Flore-Annie Kamanga was only 22 in the early 1990s when her father, a career miner recently retired from his work in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), introduced her to mining.
At the time, she was working with IndeBank, with no intention of making a drastic career shift. Mining, she thought then, was merely something to pursue on the side.
“Having returned from the DRC, my father came across young men mining in Mzimba district. He was excited because he thought there were no miners in Malawi at that time. That’s when he decided to introduce me to the extractive sector,” said Kamanga, who has eight siblings, four girls and four boys.
“I instantly fell in love with the industry, and my passion grew day in and day out. Despite the perceptions people had towards small-scale miners, giving us bad names such as crooks, I fell for it.”
Since then, Kamanga has been into small-scale mining and has never looked back.
In 2022, she was elected president of the Federation of Women and Youth in Mining (FWYM), which was subsequently registered in 2024.
“FWYM was born to address issues that affected women and youth in the extractive sector. Among others, there were no gender-responsive and youth-friendly mining policies, difficulties in accessing funding and legal opportunities. Hence, the federation was formed to help women and the youth to break such barriers,” Kamanga said.
FWYM membership has individuals, youth groups and women’s cooperatives.
Its current membership includes 35 groups for gold, 28 groups for gypsum and MECRAZ Cooperative, whose 20 members mine limestone.
Challenges
The main challenge for the federation, according to Kamanga, is lack of support from the government.
“We are not supported by the government like how our friends in Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia are. For us to get information or even an authorisation to start mining in a particular area, it takes ages. No matter how much we push, they look down upon us, maybe because we are small-scale miners.
“But if the government gave us adequate support, we could make a significant contribution to the country’s economy. For example, if the 35 gold-mining groups received proper support, each could produce more than 200 grams every two weeks, as the sites they work on have the potential to yield up to 12 grams per tonne of ore,” she explained.
The artisanal miners sell their gold to the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) through its subsidiary, the Export Development Fund (EDF).
Further, Kamanga said, the groups find it difficult to access loans from commercial banks: “Because we started working as a federation, we are hoping this situation will change. We are pushing for the growth of small-scale miners in Malawi.”
Nyson working on a site
Nyson Phiri, one of the artisanal miners who is a member of the federation, started mining some years ago in the Kadoma area in Zimbabwe.
“I joined the federation this year after Kamanga approached me and introduced me to their programme of helping locals register their mines. It is a concept I loved immediately.
“The federation has been helpful since I joined. I have learnt a lot about mining policies in our country, especially about the process of claiming and formalising my own mine. I was previously poorly informed about how to properly mine in this country, but the federation has filled the knowledge gap significantly,” Phiri said.
Among other issues, Phiri highlighted the financial challenges facing start-ups and the mining laws that restrict small-scale miners to using only hand-held tools, as if we were still in the 18th century.
“We need to revise that situation. The government concentrates on large-scale miners while neglecting small-scale miners, most of whom are young people. There are many areas the government needs to address to support and encourage youth to venture into mining, which could become one of the biggest solutions to unemployment,” Phiri said.
He added that the youth need proper guidance on how to navigate the mining business, including awareness programmes across the country.
“For those already involved, like ourselves, we are calling on interested stakeholders and anyone willing to support young people in mining so they can grow, succeed and ultimately make the sector profitable,” Nyson said.
Small-scale mining in Malawi is a significant source of livelihood, particularly for those in rural areas, and involves the extraction of various minerals such as gemstones, limestone, coal and gold.
While it has the potential for poverty reduction, it is often informal, unregulated, and faces social and environmental challenges, including poverty-driven decision-making, safety hazards, and environmental degradation like deforestation.
In September this year, the government reported to have finalised the drafting of the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) Policy, which aims to formalise and regulate the sector to boost its contribution to poverty alleviation while mitigating negative social and environmental impacts.
Key policy goals include providing an enabling framework, facilitating access to capital and technology, promoting marketing centres and offering extension services to artisanal and small-scale miners.
