Accumulation by dispossession and displacement: some reflections from Epanko mines in Ulanga district, Morogoro

The study intends to explore, using the Materialist Political Economy approach, the social processes and social relations which have been at work and are the ones responsible for the impoverishment and marginalization of the artisanal and small scale miners at Epanko village in Ulanga district. Both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies were adopted. Within this context, Focus Group Discussions, in- depth interviews and survey methods were employed to elicit data from sampled population. The findings revealed that artisanal and small- scale miners’ mineral rights are unsecured and these miners have no security in their lives, as they are constantly being threatened to be dispossessed and displaced. Furthermore, the study found out l and small- scale miners are not homogeneous, rather they are highly stratified in terms of ownership of the means of production, their role in the production processes and the distribution of the accrued surplus product. This explains the abysanal and deplorable working and living conditions of the artisanal miners. The social implications of the processes of accumulation by dispossession and displacement such as violence and job insecurity are also outlined in this study. The study concludes that the artisanal and small- scale miners at Epanko are subjected to dispossession and displacement because of the existing social processes and social relations, despite the fact that mining activities render a living to the same.. Finally the study recommends a nationalist and militant Tanzanian state in order to empower the local ASMs at the expense of the medium and large – scale mining investors who have dominated the territorial economy.