Over the years, we’ve published numerous feature stories focused on artisanal gem mining and the people behind it. We support responsible artisanal miners who work to bring their goods into transparent, legitimate markets. Too often, however, the word “artisanal” is casually equated with informal or illegal activity. More striking is that some of the notable skepticism toward artisanal mining comes from within the diamond industry.
In this week’s World Diamond Council newsletter, an opinion piece written by Alan Cohen, talks about how we should not think of “artisanal” as illegal, but as an integral part of the mining industry.
Reassessing a time gone by, when inclusion was a policy for winners
“Today, the public debate around artisanal diamond mining follows a familiar script — informality is equated with illegality,” writes Alan Cohen, a member of both the WDC Board of Directors and Its KP Task Force. “Media reporting, NGO narratives and enforcement rhetoric present artisanal diamonds as being inherently suspect. This framing is so pervasive that it is rarely questioned. Yet it overlooks a crucial historical reality. In many of Africa’s key diamond-producing countries, artisanal diamonds were once deliberately integrated into formal distribution systems — not because of indifference or deliberate oversight, but because they were central to foreign-exchange policy.” – Alan Cohen, WDC
