Beyond the 'crisis of youth'? Mining, farming, and civil society in post-war sierra leone

African Affairs

Volumn 109, Issue 435, 2010, Pages 251-272

  Fanthorpe, Richard ^a   Maconachie, Roy ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF BATH   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ARTISANAL MINING; CIVIL SOCIETY; CIVIL WAR; FARMING SYSTEM; INCENTIVE; INTERNATIONAL AID; MODERNIZATION; POST-WAR; RURAL AREA; RURAL SOCIETY; SOCIAL CHANGE; SOCIAL CONFLICT; SOCIAL HISTORY;

SIERRA LEONE;

EID: 77953954759     PISSN: 00019909     EISSN: 14682621     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/afraf/adq004     Document Type: Article

References (82)

1. See Paul Richards, 'Rebellion in Liberia and Sierra Leone: a crisis of youth?' in O. W. Furley (ed.), Conflict in Africa (I. B. Tauris, London, 1995), pp. 134-70.
2. Fighting for the Rainforest: War, youth and resources in Sierra Leone (International African Institute/James Currey, Oxford, 1996).
3. Krijn Peters and Paul Richards, 'Why we ght: voices of youth combatants in Sierra Leone, Africa 68, 2 (1998), pp. 183-210.
4. David Keen, Conflict and Collusion in Sierra Leone (James Currey, Oxford, 2005).
5. For a more qualied view, see Ibrahim Abdullah (ed.), Between Democracy and Terror: The Sierra Leone civil war (CODESRIA, Dakar, 2004).
6. Lansana Gberie, A Dirty War in West Africa (Hurst and Co., London, 2005).
7. Donal B. Cruise O'Brien, 'A lost generation? Youth identity and state decay in West Africa' in Richard Werbner and Terence Ranger (eds.), Postcolonial Identities in Africa (Zed Books, London, 1996), pp. 55-74.
8. David Keen, 'Liberalization and conflict', International Political Science Review 26,1 (2005), pp. 73-89.
9. See also Chris Allen, 'Warfare, endemic violence and state collapse in Africa', Review of African Political Economy 26, 81 (1999), pp. 367-84.
10. This analysis is central to the 'Final Report of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission' (TRC Report), which is no longer available online. See also the United Nations Development Programme report, 'Youth and violent conflict: society and development in crisis?' (UNDP, 2006), which focuses on West Africa..
11. Richards, Fighting for the Rainforest, pp. 34-60, 105-14, 125-38.
12. Arjun Appadurai, Modernity at Large: Cultural dimensions of globalization (University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN, 1996), pp. 27-47.
13. Richards, Fighting for the Rainforest, p. 161.
14. Danny Hoffman, 'Disagreement: dissent politics and the war in Sierra Leone', Africa Today 52, 3 (2006), pp. 3-22.
15. See John Cartwright, Politics in Sierra Leone, 1947-67 (University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1970).
16. Victor Minikin, 'Indirect political participation in two Sierra Leone chiefdoms', Journal of Modern African Studies 11, 1 (1973), pp. 129-35.
17. Walter Barrows, Grassroots Politics in an African State: Integration and development in Sierra Leone (Africana Publishing Company, New York, NY and London, 1976), pp. 143-242.
18. Roger Tangri, 'Central-local politics in contemporary Sierra Leone', African Affairs 77, 307 (1978), pp. 165-73.
19. Steven Archibald and Paul Richards, 'Converts to human rights? Popular debate about war and justice in rural central Sierra Leone', Africa 72, 3 (2002), pp. 339-67.
20. Richard Fanthorpe, 'Humanitarian aid in post-war Sierra Leone: the politics of moral economy' in Sarah Collinson (ed.), Power, Livelihoods and Conflict: Case studies in political economy analysis for humanitarian action (Overseas Development Institute, London, 2003), pp. 53-65.
21. 'On the limits of liberal peace: chiefs and democratic decentralization in post-war Sierra Leone', African Affairs 105, 418 (2006), pp. 27-49.
22. Richards, Fighting for the Rainforest, pp. 125-38.
23. Ismail Rashid, 'Student radicals, lumpen youth and the origins of revolutionary groups in Sierra Leone, 1977-1996' in Abdullah (ed.), Between Democracy and Terror, pp. 66-89.
24. Paul Richards, 'Forced labour and civil war: agrarian underpinnings of the Sierra Leone conflict' in Preben Kaarsholm (ed.), Violence, Political Culture and Development in Africa (James Currey, Oxford, 2006), pp. 181-98.
25. Mamadou Diouf, 'Engaging postcolonial cultures: African youth and public space', African Studies Review 46, 2 (2003), pp. 1-12.
26. Jean Comaroff and John Comaroff, 'Children and youth in a global era' in Alcinda Honwana and Filip de Boeck (eds.), Makers and Breakers: Children and youth in postcolonial Africa (Africa World Press, Trenton, NJ, 2005), pp. 19-30.
27. See also Jimmy Kandeh, 'Ransoming the state: elite origins of subaltern terror in Sierra Leone', Review of African Political Economy 81, 26 (1999), pp. 349-66.
28. Kieran Mitton, 'Engaging disengagement: the political reintegration of Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front', Conflict, Security and Development 8, 2 (2008), pp. 193-222.
29. Yongmei Zhou (ed.), Decentralization, Democracy and Development: Recent experience from Sierra Leone (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009), p. xviii.
30. United Nations, 'Report of the Peacebuilding Commission Mission to Sierra Leone, 19-25 March 2007' (A/61/901-S/2007/269, 14 May 2007), p. 5. In 2007, Sierra Leone was ranked 180 out of 182 listed countries in the United Nations Human Development Index.
31. Government of Sierra Leone, 'An agenda for change: Second Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRSP II), 2008-2012' (June 2009), p. 98.
32. According to the 2004 Census, 79 percent of Sierra Leone's total population is under the age of 35 years and 33 percent is between the ages of 15 and 35. Nearly 70 percent of the latter group are unemployed and 53 percent are illiterate. Forty-four percent of Sierra Leone's population lives in urban areas, rising to 53 percent among 20-24 year olds and 58 percent among 25-29 year olds.
33. 'An agenda for change', p. 35.
34. The Sierra Leone government's working denition of 'youth' is the 15-35 age group, which is broader than denitions employed elsewhere in Africa. The social construction of 'youth' in Sierra Leone has been strongly influenced by post-colonial patronage politics and endemic poverty.
35. See Paul Richards, Fighting for the Rainforest, pp. 34-60.
36. Ibrahim Abdullah,'"I am a rebel" : youth culture and violence in Sierra Leone' in Honwana and de Boeck (eds.), Makers and Breakers, pp. 172-87.
37. Pia Peeters, Wendy Cunningham, Gayatri Acharya, and Arvil Van Adams, Youth Employment in Sierra Leone: Sustainable livelihood opportunities in a post conflict setting (World Bank, Washington, DC, 2009).
38. Joseph Hanlon. 'Is the international community helping to recreate the preconditions for war in Sierra Leone?' The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs 94, 381 (2005), pp. 459-72.
39. Stefan Meyer, 'Sierra Leone: reconstructing a patrimonial state?' ('Development in Perspective' case study, Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo (FRIDE), Madrid, 2007), .
40. Steven Archibald and Paul Richards, 'Seeds and rights: new approaches to post-war agricultural rehabilitation in Sierra Leone', Disasters 26, 4 (2002), pp. 356-67.
41. See, for example, Caspar Fithen and Paul Richards, 'Making war, crafting peace: militia solidarities and demobilization in Sierra Leone', in Paul Richards (ed.), No Peace, No War: An anthropology of contemporary armed conflicts (James Currey, Oxford, 2005), pp. 117-36.
42. Peeters, et al., Youth Employment, p. 17.
43. Peter Ekeh, 'Colonialism and the two publics inAfrica: a theoretical statement', Comparative Studies in Society and History 17, 1 (1975), pp. 91-112.
44. Peter Geschiere and Joseph Gugler (eds), 'The politics of primary patriotism', Special Issue, Africa 68, 3 (1998).
45. Krijn Peters, Footpaths to Reintegration: Armed conflict, youth and the rural crisis in Sierra Leone (PhD thesis, University of Wageningen, 2006), p. 89.
46. This argument was also deployed at the Sierra Leone Special Court trial of RUF leaders, where the defence attempted to counter prosecution claims that the RUF had subjected civilians to forced labour during the war by calling witnesses who testied that they had been civilian supporters of the RUF, carrying out farming activities under the protection of RUF military personnel.
47. Victor Kalie Kamara, personal communication, Rokupr, March 2002. During the RUF occupation of Kambia District, civilian tax defaulters often had red rags attached to their houses (red is a traditional sign of both magic and upheaval), which served as notication that they could expect a visit during the hours of darkness. Those receiving such visits counted themselves lucky if they escaped with a beating.
48. The story circulating in Kambia town at the time was that these ex-combatants were picked up one evening by a fleet of four-wheel-drive vehicles that had travelled up from Freetown, but nobody seemed to know who was sponsoring this initiative.
49. The owner sent prospectuses and produce samples to several international agencies, but they were not prepared to use aid money to support non-project private enterprise.
50. Paul Richards, Khadija Bah, and James Vincent, 'Social capital and survival: prospects for community driven development in post-conflict Sierra Leone' (Social Development Paper No. 12, World Bank, Washington DC, 2004), pp. 16-22, 34-5.
51. Richards et al., 'Social capital and survival', pp. 35-6.F.
52. Ithen and Richards, 'Making war, crafting peace, pp. 134-5.
53. Krijn Peters, 'From weapons to wheels: young Sierra Leonean excombatants become motorbike taxi-riders', Journal of Peace, Conflict and Development 10 (2007), pp. 1-23.
54. Fithen and Richards, 'Making war, crafting peace', p. 114.
55. For further analysis based on the October 2005 interview with the BRA leadership in Bo, see Taylor Brown, Richard Fanthorpe, Janet Gardener, Lansana Gberie and Mohamed Gibril Sesay, 'Sierra Leone: drivers of change' (Report, IDL Group for DfID, March 2006), Annex 6.
56. 'Diamond Industry Annual Review, Sierra Leone 2006' (Diamonds and Human Security Project, Partnership Africa Canada, Freetown, February 2006).
57. David Rosen, Diamonds, Diggers and Chiefs: The politics of fragmentation in a West African society (unpublished PhD thesis, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, IL, 1973).
58. Alfred Zack-Williams, Tributors, Supporters and Merchant Capital: Mining and underdevelopment in Sierra Leone (Edwin Mellen Press, London, 1995).
59. Government of Sierra Leone, Annual Report on the Administration of the Provinces for the Year 1953 (Government Printer, Freetown, 1954), p. 5.
60. Government of Sierra Leone, 1955 Report on the Administration of the Provinces (Government Printer, Freetown, 1956), p. 4.
61. Fred Hayward, 'The development of a radical political organization in the bush: a case study of Sierra Leone', Canadian Journal of African Studies/Revue Canadienne des Études Africaines 6, 1 (1972), pp. 1-28.
62. H. Laurens van der Laan, The Lebanese Traders in Sierra Leone (Mouton, The Hague, 1975).
63. Alusine Jalloh, African Entrepreneurship: Muslim Fula merchants in Sierra Leone (Ohio University Centre for African Studies, Athens, OH, 1999).
64. J. A. Binns, 'The changing impact of diamond mining in Sierra Leone' (Research Paper in Geography, No. 9, University of Sussex, 1982).
65. William Reno, Corruption and State Politics in Sierra Leone (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995).
66. Frances Fortune (West Africa Director, Search for Common Ground), personal communication, Freetown, October 2008.
67. Richards, 'To ght or to farm',p.9.
68. Pamela Dale, 'Access to justice in Sierra Leone: a review of the literature' (Justice for the Poor Project, World Bank, May 2008), p. 17.
69. Personal communication, Mohammed Jabbie, Koidu, 19 September 2008.
70. Examples include: former MOCKY chairman Mohammed Jabbie, now chairman of the Budget Oversight Committee for Kono District Council (KDC); former MOCKY secretarygeneral Sahr Nyama, now the 'national young generation leader' for the SLPP; Abdulai Kumasi, now SLPP chairman for the Eastern young generation; Tamba B. Gbenda, secretary to the Budget Oversight Committee for KDC; Tamba A. P. Fomba, now SLPP Councillor for KDC; Komba S. Bockarie, APC Councillor for KDC; Aiah Y. Aruna, APC Councillor for Koidu-New Sembehun Town Council (KNSTC); Sahr E. Yambasu, Deputy Chief Administrator for KNSTC; Abu D. S. Bockarie, now attached to the O?ce of the Vice-President.
71. Interview, Daniel Moiwo, Director of GTZ Kono, Koidu, 25 September 2008.
72. Interview, Ibrahim Fandy, national strategist for the Campaign for Just Mining, Koidu, 18 September 2008.
73. See, for example, Anthony Bebbington, Leonith Hinojosa, Denise Humphreys Bebbington, Maria Luisa Burneo, and Ximena Warnaars, 'Contention and ambiguity: mining and the possibilities of development', Development and Change 39, 6 (2008), pp. 887-914.
74. John Crabtree, 'Social movements and political parties: comparisons from Peru and Bolivia' (paper presented at seminar on 'Territory, conflicts and development', St Antony's College, Oxford, 2 May 2008).
75. Roy Maconachie and Tony Binns, '"Farming miners" or "mining farmers" ?: Diamond mining and rural development in post-conflict Sierra Leone', Journal of Rural Studies 23 3 (2007), pp. 367-80.
76. When questioned about present-day links between diamond mining and farming, interviewees reported that the most important link was the sale of foodstuffs to miners: 84 percent of the sample reported that farmers from Kayima obtained higher prices by taking their produce to mining areas to sell; 60 percent of respondents noted that mining supporters came to buy produce in Kayima; and 36 percent of the sample claimed that there was a strong nexus of seasonal work between farming and mining, whereby farmers went to mine in the dry season when there was less work to do on their plots.
77. In 2004, 78 percent of interviewees claimed that either they or a family member were currently engaged in diamond mining. In 2008, this gure had dropped to 36 percent.
78. Diamond diggers who work at the bottom of the supply chain must endure particularly dangerous and unhealthy conditions, with most being paid two cups of rice and less than a dollar a day. In 2008, 67 percent of Kayima interviewees who reported that they were miners claimed that they had never earned a signicant amount of money from their activities. Approximately 33 percent of miners said they had only earned very small amounts of money over the years, typically 50,000-100,000 Leones (US$15-30).
79. Interview, Daniel Moiwo, Director of GTZ Kono, Koidu, 25 September 2008.
80. Roy Maconachie, 'New agricultural frontiers in post-conflict Sierra Leone? Exploring institutional challenges for wetland management in the Eastern Province', Journal of Modern African Studies 46, 2 (2008), pp. 235-66.
81. See also Richards et al., 'Social capital and survival'.
82. Edward Sawyer also reports surprisingly high public approval ratings for chiefs in post-war opinion surveys. See Sawyer, 'Remove or reform? A case for (restructuring) chiefdom governance in post-conflict Sierra Leone', African Affairs 107, 428 (2008), pp. 387-403.