Artisanal/ Small Scale Gold Mining Activity and Its Role in Sustainable Livelihood of the Rural Community: A Case of Hademdemi Village, Gash Barka Region, Eritrea

This thesis deals with the potential of Artisanal Small Scale Gold Mining (ASGM) as a sustainable livelihood strategy. This as a livelihood strategy is measured by the ability of ASGM activities in facilitating access to the five sustainable livelihood assets or capitals - financial, human, social, physical and natural and for resilient, sustainable and secure livelihoods. The study is focused on the sustainability of ASGM in Hademdemi Village, Gash Barka Region Eritrea, and its role in enhancing the sustainable livelihoods of the gold miners by facilitating accesses to the different assets. The main question was to investigate how ASGM impacts the gold miners' ability to cope with and recover from shocks and stresses. A qualitative data was collected by interviewing household gold miners, community leaders, Ministry of Energy and Mining Experts (MoEM) and children gold miners was conducted in Hademdemi village. Findings of the study discovered that ASGM activities allow gold miners to survive. However, their access to financial, human, social, natural and physical asset is very insufficient comparing with what they deploy. Majority of the interviewee expressed their concerns about insecure and non-resilient livelihoods as a result of ASGM activities. Though it enables them to survive during very critical conditions, it’s doesn’t enhance their wellbeing as a livelihood strategy.