Paper short abstract:

Aiming to bring the agenda of sand mining and trade to the spotlight of the debate on the extractive resources that have sidelined sand mining and its trade, this paper explores the governance of sand mining in Ethiopia

Paper long abstract:

Aiming to bring the agenda of sand mining to the spotlight of the debate on the extractive

resources that have sidelined sand mining, this paper explores the governance of sand mining

in Ethiopia. Sand, a commodity largely extracted from the riverine, its mining didn’t have a

regulatory framework until 2019. The mining of sand was characterized by informality that

translate into unruliness and at times dominated by the network of violent actors prior to 2019.

Based on interviews and observation, the paper argues that continuities of informality and

networks of violent actors still present in sand mining activities despite an attempt to formalize

sand mining activities recently. Although the local authorities are responsible to carry out the

monitoring activities, they often face challenges from the informality of sand mining and at times

from violent sand miners that have networks both inside and outside the government structure.

Moreover, there is also a lack of uniformity in governing sand mining from region to region and

the extraction process also has negative social-ecological implications. The paper concludes

that sand mining activities are still dominated by informality, lack uniformity from region to region,

and has negative social-ecological implications. Thus, uniformity in sand mining governance,

proper monitoring mechanism of sand extraction, and adequate concern for the environment

will not only avoid governance challenges in sand mining but also ensure sustainability.