Water and health in mining settings in sub-Saharan Africa: A mixed methods geospatial visualization

Submitted: 8 December 2020
Accepted: 8 March 2021
Published: 11 May 2021
Abstract Views: 1206
VIDEO: 0
PDF: 502
HTML: 9
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

Industrial mining transforms local landscapes, including important health determinants like clean water and sanitation. In this paper, we combined macro-level quantitative and micro-level qualitative data to show how mining projects affect water infrastructures and ultimately the health of affected communities. Although we observed a positive trend of water infrastructure in mining settings, surrounding communities are also characterized by water scarcity and degradation of water quality. The video at the core of this publication showcases inter-linkages of the findings obtained at both the macro- and the micro-levels, embedding our results in a geospatial context. While mining projects can have positive impacts on the development of local water infrastructure, improved management of negative impacts of mining projects is needed for promoting €˜Good health and well-being' and €˜Clean water and sanitation' as promulgated by the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

Admiraal R, Sequeira AR, McHenry MP, Doepel D, 2017. Maximizing the impact of mining investment in water infrastructure for local communities. Extr Ind Soc 4:240-50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2017.01.014
Boretti A, Rosa L, 2019. Reassessing the projections of the World Water Development Report. NPJ Clean Water 2(1) [Epub ahead of print]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41545-019-0039-9
Dietler D, Farnham A, Loss G, Fink G, Winkler MS, 2021. Impact of mining projects on water and sanitation infrastructures and associated health outcomes in children: a multi-country analysis
of Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) in sub-Saharan Africa. Globalization Health [under review].
Farnham A, Cossa H, Dietler D, Engebretsen R, Leuenberger A, Lyatuu I, Nimako B, Zabre HR, Brugger F, Winkler MS, 2020. Investigating health impacts of natural resource extraction projects in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mozambique, and Tanzania: Protocol for a mixed methods study. JMIR Res Protoc 9:e17138. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2196/17138
Kemp D, Bond CJ, Franks DM, Cote C, 2010. Mining, water and human rights: making the connection. J Clean Prod 18:1553-62. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2010.06.008
Lechner AM, Owen J, Ang M, Kemp D, 2019. Spatially integrated social sciences with qualitative GIS to support impact assessment in mining communities. Resources 8:47. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/resources8010047
Leuenberger A, Winkler MS, Cambaco O, Cossa H, Kihwele F, Lyatuu I, Zabré HR, Farnham A, Macete E, Munguambe K, 2021. Health impacts of industrial mining on surrounding communities: local perspectives from three sub-Saharan African countries. PLoS One [under review].
Marcantonio RA, Field SP, Sesay PB, Lamberti GA, 2021. Identifying human health risks from precious metal mining in Sierra Leone. Reg Environ Change 21(2) [Epub ahead of print]. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-020-01731-5
Morgan RK, 2012. Environmental impact assessment: The state of the art. Impact Assess Pro A 30:5-14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14615517.2012.661557
Pelders J, Nelson G, 2018. Living conditions of mine workers from eight mines in South Africa. Dev So Afr 36:265-82. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835X.2018.1456909
Schrecker T, Birn AE, Aguilera M, 2018. How extractive industries affect health: political economy underpinnings and pathways. Health Place 52:135-47. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2018.05.005
United Nations, 2015. Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. United Nations, New York, NY, USA.
von der Goltz J, Barnwal P, 2019. Mines: The local wealth and health effects of mineral mining in developing countries. J Dev Econ 139:1-16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2018.05.005
Winkler MS, Adongo PB, Binka F, Brugger F, Diagbouga S, Macete E, Munguambe K, Okumu F, 2020. Health impact assessment for promoting sustainable development: the HIA4SD project. Impact Assess Pro A 3:225-32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14615517.2019.1694783

How to Cite

Leuenberger, A., Dietler, D., Lyatuu, I., Farnham, A., Kihwele, F., Brugger, F., & Winkler, M. S. (2021). Water and health in mining settings in sub-Saharan Africa: A mixed methods geospatial visualization. Geospatial Health, 16(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/gh.2021.965