The inability to unlock natural resource wealth for the benefit of developing countries’ local populations, a phenomenon popularly known as the ‘resource curse’ or the ‘paradox of plenty’, has spawned extensive debate among researchers and policy makers in recent years. There is now a...

This paper critically examines some of the main challenges associated with facilitating 'good governance' in small-scale diamond mining communities, focusing on the experience of Sierra Leone. Two recent governance initiatives in the country's diamond sector are reviewed: the Kimberley Process...

Sierra Leone has recently emerged from a long period of political instability and civil war, and is ranked among the world's poorest countries. Thousands of displaced people are in the process of returning to their villages to rebuild their mainly farming-based livelihoods, and many are growing...