ID: 1501
Presenting Author: Djeynaba Ba
Session: 681 - Gender and Intersectional Analysis in IA: Showcasing theory and practice
Status: pending
This study examines the gendered impacts of industrial mining in Ghana and Sierra Leone, focusing on women’s agency and socioeconomic outcomes through a difference-in-differences approach.
The clean energy transition that is currently underway is reshaping the demand and global production of minerals and metals. Africa holds an important position in terms of known reserves and production of some of the critical minerals and metals needed for the transition. Prior research has shown that the impacts of large-scale mining projects are gendered due to societal norms and expectations related to gender. Quantitative evidence suggests that mining can enhance women’s agency in Sub-Saharan Africa, increase employment in the service sector, and reduce rates of intimate partner violence. Yet qualitative studies highlight adverse effects, including environmental degradation, land dispossession, diminished bargaining power, increased violence, and loss of livelihoods and social status. This paper investigates how the type of mineral mined shapes gendered impacts in Ghana and Sierra Leone. Using Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and Mining Intelligence data, I apply a difference-in-differences approach to estimate mining’s effects on women’s agency, measured by intrahousehold bargaining power and tolerance of domestic violence. Findings underscore the need for gender-disaggregated data in social impact assessments and reveal the complex, often contradictory ways mining shapes women’s empowerment and well-being. Ultimately, the paper contributes to ongoing debates about how resource governance can align with gender equity and sustainable development, ensuring that the clean energy transition does not reproduce or deepen existing inequalities.
Djeynaba Ba, Ph.D., is a Social Impact Specialist studying the intersection of mining, gender, and local content policies in West Africa, advancing research and policy on equitable development