Community Development - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 635

projects may be consumed by inl ated prices. Inl ated prices also cause great hardship for
those who, for whatever reasons, do not benei t from income-generating schemes.
Common obstacles in developing small enterprise businesses include lack of manage-
ment skills and limited access to funds and markets. As part of strengthening commu-
nity capability, the mining project may encourage communities to establish a local business
forum to involve local business and entrepreneurs in the project. Prior to construction,
and later during operations, the mining company can use this forum to inform business
partners on the project's procurement requirements with a view of establishing what local
business can supply, for example, hardware, stationary, electrical tools, and cloth. As the
capacity of local merchants builds, mining-specii c consumables such as steel balls or acti-
vated carbon may also become available locally.
Some mining companies establish 'revolving fund' credit programmes that are used to
provide start up capital for small business enterprises. Repayment of the loans is redirected
into other new business ventures. There is also a wide range of other community lending
funding schemes that can be used. 'Affordable housing lending schemes' may be used to help
house disadvantaged families and to also provide innovative social services to disadvantaged
local community members; 'community development loans' are used to create jobs and to
boost locally owned businesses. CD programmes can also be designed to help community
members and community groups obtain affordable i nancing, particularly for low-income
and special-needs groups. 'Micro-credit schemes' are designed to extend credit to low-income
individuals seeking to start or expand their small businesses, increase their incomes, and feed
their families ( Case 15.3 ). Experience has shown that even very small loans, when directed to
a committed group of individual borrowers, can boost local living standards. 'Small business
loans' help community members, including low-income individuals, women, members of
minority groups, and immigrants to start or strengthen their own businesses. Such schemes
provide loans and technical assistance to small businesses including childcare businesses,
rural businesses, businesses that create jobs in low-income communities, and non-proi t
organizations that are unable to access support from traditional sources.

Experience has shown that even
very small loans, when directed
to a committed group of
individual borrowers, can boost
local living standards.

Health and Sanitation

Mining companies have adopted differing approaches to the provision of medical facilities.
All mining operations provide health and medical facilities for their workers, including
ambulances and other equipment to cope with project related accidents and emergencies.

CASE 15.3
The Grameen Bank - Bank for the Poor

loan. Most of the borrowers are women who otherwise would
have no or limited access to loans. The overwhelming success
of providing seed money to poor people to enable them
enhance their livelihood is well recognized: The Grameen
Bank and its founder were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace
Price in 2006, and its system of micro-credits and self-help
groups is now copied in more than 40 countries.

The Grameen Bank ('The Bank of the Villages' in Bangla
language) is a community development bank started in
Bangladesh by Muhammed Yunus in 1974. It provides
micro-credits to the poor without requiring collaterals. The
underpinning idea is that the poor have skills that are
under-used because of lack of seed funds. From its modest
beginnings three decades ago more than half of Grameen
borrowers and their families in Bangladesh (about 6 million
as of 2006) have risen out of acute poverty thanks to their

Photo: www.grameen.com