Kwale County, Kinango Sub County, Kuranze

Environmental concerns and natural disasters management (floods, landslides, deforestation etc)

Specific Problem or Need –

Kuranze is endowed with vast range of precious stones which can spur the economy if tapped efficiently. However, these minerals are under exploited due to lack of capital, poor mining skills and marketing strategies. Lack of mining knowledge has resulted to miners adopting unsafe techniques which often lead to collapse of the mines, injuring the workers.

Safety of workers is further compromised due to lack of proper personal protective equipment (PPEs) thereby, exposing miners to several hazards. Rudimentary mining techniques also lows recovery rates from the mines as most stones are either unmined or damaged due to various reasons such as usage of excessive explosives. Non-existent rehabilitation plans in such mines also actively contribute to environment pollution such as open pit which do not only pose danger to the villagers but also to the livestock grazing around. Once mined, the minerals end up in the hands of middle-men who exploit miners by offering much lower prices compared to the real market values.

Early Warning Signs and Indicators –

• Premature closure of mines due to lack of capital to invest in mining equipment and machinery
• Environment pollution such as mining pits not backfilled after mining
• Increased injury or death of miners due to poor safety practices
• Increased poverty despite continuous mining

Rapid Response Proposals –

• Training miners basic first aid skills in case of emergency
• Enforcing mining rehabilitation laws by responsible authorities
• Creating awareness amongst miners on the importance of responsible mining

Worst Case Scenario –

• Poor mining techniques will lead to damaging of the gemstones leading to financial losses and unsafe working environment will lead to death of miners
• Lack of enough capital will result to premature closure of operations will lead to poverty

Efficient and Effective Worst Case Scenario Interventions –

• Offering adequate training to miners to adopt proper techniques which will improve recovery rate and safety
• Construction of a dispensary to offer medical assistance in case of emergency
• Establishment of proper saving scheme amongst miners that will raise capital for investment
• Developing a value-addition workshop around the mines for cleaning, cutting and faceting the gemstones
• Establishment of proper marketing strategies that will link artisanal miners to final buyers in the market so as to eliminate exploitation by middle-men

Partnerships and Collaborations –

• Extractive Virtual Tour (EVITO)
• Base Titanium Limited
• County government of Kwale
• Ministry of mining

Required resources include:

• PPEs
• Heavy Machinery (dozer and excavator)
• Mining engineers to train artisanal miners how to adopt sustainable techniques

We would like to raise Ksh 1 Million to hire heavy machinery for mining for a period of 3 months

Implementation Level of the Proposed Solutions –

We are at the initial phase of the project and want to start by June 2021

The Team

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