Problems with Reporting and Evaluating Mining Industry Community Development Projects: A Case Study from Tanzania

Jody Emel, Madoshi H. Makene and Esther Wangari
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Jody Emel: Graduate School of Geography, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01610, USA
Madoshi H. Makene: Graduate School of Geography, Clark University, 950 Main Street, Worcester, MA 01610, USA
Esther Wangari: Towson University, 8000 York Rd., Baltimore, MD 21252, USA

Sustainability, 2012, vol. 4, issue 2, 1-21

Abstract: Reporting on contributions to community development is one way gold mining companies communicate the expanse and depth of their commitment to social responsibility. These projects are intended to provide the mine-proximate communities with some of the wealth and other benefits generated by mine development in their locales. We raise questions about reporting and evaluation of community development projects undertaken by AngloGold Ashanti in the two communities of Nyakabale and Nyamalembo, near its Geita mining projects in the Lake Victoria goldfields of Tanzania. We use archival data and data obtained from field research conducted during different periods throughout 2005, 2007 and 2010 to compare what the company reports to have done with what is found on the ground. Our findings revealed that the corporate reporting is misleading, ambiguous, and omissive. Much of the effort labeled “community development” benefited the companies directly via infrastructure development, food supplies to the mine cafeteria, and worker health. We argue that, if Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects are to be the primary way local people directly benefit from mine development, the relationship between the value of those projects and the wealth taken from the location should be considered, community projects should be well defined and differentiated from company-oriented projects, and community representatives should participate in monitoring the success and impact of community development projects.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility; community development; gold mining; Tanzania (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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