Diamonds For Development

Read the report on artisanal diamond mining in Sierra Leone here

In December 2013, Clarity Project broke ground on a three-acre artisanal diamond mining site in Sierra Leone. We sought to create a socially and environmentally responsible mine to produce the first certified "Development Diamonds." The following case study outlines my work on this responsible business initiative.

Clarity Project was a jewelry company created to take on a bold mission: to leverage the diamond industry for community development in diamond mining regions.

Existing ASM sites with poor environmental management

To create our fine jewelry, we prioritized diamonds with traceable origins from impoverished regions across Africa. We found that consumers wanted to know how their products were made and to feel confident that their purchase did not cause harm. The problem: the supply of fair diamonds did not exist to keep up with the growing demand. 

When we started working in Sierra Leone, we did not have preconceptions about the work we would do. We sought to understand if and how we could play an effective role in creating a more responsible diamond mining industry. We honed in on two key objectives:

1. Identify key points of intervention and opportunities to reduce negative social and environmental impacts of artisanal diamond mining,

2. Explore options for direct diamond sourcing.

APPROACH

Context setting: I conducted initial literature review, and informational interviews with experts from USAID and the US State Department, as well as with officials in the Freetown office of the World Bank, the Kono District office of the UN Security Council, and the Environment Protection Agency of Sierra Leone.

In-depth interviews and observations: I worked with a translator to conduct interviews over six weeks in Kono District, Sierra Leone, with a breadth of artisanal diamond mining stakeholders: paramount chiefs, town chiefs, community members, mines managers, diamond diggers, license holders and farmers

Mining process and influence mapping: I systematically analyzed the artisanal diamond mining landscape through process mapping, power mapping, stakeholder analysis and problem tree analysis.

KEY FINDINGS

Among the breadth of lessons learned, I identified a few critical findings about perspectives of and opportunities within artisanal mining:

• There is a lack of accountability across key stakeholders

• Miners lack a sense of agency

• Miners have limited understanding and capacity to act on environmental issues

• Mining is a gamble, agriculture is an investment

• Environmental changes are hindering financial advancement

• People feel stuck in and by mining

• Mining is generally viewed as detrimental, not a net benefit

These findings revealed key intervention opportunities: Work directly with supporters to employ simple changes to mining operations and plan for appropriate income-generating land rehabilitation from the outset.

RESULTS

We determined that to employ simple operations interventions, mindful of social and environmental performance, the greatest point of leverage was through the financial support of a mine. After analysis and mining planning, we decided to support and start a three-acre artisanal mine site in Kono District, Sierra Leone. The site would be monitored by a third-party certifier, Development Diamond Initiative (DDI). By achieving our operations performance goals, the stones from our site would earn the certification of “Development Diamonds;” a stamp of assurance that the mine meets ten standards for social and environmental performance including: legality, land management, community involvement, health, and safety.

The mine operated from December 2013 to April 2014, exceeding DDI standards. To scale these efforts, Clarity Project was preparing to support upgrades that would enable 45 additional mine sites to achieve DDI certification. Unfortunately, in the late summer of 2014, ebola caused devastation across the region and we made the very difficult decision to conclude our efforts there.

Above: Two rough diamonds from the Clarity Project site