & Gnammytchet Barthélémy Koffi & Patrice Kouraogo & Kouakou Alphonse Yao, 2025. "Balancing economic gains and environmental sustainability: the role of artisanal gold mining in achieving SDGs 1 and 15 in Gaoua, Burkina Faso," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 38(2), pages 473-483, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:minecn:v:38:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s13563-025-00502-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s13563-025-00502-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13563-025-00502-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13563-025-00502-0?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. Remi Bazillier & Victoire Girard, 2020. "The gold digger and the machine. Evidence on the distributive effect of the artisanal and industrial gold rushes in Burkina Faso," Post-Print hal-03533228, HAL.
    2. Bazillier, Remi & Girard, Victoire, 2020. "The gold digger and the machine. Evidence on the distributive effect of the artisanal and industrial gold rushes in Burkina Faso," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    3. Zvarivadza, T., 2018. "Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining as a challenge and possible contributor to Sustainable Development," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 49-58.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Melanie Gräser, 2023. "Industrial versus artisanal mining: The effects on local employment in Liberia," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp341, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.
    2. Pokorny, Benno & von Lübke, Christian & Dayamba, Sidzabda Djibril & Dickow, Helga, 2019. "All the gold for nothing? Impacts of mining on rural livelihoods in Northern Burkina Faso," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 23-39.
    3. Maleke Fourati & Victoire Girard & Jeremy Laurent-Lucchetti, 2021. "Sexual violence as a weapon of war," NOVAFRICA Working Paper Series wp2103, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics, NOVAFRICA.
    4. Konte, Maty & Vincent, Rose Camille, 2021. "Mining and quality of public services: The role of local governance and decentralization," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    5. Girard, Victoire & Kudebayeva, Alma & Toews, Gerhard, 2020. "Inflated Expectations and Commodity Prices: Evidence from Kazakhstan," GLO Discussion Paper Series 469, Global Labor Organization (GLO), revised 2020.
    6. Cust,James Frederick & Mensah,Justice Tei, 2020. "Natural Resource Discoveries, Citizen Expectations and Household Decisions," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9372, The World Bank.
    7. Justice Mensah & John Oti Amoah & Andrew Nketsiah‐Essoun, 2025. "Effects of artisanal gold mining and routes towards sustainable development for a low‐profile mining community in Ghana," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 49(2), pages 1584-1601, May.
    8. Victoire Girard & Teresa Molina-Mill n & Guillaume Vic, 2022. "Artisanal mining in Africa," NOVAFRICA Working Paper Series wp2201, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics, NOVAFRICA.
    9. Maurizio Malpede, 2022. "The Dark Side of Batteries: Child Labor and Cobalt Mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo," GREEN Working Papers 22, GREEN, Centre for Research on Geography, Resources, Environment, Energy & Networks, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    10. Sanfo, Jean-Baptiste M.B., 2021. "Connecting family, school, gold mining community and primary school students’ reading achievements in Burkina Faso – A three-level hierarchical linear model analysis," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    11. Geenen, Sara & Stoop, Nik & Verpoorten, Marijke, 2021. "How much do artisanal miners earn? An inquiry among Congolese gold miners," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    12. Pagel, Jeffrey, 2025. "A natural resource curse: The unintended effects of gold mining on malaria," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    13. Odmaa Narantungalag,, 2022. "The effects of natural resource extraction on household expenditure patterns: Evidence from Mongolia," Discussion Papers 2204, School of Economics and Finance, Massey University, New Zealand.
    14. Bezzola, Selina & Günther, Isabel & Brugger, Fritz & Lefoll, Erwin, 2022. "CSR and local conflicts in African mining communities," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    15. Narantungalag, Odmaa, 2022. "The effects of natural resource extraction on household expenditure patterns: Evidence from Mongolia," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1077, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    16. Grant, J. Andrew & Wilhelm, Cindy, 2022. "A flash in the pan? Agential constructivist perspectives on local content, governance, and the large-scale mining–artisanal and small-scale mining interface in West Africa," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    17. Mavisakalyan, Astghik & Minasyan, Anna, 2025. "Mining and mistrust in government," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    18. Pagel, Jeff, 2022. "A natural resource curse: the unintended effects of gold mining on malaria," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115532, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    19. Gräser, Melanie, 2023. "Industrial versus artisanal mining: The effects on local employment in Liberia," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 341, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    20. Paul Fenton Villar, 2022. "Is there a Mineral-Induced ‘Economic Euphoria’?: Evidence from Latin America," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 1403-1430, April.

    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:spr:minecn:v:38:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s13563-025-00502-0. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.