Understanding the Artisanal Mining of the Pissy Granite Quarry Using the Problem-in-Context Framework (PiC)

Abstract

The Pissy granite quarry of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso exists since 2006, and it is a source of financial incomes for many poor families working there. The Problem-In-Context framework (PiC), lead the current study to understand better the quarry exploitation and structuration. Different motivations guide the quarry actors. Through those motivations, different solutions were suggested, mainly the shutdown of the quarry as the best way to decrease the impacts of the quarry exploitation on the environment, particularly regarding the air pollution and the loss of biodiversity in the area. The Pissy granite quarry is not recognized by the country's legislation and this study is presenting the site organization. They are three main actors on the site and the tertiary actors are the ones having more incomes comparing to the primary and secondary actors of the chain. There is a need to evaluate the shell life of the quarry if the shutdown is not the final option chosen by the country. This evaluation should be a way to restructure the field and to have more incomes from it. Many standards exist in the country to guide the quarries and mines exploitation but they do not have impact on the Pissy granite quarry because of its non-reorganization.

Impacts of Mining on the Environment in West African Sahel: A Review

“…In Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, approximately 100,000 children are involved in gold mining [16], raising issues of child prostitution, violence, harsh labour, and fundamental human rights abuses. For example, Kansole et al's survey [17] revealed that the artisanal exploitation of granite quarries near Ouagadougou potentially affects people's lives and causes air pollution (environment).…”