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Helping local communities in sustainable business development at Nordgold mines in West Africa

Oleg Bazaleev,Head of Sustainable Development Projects

Climate Change and Sahel

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• In Sahel, temperatures are rising 1.5 times faster than the global average

• Droughts and floods are longer and more frequent

• Roughly 80% of the Sahel's farmland is degraded

• Land available to pastoralists is shrinking

• Population growth

Climate Change +Food Insecurity +

Extremists =

VIOLENCE

IN SAHEL

* Sources: UN and World Economic Forum

Climate Change Fuels Poverty

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• Climate change forces people toshift from agriculture to artisanal gold mining

• Thousands of men, women and children put their health and their lives at risk through a dangerous and illegal mining

Artisanal miners in Burkina

Faso

Climate Change Affects Agriculture and People

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According to Jacob Ouedraogo, Burkina Faso Minister for Agriculture and Irrigation (May 8th, 2018):

• Poor rainfall resulted in low 2017-2018 crops

• Cereal deficit of 477 000 tonnes

• 2,462,000 Burkinabe people lack food because of low crops

Local communitiesaround Nordgold’s

Bissa-Bouly and Taparko minesreport similar problems

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Dozens of water wells have been constructed by the Nordgold mines in local communities

Food banks (Bissa-Bouly mine)

Bissa-Bouly mine bought food cheaply

(in advance, with wholesale discounts) and

established the food banks for three villages.

Food supplies available

to people at the hardest

times of the year at

normal prices.

Poor people do not have

food storages and buy

food at high price.

Food prices soar during rainy

seasons, up to 40% or more.

Communities

themselves now

control prices and

distribution.

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Agricultural project at Yeou village

Water tower

Water fountain In the field

School for adults built as part of the project

In the corn field

Partners: Taparko mine, AFEMIB (mining sector women association) and French Embassy in Burkina Faso.

Aim: To divert women working in artisanal mining to farming.

Resources and skills to women to start commercial farming.

Other programs to foster small agribusiness

• Tiben dam built for the Bissa-Bouly mine is a reliable all-year source of water

• 100% banks of Tiben water reservoir are used by local people for farming vegetables

• The Bissa-Bouly mine trained 100 young people and provided equipment to them to start agricultural activities

• Since 2013, Bissa-Bouly mine bought the vegetables worth of US$ 150’000 (86 mln FCFA) from local communities

• 70% of the vegetables consumed by the mine are from local producers

Programs to foster small agribusiness

Agricultural products of

AFEMIB project

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Bissa-Bouly soap making project

Imiougou Women’s Center (built by the mine) where soap is produced

The women soap producers from Bissa village

• Three groups of soap producers:

• The business started after the trainings provided by Nordgold

• The mine buys c. 400 litres of liquid soapper month

Imiougou village(48 women)

Sabce village(25 women)

Bissa village(16 women)

Soap making project