Handling uncertainty: Policy and organizational practic Tanzania’s small-scale gold mining sector Jesper Bosse Jønsson and Niels Fold Abstract Small-scale mining supports the livelihoods of several hundred thousand rural households in Africa. Nonetheless, the understanding of the organizational dynamics of small-scale miners’ activities is modest. The paper outlines th mining codes in Tanzania and contrasts them to prevalent organizational practices in two Tanzanian small-scale mining settlements. It is argued that there is a need to adjust the regulatory mechanisms to well-consolidated practices: practices differ substantially from official prescriptions of the mining codes over an extended period of time, ce of the regulatory framework need reconsideration. The paper examines three pertinent operational component form and managing practices between the two study sites: dealing with licence acquisition, accessing working sharing output. These components are considered vital for the proper manoeuvring of local small-scale mining the reasons for the variations are essential to understand for policymakers and development practitioners. By prevalent practices and context-dependent variations in some of the crucial organizational components, it is possible to design a robust and resilient regulatory framework for small-scale mining. A number of policy adjustments are proposed. narf_1226 211. .220 Keywords: Artisanal and small-scale mining; Gold; Organizational practices; Mining codes; Policy; Tanzania. 1. Introduction From the 1980sand onwards,manyAfrican states, submittingto donor-instigated structuraladjustment programmes, underwentwide-rangingpolitical and economic transformations. State control and ownership decreased significantly, giving way to an investor-friendly environment, mining being one of the most affected sectors (Campbell et al., 2004). In 1992, the World Bank published its ‘Strategyfor African Mining’ arguingthat the endorsement of reformed mining codes 1 could transform the underperforming African mining sector into a driver of economic recovery. The new mining codes have expanded the opportunities for commercial, particularly foreign, mining companies and have led to substantial risesin explorationand mininginvestments (Liebenthal et al., 2003; Campbell et al., 2004). In addition, the existence of small-scale mining and its importance for poverty reduction have gradually been recognized, which hasresulted in efforts to legalize, formalize, and regulate the sector. Fund from the World Bank have been allocated to draft new small-scale mining codes in a number of African countries with the stated aim of building human and institutional capacity in order to implement the legislation and address the sector’s associated problems (World Bank, 1992, 2004; UNECA, 2002). In tandem with the recognition of its importance, the small-scale mining sector has received increasing attention from the international donorcommunity (Hilson, 2005, 2007). Evidence suggests, however, that the impacts of the small-scale mining support programmes have been limited mainly due to the failure of top-down support approaches t adequately involve beneficiaries, the limited capacity withi government institutions, and the lack of knowledge about small-scale miners’ livelihoods (Banchirigah, 2006; Hilson, 2007).Hence,Hilson (2005)strongly advocates more baseline studies within small-scale mining settlements to Jesper Bosse Jønsson is a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Geography and Geology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He is the coordinator of the Centrefor Sustainable Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (SASMin). E-mail: jbj@geo.ku.dk. Niels Fold is a Professor at the Department of Geography and Geology, University ofCopenhagen, Denmark. He is the Director of SASMin (see sasmin.ku.dk). 1 A mining code “isthe combination of statute law, regulations and agreements which govern the allocation, tenure and operation of mining rights” (World Bank, 1992: 21). Natural Resources Forum 33 (2009) 211–220 © 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2009 United Nations