Author(s): Nicholas Garrett, Estelle Levin-Nally, Harrison Mitchell
Client(s): Department for International Development (DFID)
Date: 2007
This study examines internal and external trade mechanisms in artisanally mined diamonds in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Sierra Leone, with the aim to determine optimal practices for regulating the trading chains and harnessing them for developmental ends.
It contributes to the objectives of the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme’s (KPCS) Working Group on Alluvial and Artisanal Diamonds (WGAAP). In the report, the authors assert that there are important differences between a-legal and illegal trade, and informal and formal trade in artisanally mined diamonds. An understanding of the distinctions is necessary in order to map states of activity within the diamond producing and trading spheres. Misunderstanding, or in other words misclassification, of these categories can lead to the application of inappropriate regulation.
