Mining has long been a major pillar of Zimbabwe’s economy, contributing to employment, national revenue, and foreign-exchange earnings. However, the benefits of mining have not been equally distributed. In many rural and mining-affected communities, women continue to bear a disproportionate share of the environmental, social, and economic costs associated with extractive activities.
The report “Impact of Mining on Women’s Livelihoods in Zvishavane, Midlands Province” examines how mining is reshaping the lives and livelihoods of women in Zvishavane District. The district is one of Zimbabwe’s most intensively mined areas, with large-scale chrome, platinum, and gold operations existing alongside a growing artisanal and small-scale mining sector. As mining expands, communities have reported the contamination of rivers, destruction of grazing land, deforestation, loss of livestock, disturbance of ancestral graves, and the displacement of agricultural and other livelihood activities.
Women are particularly affected because they often depend directly on land, water, farming, livestock, informal trading, and natural resources to support their households. The loss or degradation of these resources increases the burden of unpaid care work, reduces household income, and limits women’s ability to maintain secure and independent livelihoods. The report also highlights women’s experiences of unsafe working conditions, harassment, sexual exploitation, gender-based violence, and exclusion from important decisions concerning land, mining operations, compensation, and community development.
The research explores not only the impacts of mining but also the ways in which institutions respond to them. It brings together the perspectives of women from mining-affected communities and those of institutional stakeholders, including government officials, mining authorities, district representatives, and traditional leaders. This approach reveals a significant gap between formal policy commitments and women’s lived realities. Although Zimbabwe’s Constitution, National Gender Policy, and regional and continental frameworks promote gender equality, participation, environmental protection, and fair benefit-sharing, implementation and enforcement remain weak in practice.
Consultation and compensation processes remain major areas of concern. Many women reported that they were not meaningfully involved in decisions affecting their communities and that compensation arrangements often failed to reflect the loss of their livelihoods. Widows and daughters face particular barriers where compensation systems privilege male household heads or fail to recognise women’s independent rights to land, resources, and income. In addition, conflicts over land, water, labour, and access to mining areas are often difficult for communities to resolve, particularly where enforcement institutions are perceived to favour mining interests over community concerns.
Despite these challenges, the report documents the resilience, agency, and leadership of women in Zvishavane. Women are organising through savings groups, water-monitoring committees, community networks, and associations such as the Zimbabwe Association of Women in Mining Associations. These structures provide mutual support, strengthen advocacy, and create opportunities for women to monitor environmental conditions and defend their rights. However, their efforts often remain insufficiently recognised or supported by formal institutions.
The report calls for stronger environmental monitoring and enforcement, gender-responsive conflict-resolution mechanisms, transparent and inclusive consultation processes, and equitable compensation frameworks. It also recommends increased access to legal aid and rights awareness, support for safer artisanal mining practices, regular inspections, child-rights programming, and the effective implementation of existing gender and mining policies. At the community level, women’s organisations and grassroots monitoring structures should be strengthened. At the institutional and policy levels, gender safeguards must be integrated into mining governance, accountability systems must be improved, and provincial and local structures must be empowered to respond to community concerns.
Ultimately, the experience of Zvishavane demonstrates that mining governance cannot be considered sustainable or equitable if it overlooks women’s voices, safety, livelihoods, and rights. By documenting the realities faced by women and identifying practical pathways for reform, this research contributes to the broader effort to promote mining governance that is accountable, inclusive, environmentally responsible, and responsive to the needs of mining-affected communities.
Acknowledgments
The successful completion of this research was made possible through the generous financial and institutional support of the Heinrich Böll Stiftung, Cape Town.
The research team gratefully acknowledges the technical expertise and guidance provided by the Zimbabwe Gender Commission, Midlands Province. Its contribution strengthened the gender-responsive approach, research design, and analysis presented in this report.
Sincere appreciation is also extended to the Zimbabwe Association of Women in Mining Associations for its valuable participation and for helping to ensure that the experiences, perspectives, and priorities of women in mining-affected communities were included in the research process.
The research team further thanks all community members, research participants, institutional stakeholders, and other individuals who shared their time, knowledge, and experiences. Their contributions were fundamental to the production of this report and to the effort to advance more just, inclusive, and sustainable mining governance in Zimbabwe.