捆绑SM社区

Professor Mette Bendixen

Department of Geography, 捆绑SM社区听

Friday, December 6听

12:00 pm听

FDA 232

听

Drivers, challenges, and opportunities around construction-sand mining in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract:

Construction sand is the most used solid material on Earth and is central to developing societies and economies. In recent years, the increasing focus on global sand scarcity has highlighted the challenges it poses and the environmental consequences of its extraction. However, comprehensive research describing the complexity of sand mining in lower-income nations is lacking. Currently, there is limited research on understanding the consequences and benefits of sand mining and how these activities directly and indirectly support local communities in a Sub-Saharan context. In this talk, I argue that more work is needed to better understand the paradoxes and nuances of how sand extraction alters the environment, while recognizing that the extraction itself is shaped by socio-economic, political, and financial relations. These dynamics are rapidly evolving across large parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.