“They polluted our cropfields and our rivers, they killed us”: Farmers’ complaints about mining pollution in the Katangese Copperbelt

Abstract

The adverse impacts of mining industries on human health, local biodiversity, and food security are well-documented in the Katangese Copperbelt. However, farmers' perceptions of pollution and their struggles to obtain compensation for the externalities of mining industries are little addressed in scientific and public debates. Drawing on interviews with smallholder farmers, local civil society archives, oral histories, and analysis of satellite images, this article presents a case of farmers of Mulungwishi Valley whose fields and waterways were polluted by mining effluents. While 25% of respondent farmers argued that they had noticed pollution from the beginning of the 2000s, testimonies from civil society, customary authorities, and farmers concurred that the phenomenon has increased since 2010. Particularly between 2013 and 2014, the death of fish in the Mulungwishi River, the coloration of the water, the spread of mining effluents across the valley, and crop failure raised concerns and despair among farmers. Remarkable changes in land cover and use were noticeable. Since a joint impact assessment in 2014 by la Générale des Carrières et des Mines’ (Gécamines) experts and farmers, civil society unsuccessfully continued a struggle to obtain compensation for about 2570 farmers affected by pollution. Despite an absolute silence of the polluter, 88% of these farmers insisted on the depollution of the valley and were willing to accept, if it was offered, financial compensation of $US 2820 per farmer. The decade-long persistence of farmers in asserting these requests debunks the view of farmers as passive or not concerned about environmental pollution. This article will be helpful for stakeholders (victims and polluters) to find common ground when resolving this environmental issue that has resulted in socio-economic difficulties beyond the valley.

Highlights

• •Mining companies and government officials have overlooked farmers' complaints about pollution in the Katanga copper belt.
• •Polluted crop fields and rivers raised concerns and despair among smallholder farmers.
• •Mining pollution resulted in cropland degradation, crop failure, and contamination of waterways.
• •Despite the decade-long persistence of complaints, farmers have not received compensation for mining pollution.

1. Introduction

“One man's meat is another man's poison” (Le malheur des uns fait le bonheur des autres), so goes a proverb used by farmers affected by mining pollution, suggesting that the interests of mining companies in the Katangese Copperbelt overrule people's lives and livelihoods. In 2002, following reforms that led to the liberalization of the mining sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the intensification of foreign investments seemed good news and an opportunity for local communities to improve their living conditions [[1], [2], [3]]. These expectations of the population seemed to be justified because mining activities can drive development in a community through the provision of employment and basic services such as water, electricity, health centers, schools, and road networks [4]. However, in the Katangese Copperbelt, the situation on the ground does not reflect these popular expectations.

In fact, population displacement, land expropriation, pollution, ecosystem degradation, and human rights abuses have been widely reported [1,[5], [6], [7]]. Studies conducted in the Central African Copperbelt (DRC and Zambia) argue that as the mining activities account for a major part of export earnings and they contribute substantially to gross domestic product [8,9], government officials and mining companies have been less attentive to people's complaints and have underreported or concealed the adverse impacts of mining activities on human health and environment, because production and profit maximization prevailed [10,11].

In Katanga, mining and agriculture tend to be studied separately. Yet, smallholder agriculture is a widespread and popular activity, especially in rural and peri-urban areas, engaging more than 75% of the population [12,13]. The agricultural sector has been portrayed as a female and pro-poor activity that “does not belong” in the industrialized Copperbelt. This disjuncture has caused an oversight of issues of pollution among smallholder farmers (measurement and perceptions of pollution are only assessed in the urban, industrial areas [14]). This study fills a crucial gap in this respect.

Additionally, the negative valuation of agriculture as an unprofitable and risky activity due to its exposure to climatic threats and pollution has prompted many household heads, including young people who previously worked in agriculture, to convert to artisanal mining, where their exposure to heavy metals and radiation has been reported [6,15,16].

In recent decades, the coexistence between the agricultural and mining sectors in DRC has raised many questions and concerns with regard to externalities, as the pressure on resources leads to a multiplicity of open mining sites and subsequent pollution [1,17,18].

Despite the marginalization of agriculture, it remains a crucial activity for local communities in Mulungwishi because it helps to support children's education, to produce food, and to generate income, especially for women who cannot work in artisanal mining sites. Mulungwishi Valley is historically known for vegetable production, especially tomatoes, cabbages, squash, and eggplants, which farmers supply to major consumption centers, particularly in the cities of Lubumbashi, Likasi, and Kolwezi. This local production is essential to reduce food imports from neighboring countries (Zambia and Tanzania), which annually cost about a quarter of the national budget [12].

In this Copperbelt landscape, many scholars of diverse disciplines have investigated pollution issues. While various studies [11,19] trace air pollution historically and popular protests that occurred in the past, Banza and colleagues [20,21] detail how metals such as Cd, Co, Cu, Pb, and U found in high concentrations in human bodies in the Copperbelt have resulted in severe public health issues.

Pollution from extractive industries also affects horticulture and soils [22,23], aquatic ecosystems [24,25], and water sources used by farmers to draw drinking water and irrigate crops [5,13,26]. Food crops growing on polluted soils show reduced growth, performance, and yield, resulting in poor harvest and food shortages. This explains the high concentration of metal traces in various harvested agricultural produce and fish in the Copperbelt [13,23,24].

In recent decades, significant research has been observed in the Central African Copperbelt to implement long-term and short-term solutions based on local resources, e.g., phytoremediation [27,28] and the use of organic matter mixed with appropriate amounts of carbonated materials to improve and sustain degraded landscapes [29,30]. However, no studies have traced the perception of farmers and rural communities about pollution, at whom these innovations are often targeted.

In the study area, there are interesting works on heavy metal contamination of soils, water, and foodstuffs, and human exposure to metals is well-documented [13,20,22,24]. All these studies were based on chemical analyses of samples in internationally accredited laboratories. However, farmers' knowledge and perceptions of mining pollution's impacts on their livelihoods and resources remain underexamined. One of the reasons is that when conducting the Environmental Impact Assessment studies that the Congolese government requires of mining actors, the desiderata and perceptions of farmers are not taken seriously by experts and companies.

Drawing on investigations conducted in China among farmers affected by mining pollution, Chen and collaborators [31] argue that it is important to assess farmers' perceptions of mining activities. On one hand, being direct users of croplands, executors of farming strategies, and active food security actors, understanding farmers' perception of mining pollution can be the key to solving heavy metal problems [31,32]. On the other hand, understanding farmers' and local communities’ knowledge and perceptions of the impacts of mining on their environment could go a long way to fostering a better relationship between the two, resulting in acceptable solutions and compensation to cope with environmental challenges [4].

The present study falls within a particular context of Mulungwishi Valley, where local civil society has been demanding, for a decade, compensation for 2570 agricultural households whose cropfields were destroyed by mining effluents from Kafundwa, one of the Gécamines sites, located in Kambove. We hypothesized that farmers’ knowledge of pollution is primarily based on the changes and deterioration of the resources they depend on, resulting in socioeconomic difficulties. The impacts of these changes and subsequent damages and income loss due to mining pollution can lead victims to claim financial compensation from mining companies [33,34].

This study was initiated to understand the perceived changes and impacts of pollution on rural livelihoods, resources, and farmers' expectations of compensation. This insight into farmers’ knowledge of pollution is crucial for all stakeholders (e.g., government, mining actors) in formulating a sustainable framework and policies to mitigate mining risks, especially in farming landscapes.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Study area

This study was conducted in the chiefdom of Basanga in the territory of Kambove, upper Katanga. Initially considered merely a strategic post for the exploitation of copper in 1902, Kambove was recognized as a territory by the decree of March 8, 1921, with an area of 22,448 km² [35]. Farmers interviewed were from the villages of Dikula, Lukunki, and Mulungwishi, located along the national road N^ჿ1, between the cities of Likasi and Kolwezi, approximately 160 km from the major city of Lubumbashi (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1.

Location of study villages in the territory of Kambove, Upper Katanga, DRC

Source: Mapped by authors using the shapefile of the common geographical repository of DRC.

The reasons for choosing Basanga chiefdom are the following. First, the area is easily accessible and recognized for both its agricultural and mining potential. Women previously interviewed on the challenges faced to access agricultural resources consistently reported pollution of Mulungwishi River as a hindering factor to agricultural production. Additionally, this area is a strategic entity in supplying agricultural food products to the cities of Likasi, Kolwezi, and the spontaneous agglomeration of Fungurume.

2.2. Geology, climate, and hydrology

The Congolese Copperbelt is about 300 km long and 30 km wide and is located in the southwestern part of the DRC. It is one of the richest metal-producing areas in the world. The major Copper and Cobalt deposits of the Katangese Copperbelt are mainly hosted in the lower part of the Neoproterozoic Katanga Supergroup [36]. The soil of Kambove is clay-sandy, under threat of degradation by the combined effects of climate and pollution.

This region belongs to the Cw climatic type according to Köppen's classification, with a rainy season (from November to March) and a dry season (from May to September) and rainfall around 1300 mm [37]. Whereas most studies argue that the annual average temperature is 20 °C [37], nowadays, the ongoing warming and landscape transformation in the region have likely resulted in changes in local environmental and climate parameters [38,39].

Fig. 2 presents the historical climate data trend of rainfall and temperatures from 1990 to 2022 in Kambove. Although the average annual precipitation in 2022 was considerable (1793 mm), data suggest that the rainfall over the past two decades (1998–2020) has been low compared to the long-term average precipitation in the region [37,38,40]. In parallel, the average temperature for the last three decades (1990–2020) has reached 21 °C (see Fig. 2). In addition to the pollution, climate change is also perceived as a threat to agricultural food production and food security in the Katangese Copperbelt because farmers mainly depend on rainfall to grow crops. Recent studies indicate that the increasing temperatures and irregular rainfall have disrupted agricultural calendars and resulted in poor harvests throughout the country [41,42].

Fig. 2.

Trends in annual rainfall and temperatures in Kambove from 1990 to 2022

Source: NASA Power, 2023.

The study area's relief is characterized by a succession of mineralized and non-mineralized hills, mountain ranges, plateaus, plains, and valleys. Wilmet [43] explains how valleys and marshes around Lwambo and Mulungwishi were considered strategic and favorable lands for diversified vegetable production to supply Jadotville (today Likasi) in the colonial period.

The hydrological network of the territory is characterized by an impressive number of rivers that include Mukwishi, Lukanga, Nyundwelu, Kando, Mafuya, and Ngule, tributaries of the Lualaba River, whereas Moashi, Kapende, Katanga, Lupoto, and Luansopo are tributaries of the Lufira River [35]. Mulungwishi River is an extension of the Kashengeke River. These rivers and the fauna they support are threatened by anthropogenic activities, particularly mining, evidenced by the high levels of trace metals observed in the Mulungwishi and Lufira Rivers [24,26].

2.3. Mining sector in the Katangese economy

The Katangese economy is predominantly oriented toward mining, essentially copper and cobalt that represent nearly 20% of the country's GDP [36]. Between 2013 and 2015, at least 1615 mine sites and more than 360 mining companies were listed in Katanga [44,45]. In 2013, the Congolese government required the mining companies only to export processed cobalt and copper to create added value and jobs. Many companies had to build up refineries and tailing ponds. Copper and cobalt mining accounted for the majority of reported formal mining employment for about 31,850 Congolese nationals [45]. While in the 2000s, American, Swiss, Canadian, and Australian mining companies still had significant shares in the mining sector in Katanga, the takeover of many mining companies and mineral deposits by Chinese companies since 2004 proves China's ambition to exert control over the strategic metals available in DRC for the development of new technologies.

The excessive exploitation of mineral deposits by the cobalt and copper-mining industry has moved millions of tons of earth and dramatically reshaped the Katangese landscape [19]. Alongside this formal mining industry, the International Labor Office [46] estimates that between 50,000 and 70,000 people work in artisanal mines, some of which are unregistered (not licensed) by public authorities. Within artisanal mining, the working conditions are extremely difficult and risky, leading to landslides and diggers’ death by axiphixation [15,47].

The collapse of the Congolese mining giant - La Générale des Carrières et des Mines (Gécamines) - in the 1990s forced many people in Upper-Katanga to look for alternative means of survival, during this period of acute economic crisis [48]. Agriculture, particularly vegetable production, was the choice of many households. In the Copperbelt, agriculture had never been a priority in local development programs [35]. On the contrary, government and mine officials have persistently framed it as an informal and feminized activity, particularly in urban areas [14]. Government and investors still negatively argue that local agriculture fails to meet the food needs of the growing population [9,12]. While for most women in the study area farming and street vending are their only occupation, men's involvement in artisanal mining serves as an additional economic strategy [15,49].

In the Katangese Copperbelt, mining activities have resulted in spontaneous population agglomerations that are responsible for deforestation, and unplanned building densification [39]. Informal trade and services have developed within these agglomerations, allowing farmers to sell their crops at a relatively good price, avoiding losses.

Although Lapeyre et al. [1,10] recognize that the mining companies have contributed to the social development of local communities, land expropriation and various externalities generated by mining activities have been a source of tension and conflict between mining actors and farmers [1,2,5]. One study [17] even explained that the land registration office did not consider the current and future food security of the people in ex-Katanga, given that most of the lands granted for mining exploration and exploitation are potentially suitable for agriculture. This situation could result in the exacerbation of social tensions and protests in the Copperbelt, where the economic growth driven by the mining boom already hides disparities, injustices, and environmental degradation that affect human health and ecosystems negatively, possibly with irreversible consequences [10,13,47].

2.4. Methodology

This work is primarily based on field research and the archives of civil society organizations in Mulungwishi. We collected information from local community leaders, customary authorities, and civil society actors. Additionally, between mid-February and March 2022, a survey questionnaire designed in French was administered to 77 agricultural households whose fields had been polluted, to understand their perception of pollution and how they were affected by it (see the questionnaire in the supplementary material). We also used satellite images from Google Earth Pro to visualize the polluted valley. To detect changes in land cover, we compared the images of 2012, 2018, and 2022 (the year of our survey). The first year is considered a referential year, i.e., before severe pollution, while the last two years are used to investigate if significant changes occurred after pollution. We chose these years because we could access clear images of the studied area.

Fig. 3 illustrates the sources of information and data collection steps through qualitative surveys.

Fig. 3.

Flow chart showing the steps of the methodology.

A random sample of 77 farmers was selected and interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Written consent (authorization n^ჿ016/2022) was obtained from the University of Lubumbashi to conduct this survey. Farmers participating in the survey provided oral consent confirming their willingness to participate in the survey.

The questionnaire required prior approval from local administrative and traditional authorities, to whom we explained the importance of our study. Farmers’ interviews were supplemented with secondary data from local civil society reports and two focus group discussions. The first focus group held at the court of the land chief of Basanga (March 2, 2022), made it possible to obtain information from the customary authorities on the origins of pollution, their perceptions, and negotiations carried out with Gécamines to compensate farmers and drain the valley. The second focus group on March 5, 2022, held at the Methodist church in Lukunki village, allowed us to collect the testimonies and stories of farmers whose cropfields were destroyed. We also discussed a decade of unsuccessful struggle by local civil society to bring Gécamines to recognize this environmental disaster and compensate farmers. Survey data collected were encoded and analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages). The testimonies and oral stories collected are reported in this work in the form of quotations. A t-test was used to compare the amount of money (in US dollars) that men and women farmers were willing to accept for pollution compensation.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Sociodemographic characteristics of respondents

The sociodemographic characteristics of respondents and the period during which they observed an increase in pollution are reported in Table 1. A large proportion of farmers who participated in this study were females (60%), with males constituting 40%. The predominance of women is not surprising as in this mining area many active men are involved in artisanal mining far from their residential villages [15,18], and therefore women work and maintain farms. 12% of the farmers were under 30 years old and 42% were over 51 years. The education level of farmers was low, 6% could not read or write and only 4% had university education. A low education limits farmers’ formal knowledge of environmental challenges such as pollution [32].

Table 1.

Sociodemographic characteristics of respondents and the period of pollution.

Variables	Modalities	Frequency	Percentage
Gender	Female	46	60
	Male	31	40
Age	<30	9	12
	30–40	23	30
	41–50	12	16
	>51	33	42
Education	Illiterate	5	6
	Primary	32	42
	Secondary	37	48
	University	3	4
Year farmers noticed an increase in pollution	2000–2009	19	25
	2010–2020	58	75

Also, these farmers have limited means to claim their rights from big mining companies, which have influential connections with authorities and hire experienced lawyers to defend their cases. An illustrative case opposed local communities to Chemaf in Lubumbashi, when community members demanded compensation for the destruction of their housing and land expropriation. Chemaf lawyers asked them to show their real estate titles [2]. Yet in the DRC, most peasants do not have titles for land which is inherited from generation to generation. Also, the procedure for obtaining land titles is complex and costly for smallholder farmers. Respondent n^o12 lamented, “they (mining companies) can get everything they want, they have money, they bribe influential authorities, our problems do not concern them at all. It is their business first”. In this study area, with multiple environmental challenges, the promotion of education for all can be a powerful tool for building farmers’ awareness of environmental issues and promoting pro-environmental behavior [50,51].

Three quarters of these farmers (75%) claimed to have observed a significant increase in pollution during the last decade (2010–2020), while 25% mentioned that the problem dates back to 2000 when they started observing odd changes within Mulungwishi Valley (Fig. 5). Farmers’ observations were in agreement with several reports and scientific studies which have identified environmental impacts of mining activities during this period [1,22,24,26].

Fig. 5.

Farmers' perceptions and understanding of pollution in Mulungwishi Valley.

In fact, the liberalization of the mining sector and the attractive price of copper and cobalt between 2004 and 2007 led mining companies to amplify production and maximize their profits, neglecting environmental aspects. The same situation continued after 2010, with a multiplicity of companies and mining sites in the Katangese Copperbelt [10,52].

3.2. View of the polluted valley in the Katangese Copperbelt

Fig. 4 shows a view of part of the valley and the location of the Kafundwa mine site, which farmers claim has polluted their crop fields. We can see on this map that the river that crosses the Kafundwa mining site also irrigates the valley. This map supports farmers' claims that this river laden with Kafundwa mining waste had overflowed into their fields, destroying crops. Comparing land cover images between 2012 (before severe pollution) and 2018–2022 (after severe pollution), noticeable changes are visible. While in 2012, we still observe developed crop fields, in 2018 and 2022 we observe large patches of bare soils and changes in soil color. This change in soil color matches farmers’ observations in Fig. 5. The results in Fig. 4 are in agreement with a recent investigation in the study area, which highlighted remarkable land cover change and significant loss of natural cover between 2015 and 2020 because of the intensification of mining activities [39].

Fig. 4.

View of the polluted valley and changes in land cover from 2012 to 2022 (Google Earth Pro).

Mining is the most hazardous industrial occupation; it not only competes for land and water resources but also produces health-threating waste and pollutants [34]. For example, farmers reported that crops can no longer grow well on these degraded landscapes, and this situation has resulted in food shortages and socioeconomic difficulties in the study area.

Farmer n^o 1 lamented that, “since Kafundwa mining site destroyed the Mulungwishi Valley, my socioeconomic problems have worsened. I no longer produce the vegetables that brought me money and food in the short term. Last year, I grew maize and cassava in the bush,10 km from the valley. There again, you need fertilizers to grow enough. The company that polluted this valley has killed us.”

3.3. Production sites, household pollution, and agricultural activities

The perception of mining pollution is multifaceted in the Katangese Copperbelt. While farmers and civil society organizations perceive pollution from a purely socio-economic angle (loss of crop yield and income, aggravation of poverty), many researchers are rather concerned about the long-term effects of this pollution on the health of the population, who are exposed to air pollution, harvested agricultural produce, and water highly contaminated with metals exceeding acceptable norms [13,20,21,23].

According to local civil society, more than 2570 households spread over 8 production sites are affected by mining pollution (Table 2). The highest number of farmer victims was reported in Mulungwishi Kilambo where more than 800 farmers’ households were engaged in various agricultural activities, e.g. fish farming, vegetable, and fruit production (Table 2).

Table 2.

Number of households whose agricultural activities were affected by mining pollution within Mulungwishi valley.

Production sites	Number of Households	Agricultural activities
CPS Mulungwishi	50	Vegetable production, fish farming
Mulungwishi rive gauche	100	Vegetable and maize production
Mulungwishi Kyoni	300	Vegetable and maize production
Mulungwishi Kilambo	800	Vegetable, sugarcane production, fish farming
Mulungwishi Tembo	170	Maize, vegetable, banana production
Mulungwishi Sangatile	500	Vegetable, banana, fruit production
Mulungwishi Kitobwe	450	Vegetable and sugarcane production
Mulungwishi Waya	200	Vegetable and fruit production

The testimonies of farmers, land chiefs, and the representative of the civil society of Mulungwishi on the negative impacts of this pollution converge. Kasongo Antoine1 explained, “the problem goes back to 2005–2007 when we started observing changes in the color of the water of Mulungwishi River. The water, which was initially clear and odorless has become increasingly green (malachite color), sometimes,the water was beige or gray. Probably, its color varied according to the products used and dumped into the river. The population could no longer drink this water or use it for daily domestic needs. It was the beginning of our ordeal here in Mulungwishi.” While farmers have observed changes in the color of the river water, the pollution of water with dangerous metals equally worries scientists. For example, extremely high concentrations (above 1000 μg/L for Manganese, Cobalt, Nickel, Copper, Zinc, Lead, Cadmium, and Uranium) were measured at different river water sampling sites in the Katangese and Zambian Copperbelt [13].

The local chief of Basanga and his assistant argued “we knew from the beginning of the 2000s that the river was slightly contaminated due to the intensification of mining activities. Many sites were open, including artisanal mining along the river, but the disaster occurred in 2013, a year that coincided with heavy rains, which led to the flooding of Mulungwishi Valley. Poorly drained, the Mulungwishi River was filled with liquid and solid effluents from Kanfundwa that spilled into cropfields as it traveled a distance of 18 km up to Mufuvya River. We believe that the company took advantage of these heavy rains to dump its waste into the river, probably also the sulfuric acid used to smelt the ores. The damage was enormous. Plants burned, fish died,and the cropland was covered by these effluents. Myself, I lost 3 ha of young banana plants. The fish ponds in CPS Mulungwishi as well as the experimental activities of the students of the Mulungwishi Methodist University were destroyed. This disastrous situation has led to serious food problems within my community and it has forced many households to look for other agricultural lands far from here.”

These comments and stories from local community leaders confirm and illustrate the destructive nature of mining pollution, as has also been reported in Zambia and around Lubumbashi. In fact, mining pollution in the Central African Copperbelt has resulted in the deterioration of land, vegetation, and rivers [53,54]. Consequently, people, particularly farmers who directly depend on affected resources, are forced to seek and extend croplands in the forest and cut trees to make charcoal as an alternative economic activity. This situation accelerates deforestation and results in the perturbation of the local ecosystem. Recently, one study [55] has demonstrated how human pressure exerted on the local Miombo woodland could lead to its disappearance. Aragon and Pablo [33,56] also noticed that failure to solve or prevent mining pollution issues by gold mining companies in Ghana resulted in socio-economic difficulties in affected farming communities, and caused other environmental problems including deforestation beyond the polluted sites.

Fig. 5 records different incidents related to farmers’ perceptions of pollution in Mulungwishi Valley. Farmers observed mining effluents in the river and on cultivated land (94%), and this affected agriculture and resulted in a drastic drop in crop yields (80%). Farmers' observations were in line with numerous studies that have shown that high levels of heavy metals in the soil due to pollution in the Katangese Copperbelt affect agricultural production [13,22,29].

Farmers claimed that river water and soils had an unusual smell and color. The river was muddy (82%) and the fish were dying (77%). Several farmers explained “in 2013, we lost 1 ha of tomato crops in Mulungwishi Valley. Water used to irrigate crops was polluted, it burned crops. The soil and water had a foul smell. Throughout the site it smelled like something was rotting. Nothing moved, even the frogs that made noise in the river before, were gone. Everything was calm as in a cemetery.” Indeed, previous studies [24,26] conducted in Lufira and Mulungwishi Rivers respectively, clearly confirmed pollution due to high levels of metallic trace elements in the water. In fact, when farmers said that the river was muddy, they implied a load of sediments that covered the river bed, which spread over the fields due to flooding after heavy rains.

These sediments, mostly from mining effluents of complex hydrometallurgical content, are very rich in metallic trace elements that constitute a significant source of toxicity for the aquatic living organisms and food chain [22,[24], [25], [26]]. Farmers interviewed seemed well informed and convinced that the pollution of Mulungwishi Valley comes from Kanfundwa, a Gécamines site. This is because local civil society and farmers referred to a joint impact assessment between farmers and experts from Gécamines. Also, a former Gécamines’ employee confirmed that the pollution of Mulungwishi Valley was due to a poorly maintained mining effluent collection center that collapsed. ‘’Since the bankruptcy of Gécamines, those who took over the Kafundwa site had neglected to properly maintain the facilities by seeking to produce at a lower cost. Surprisingly, they avoid publicly acknowledging that a sizeable tailing pond collapsed within the site. They are well aware of the damage that this incident has caused in this area and beyond the valley’’.

Despite farmers' conviction about the source of pollution [26], mining officials argue that the extraction of minerals in Mulungwishi River by artisanal diggers (creuseurs), the discharge of mining effluents in the river, and the presence of stone crushing units to make gravel along the river all exacerbated the pollution of the valley. This situation resulted in a drastic drop of agricultural production and consequent food insecurity. Muimba-Kankolongo et al. [13,29] explain that within these polluted landscapes, food crops often grow and yield poorly with low-quality harvestable products because of soil acidification and siltation caused by activities of mining and metallurgic industries. As reported in a Ghanaian gold mining area, maize yields can drop to 40% due to pollution [33].

Unusual colors of the river water and soils convinced farmers that the sites were polluted (Fig. 6). The colors reported by a large majority of farmers included whitish color of water (46%) and soils (60%), beige, green, and gray. Only 10% of farmers claimed that they did not observe changes in the Mulungwishi River. Five farmers gathered in a focus group explained: “the water was salty, dirty and itchy. It frequently changed color. From whitish to beige and sometimes greenish like the color of malachite. In the past, we drank that water and used it for our household chores, but we can no longer do it.” Farmers’ claims were in line with scientific investigations conducted in the Central African Copperbelt. In fact, discoloration of water, the presence of a large amount of sediment, and metallic trace elements exceeding permissible limits have become a common phenomenon and evidence of mining pollution of rivers in the Copperbelt [22,57,58].

Fig. 6.

Observed changes in color of soils and water of Mulungwishi Valley due to mining pollution. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)

For example, in Lualaba Province in the DRC, Kaniki et al. [58] observed a pinkish color of water of Kakanda and Dikuluwe Rivers. The authors explained that the pinkish coloration refers to the saturation of cobalt in the water because cobalt ions are pink. This color [58] was different from our respondents’ observations, whereas investigations were conducted in a region where cobalt and copper are the two main ores exploited. However, the green color and an unpleasant odor mentioned were also observed by Zambian farmers when the Kafue River got polluted by mining activities [59]. The whitish and beige colors observed by farmers are possibly due to the presence of lime often used by the mining companies to neutralize the acid in the event of pollution. Mant et al. [60] acknowledge that lime has a potential to mitigate the impacts of soil and river acidification.

Researchers and civil society can document and denounce these environmental issues and propose remedial solutions. Here, however, we strongly argue that preventing, monitoring, and resolving pollution issues are all of great necessity. On this point, a decisive involvement of the government and mining companies is most needed, as how pollution and subsequent impacts are managed can either worsen or improve the lives of community members [56].

3.4. Challenges of compensating farmers for mining pollution in the Katangese Copperbelt

The assessment of the negative externalities of mining companies, such as the pollution of rivers and croplands, drinking water, and loss of agricultural production leads victims to claim compensation from mining companies [33,61]. However, since the pollution incident of the Mulungwishi Valley occurred, all the steps taken by civil society to obtain compensation for the farmers have been unsuccessful.

First, in 2005, chief Pande urged Gécamines to properly control its mining effluents. In response, Gécamines agreed to drain the Mulungwishi Valley but the works were not completed. In 2014, after a joint evaluation of the damage between farmers and Gécamines experts, farmers hoped to be compensated for the loss and deterioration of their livelihoods, but promises were not kept. Several farmers in Lukunki lamented “when Gecamines's experts came here, they seemed to take our demands seriously to compensate us. We have been waiting for almost a decade and nothing has been done. We no longer believe in promises or speeches. Obviously, with the support and blessing of our local leaders and politicians, the mining actors have managed to despise and kill us.”

Farmers claimed that mining companies' responsibility in deteriorating people's living conditions and their duty to compensate victims are too often dismissed and little addressed in media, justice, and policy debates. As mining companies are financially influential, they have connections to politicians, and are able to corrupt decision-makers. This is also confirmed by [47] who detail how the mining sector in Katanga is characterized by widespread corruption at all levels, involving government officials, businessmen, and mining companies. In this context where personal interests prevail over community wellbeing, the problem of pollution has been trivialized and considered as a minor concern in the discussions between local authorities and mining companies.

On the contrary in Zambia, cases where farmers have successfully sued mining companies for damages and losses due to pollution are documented [11]. The most recent case is that of 2500 farmers who received financial compensation for mining pollution in a British court against Vedanta Resources Limited [62]. In the DRC, however, unresolved and uncompensated environmental incidents create a feeling of frustration and desperation, making people feel abandoned. The same attitude prevailed when local authorities seemed unconcerned about the glaring environmental incident of an acid truck overturning in Likasi that spilled 1000 m³ acid into the Panda and Mura Rivers [11].

The nature of compensation farmers expected from the polluter is shown in Fig. 7. A large majority of respondents (88%) would like to see Mulungwishi Valley depolluted, 83% insisted on financial compensation, while 63% mentioned the payment of children's school fees and providing jobs (39%). Only 12% asked for support in agricultural inputs. A farmer said that “if we were compensated while the site is not depolluted, it will make no sense at all. The valley is the only land my family has.” For most farmers, a financial compensation can be considered as an immediate or short-term solution to their problem, but farmers were also thinking about the sustainability of their valley in the long term.

Fig. 7.

Nature of compensation expected by farmers for mining pollution in Mulungwishi Valley.

If most of the respondents insisted on cleaning up the valley, it was because in addition to their cultural attachment to the land, for many, it was the only place where they cultivated and where they obtained food and income. Depollution and restoration of degraded landscapes is a necessity in the Katangese Copperbelt. Less expensive alternative ways have been proposed [27,29]. Research conducted in Zambia and DRC Copperbelt has proposed the option of phytoremediation (choosing local metal-tolerant plant species) to restore degraded soils [27,28], and the use of organic matter and lime to improve croplands [29,60]. Also, cleaning and draining the river during the rainy season would prevent flooding of the valley.

The price that farmers were willing to accept as compensation for the pollution of their cropfields varied among farmers in each village (see Fig. 8). Overall, the price expected by farmers for pollution compensation ranged from $US 250 to $US 8000 with a mean of $US 2820 ± 2049 and a median price of $US 2000. A t-test performed did not reveal significant differences between men and women farmers (t-value = 0.47, p-value = 0.644). On average, women farmers claimed that they could accept $US 2820 while men agreed with $US 2125. Farmers gathered in group discussion explained “if we ask Gécamines to compensate each of us at fair value, the company will not be able because we have suffered too much from this pollution. This price we ask is simply an estimated value of our crops. Among us, some had more than 3 ha of different crops mainly tomato, and fish ponds which could be worth 15,000 dollars.”

Fig. 8.

Financial compensation requested by farmers for crop pollution in Mulungwishi Valley.

In view of the reported cases of pollution and the expropriation of peasant land by Rwashi mining and Chemaf in Lubumbashi and by the Société d'Exploitation de Kipoï in the territory of Kambove, the compensation offered to farmers is insufficient [2,63]. Surveyed farmers' demands can be perceived as high compared to companies' offers. In many cases, ACIDH2 reports that the compensation varied from $US 5 to 500 dollars, which was very low compared to the amount initially promised US$ 4500–6000 [63].

In Fungurume, hundreds of families left landless were only paid US$ 200 each to compensate for their loss of income [5]. The cases examined [2,5] insinuate corrupt behavior by local and national authorities in the compensation process, to the point of forcing and threatening farmers to accept derisory compensation at the risk of losing everything. The preferred compensation scheme recommended by local civil society is that of Tenke-Fungurume Mining (TFM) taking into account the value of the resources polluted or affected by mining activities [64]. The representative of civil society mentioned “even if the compensation plan was not fully respected, TFM's plan was the best. On top of a financial compensation, they supported school and farming projects and offered jobs to people with relatively acceptable wages. They wanted to make a deal at an American level and completely different from what Chinese-run companies are doing.” Despite the praise for that plan, a report [5] explains that the financial compensation offered did not improve victims' living conditions, on the contrary, they worsened as farmers had to travel long distances in search of other lands.

In Mulungwishi, like in many mining areas in Katanga Copperbelt, farmers know that individual compensation would be very costly for the company. This would lead the polluter to seek ways and means, for example, to bribe influential authorities to cover up this affair. Farmer 61 said ‘’if we ask for compensation individually, we will get nothing from the company. Our claims must be directed towards a common social project, the clean-up and the preservation of the valley’’. Many farmers reported that they wanted to find common ground with the polluter to drive all their financial demands towards joint social projects and valley clean-up. Even if the claims and complaints are directed towards Gécamines, what farmers and most Congolese still do not know is that since the liberalization of the mining sector in DRC, Gécamines has leased out and split its facilities and mining deposits to third-party companies or subcontractors [3]. The subcontracting companies may prioritize profit over environmental concerns and may not take the necessary steps to prevent or mitigate the pollution. This can make the process of compensation complex, slow, and perhaps difficult as subcontractors or new operators can conceal their environmental impacts behind Gécamines' guise.

3.5. Limitations of the study

This study used a qualitative method rarely adopted in pollution assessment studies on the Katangese Copperbelt. One could question the small number of farmers interviewed (77 farmers) compared to the number of agricultural households reported by civil society. Banza et al. [6] argue that small sample sizes can render studies vulnerable to misclassification, especially in the Copperbelt region where mining actors often underestimate or deny their responsibilities in deteriorating the environment and people's livelihoods. In this study, the sample size does not compromise the relevance of the results, as different sources of information have been used to assess farmers' perceptions and knowledge of mining pollution.

We used satellite images from Google Earth Pro to visualize the polluted valley and the location of the company accused of pollution. However, we still lack clear images of 2013 and 2014, the years of the severe environmental disaster in the region. In addition, the images presented do not cover the entire valley and the Mulungwishi River up to its outlet at the Mufuvya River.

We also acknowledge that the crop field surfaces, the crops' values, and the land holdings' status at the time of pollution were not determined; yet, these are fundamental factors that can be taken into account in the pollution internalization process of each farmer. Furthermore, if chemical analyses of water and soil supplemented this survey questionnaire and focus group, the outcome would help referentially to assess or measure the impact of the valley's restoration or clean-up initiatives in the future. While we did not research the Gécamines-Kafundwa site, accused by farmers for polluting the valley, due to limited time and resources, meeting Kafundwa engineers or socio-environmental managers could help explain how they handle this case, and what is being done to clean up the valley and compensate the victims of pollution.

4. Conclusions

This study contributes to the understanding of pollution within farming communities in the Katangese Copperbelt. The main findings show that over the last decade (2010–2020), farmers observed the pollution of the Mulungwishi Valley due to the spread of mining effluents from Gécamines-Kanfundwa. This incident, endorsed by civil society and customary authorities as a historic environmental disaster, led to the destruction of crops, fishponds, and the contamination of the river used to irrigate cropfields and for domestic use. Despite a joint impact assessment between civil society and Gécamines’ experts, the unfulfilled promises of compensation have made farmers (victims of pollution) feel rejected, abandoned, and sacrificed. In addition, due to flagrant unresolved and uncompensated environmental incidents coupled with increasing socio-economic difficulties, farmers have developed a feeling of mistrust towards authorities, considered unresponsive to the crucial problems of the population.

Our results reveal that farmers show active environmentalism and are mobilizing around environmental contamination by demanding compensation payments and site clean-up. The decade-long persistence of farmers in asserting these requests debunks the view of farmers being passive or not concerned about environmental pollution. While in mining areas there have been several studies measuring the level of pollution, the qualitative approach used to assess rural community perceptions of pollution remains poorly developed. Using this qualitative approach, this study stands out by giving voice to farmers to express their perceptions of mining pollution and by documenting their struggle to obtain compensation from polluters.

We hope that the results of this work can be useful to polluters and victims in the process of internalizing negative mining externalities. Still, close collaboration between local authorities and mining companies is crucial in preventing and solving environmental problems.

Author contribution statement

Arsene Mushagalusa Balasha conceived and designed the experiments; performed the experiments, contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; wrote the paper. Iva Peša, conceived and designed the experiments, analyzed and interpreted the data, contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data, wrote the paper.

Funding statement

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Data availability statement

Data will be made available on request.

Declaration of interest's statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

No additional information is available for this paper.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Appendix A. Supplementary data

The following is the Supplementary data to this article: