Staff Profile:Dr Gavin Hilson

Name:
Dr Gavin Hilson
Job Title:
Reader in Environment and Development
Responsibilities:
  • Programme Director for MSc in Environment and Development
  • Module Convenor for Environment and Development: Problems and Policies (MSc) and Environment and Development: Case Studies (MSc)
  • Module Convenor for The Extractive Industries, The Environment and Developing Societies (MSc)  
Areas of Interest:
  • Environmental and socio-economic impacts of artisanal and small-scale mining
  • Mining environmental management
  • Structural adjustment, livelihoods and reform, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa
  • Natural resource conflicts/management in developing countries

Recent and Current Research Activities:

  • Artisanal Mining, Smallholder Farming and Economic Development: Developing a Strategy for Poverty Alleviation in Rural Ghana (September 2010-September 2013) Funding provided by DELPHE-British Council.
  • Fair Trade: Challenges and Prospects for Small-Scale Miners (2011-Present) Funding provided by the British Academy.
  • Livelihood Diversification and Poverty Traps in West African Artisanal Mining Communities (2010-2011) Funding provided by the British Academy.
  • Livelihoods in Transition? De-Agrarianization and the Rise of Artisanal Mining in sub-Saharan Africa. (2009-2011) Funding provided by the ESRC.
  • Livelihoods in transition: A critical appraisal of re-agrarianization in Ghanaian artisanal mining communities. (2008-2009) Funding provided by the British Academy.
  • Child Labour: A Necessary Evil in West African Artisanal Mining Communities? 2006-2007 Funding provided by the British Academy.
Research groups / Centres:
Publications:

Recent Refereed Journal Articles and Book Chapters

    • Hilson, G. 2011. Artisanal Mining, Smallholder Farming and Livelihood Diversification in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa: An Introduction. Journal of International Development 23(8): 1031-1041.
    • Hilson, G. Van Bockstael, S. 2011. Diamond Mining, Rice Farming and a ‘Maggi Cube’: A Viable Poverty Alleviation Strategy in Rural Liberia? Journal of International Development 23(8): 1042-1053.
    • Okoh, G., Hilson, G. 2011. Poverty and Livelihood Diversification: Exploring the Linkages Between Smallholder Farming and Artisanal Mining in Rural Ghana. Journal of International Development 23(8): 1100-1014.
    • Maconachie, R., Hilson, G. 2011. Safeguarding livelihoods or exacerbating poverty?: Artisanal mining and formalization in West Africa. Natural Resources Forum 35(4): 293–303.
    • Hilson, G., van Bockstael, S. 2011. Poverty and Livelihood Diversification in Rural Liberia: Exploring the Linkages Between Artisanal Diamond Mining and Smallholder Rice Production The Journal of Development Studies DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2011.604414.
    • Hilson, G. 2011. 'Inherited Commitments': Mergers and Corporate Social Responsibility in the African Gold Mining Industry. African Journal of Business Management 5(27): pp. 10921-10939.
    • Kamlongera, P., Hilson, G. 2011. Poverty Alleviation in Rural Malawi: Is there a Role for Artisanal Mining? Journal of Eastern African Studies 5(1): 42-69.
    • Maconachie, R., Hilson, G. 2011. Artisanal gold mining: A new frontier in post-conflict Sierra Leone? The Journal of Development Studies 47(4): 595-616.
    • Hilson, G., Ackah-Baidoo, A. 2011. Can microcredit services alleviate poverty in African small-scale mining communities? World Development 39(7): 1191-1203.
    • Hilson, G. 2011. Fair Trade Gold: Prospects for Africa's Artisanal Miners, in Business, Non-State Regulation and Development (ed. D. Reed et al.), Routledge, London.
    • Hilson, G. 2011. 'A Conflict of Interest'? A Critical Examination of Artisanal/Large-Scale Miner Relations in Sub-Saharan Africa, in New Directions in Resource Investment and African Development (ed. F. Botchway), Edward Elgar, London.
    • Hilson, G. 2010. Child Labour in African Small-Scale Mining Communities: Experiences from Northern Ghana. Development and Change 41(3): 445-473.
    • Hilson, G. 2010. 'Once a Miner, Always a Miner': Poverty and Livelihood Diversification in Akwatia, Ghana. Journal of Rural Studies 26(3): 296-307.
    • Hilson, G., Clifford, M. 2010. Tackling Mercury Pollution in African Small-Scale Gold Mining Communities: Challenges and Progress. International Journal of Environment and Pollution 41(3-4): 185-194.
    • Hilson, G., Clifford, M. 2010. 'A Kimberley Protest': Diamond Mining, Export Sanctions and Poverty in Akwatia, Ghana. African Affairs 109(436): 431-455.
    • Banchirigah, S.M., Hilson, G. 2010. De-Agrarianization, Re-Agrarianization and Local Economic Development: Re-Orientating Livelihoods in African Artisanal Mining Communities. Policy Sciences 43(2): 157-180
    • Kwai, B., Hilson, G. 2010. Livelihood diversification and the expansion of artisanal mining in Tanzania: Drivers and policy implications. Outlook on Agriculture 39(2): 141-147.
    • Carstens, J., Hilson, G. 2009. Mining, Grievance and Conflict in Rural Tanzania.International Development Planning Review 31(3): 301-326.
    • Hilson, G. 2009. Small-Scale Mining, Poverty and Economic Development in sub-Saharan Africa: An Overview.Resources Policy 34(1-2): 1-5.
    • Hilson, G., Maconachie, R. 2009. Good Governance and the Extractive Industries in sub-Saharan Africa. Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy Review 30(1): 52-100.
    • Hilson, G., Banchirigah, S.M. 2009. Are alternative livelihood projects alleviating poverty in mining communities? Experiences from Ghana. The Journal of Development Studies 45(2): 172-196.
    • Hilson, G. 2008. 'A Load too Heavy': A Critical Examination of the Child Labor Problem in African Artisanal Mining Communities. Children and Youth Services Review 30: 1233-1245.
    • Hilson, G. 2008. 'Fair trade gold': Antecedents, prospects and challenges. Geoforum 39(1): 386-400.
    • Hilson, G. 2007. What is wrong with the Global Support Facility for Small-Scale Mining? Progress in Development Studies 7(3): 235-249.
    • Hilson, G. 2007. Championing the Rhetoric: Corporate Social Responsibility in the Ghanaian Mining Sector. Greener Management International 53: 43-56.
    • Hilson, G., Hilson, C.J., Pardie, S. 2007. Improving Awareness of Mercury Pollution in Small-Scale Gold Mining Communities: Challenges and Ways Forward in Rural Ghana. Environmental Research 103(2) pp. 275-287.
    • Hilson, G., Yakovleva, N., Banchirigah, S.M. 2007. 'To move or not to move': reflections on the resettlement of artisanal miners in the Western Region of Ghana. African Affairs 106(424): 413-436.
    • Hilson, G., Vieira, R. 2007. Challenges with minimizing mercury pollution in the small-scale gold mining sector: experiences from the Guianas.International Journal of Environmental Health Research 17(6): 429-441.
    • Hilson, G., Yakovelva, N. 2007. Strained relations: a critical analysis of the mining conflict in Prestea, Ghana. Political Geography 26(1): 98-119.
    • Hilson, G. 2006. Abatement of mercury pollution in the small-scale gold mining industry: Restructuring the policy and research agendas. The Science of the Total Environment 362(1-3): 1-14.
    • Hilson, G., Pardie, S. 2006. Mercury: An agent of poverty in Ghana's small-scale gold mining industry? Resources Policy 31(2): 106-116.
    • Hilson, G., Monhemius, A.J. 2006. Alternatives to Cyanide in the Gold Mining Industry: What Prospects for the Future? Journal of Cleaner Production 14(12-13): 1158-1167.
    • Hilson, G., Nyame, F. 2006. Gold mining in Ghana's forest reserves: a report on the current debate. Area 38(2): 175-185.
    • Hilson, G. 2005. Strengthening Artisanal Mining Research and Policy through Baseline Census Activities. Natural Resources Forum 29(2): 144-153.
    • Hilson, G., Potter, C. 2005. Structural adjustment and subsistence industry: artisanal gold mining in Ghana. Development and Change 36(1): 103-131.

PhD Students

  • 2010-Present) Ph.D. Supervisor for Ms Rachel Perks, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading. Thesis title: "Livelihoods, Conflict and Artisanal Mining in Rural Zimbabwe" Funding: University of Reading Fellowship, 3 years.
  • 2010-Present) Ph.D. Supervisor for Mr. Mark Hirons, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading. Thesis title: "'Forests or People? Artisanal mining, deforestation and climate management in Ghana" Funding: NERC/ESRC Studentship, 3 years (With Professor Mark Hodson, Soil Science).
  • (2009-Present) Ph.D. Supervisor for Mr. Paul Kamlongera, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading. Thesis title: "De-agrarianization and livelihood diversification in sub-Saharan Africa: What economic role does artisanal mining play in rural Malawi?" Funding: Commonwealth Fellowship Program, 3 years.
  • (2009-Present) Ph.D. Supervisor for Mr. Simon Maziku, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, The University of Reading. Thesis title: "Survival or Sustainability? Artisanal Miners' Attitudes, Beliefs and Behaviours", self-funded.
  • (2009-Present) Ph.D. Supervisor for Mr. Godfried Appiah Okoh, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, The University of Reading. Thesis title: "Using the grievance mechanism to contextualize small-scale and large-scale mining conflicts in rural Ghana", self-funded.
  • (2008-Present) PhD Supervisor for Mr. Martin Clifford 'Environment and mercury pollution in the small-scale gold mining industry: strategies and ways forward in Ghana and Guyana', NERC/ESRC Studentship (with Dr Mark Hodson, Soil Science).
  • (2007-Present) PhD Supervisor for Mr. Emmanuel Conteh, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading. Thesis title: "Livelihoods Diversification Challenges in the Diamond Mining District of Kono, Sierra Leone", Self-funded.  

Editorial Duties

Qualifications:

BSc MA (University of Toronto), Ph.D. (Imperial College, London)

Dr Gavin Hilson

Contact Details

Email:
g.m.hilson@reading.ac.uk
Telephone:
+44 (0) 118 378 8157

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