Institutional Abandonment and Livelihood Disruption in Mining-Dependent Communities: Evidence from Chibuluma Mine Closure, Zambian Copperbelt

Mine closure precipitates severe and frequently irreversible socio-economic disruption in communities whose livelihoods have been organized around extractive industries for generations. Despite growing international literature on post-mining transition, primary empirical evidence from sub-Saharan Africa remains limited. The specific dynamics of institutional abandonment, characterized by minimal governmental and corporate support following closure, remain poorly understood.

This study examines the socio-economic consequences of the closure of Chibuluma Mine in Kalulushi District, Zambia, using a concurrent triangulation mixed-methods case study design. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected simultaneously through structured questionnaires (n = 63, response rate 52.5%), semi-structured interviews with municipal, environmental, and corporate officials, and systematic secondary data analysis. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis and integrated at the interpretation stage.

Findings reveal severe institutional disengagement. Among respondents who reported on assistance, 84.6 percent received no government support following mine closure. Only 3.8 per cent accessed job training programs, 3.8 per cent received direct financial aid, and 15.4 per cent received social welfare transfers. Civil society/NGO support reached 3.3 per cent of respondents. Corporate closure obligations were minimal and reactive, with the only documented intervention being a K8 million remediation payment to 42 households affected by tailings dam displacement.

Post-closure employment outcomes were adverse: 30.6 per cent reported formal employment, 8.1 per cent informal activity, 3.2 per cent self-employment, and 3.2 per cent unemployment. Three principal barriers to livelihood recovery were identified with near-equal frequency: lack of capital (30.2%), absence of transferable skills training (27.0%), and limited availability of formal employment outside mining (27.0%). Despite these constraints, adaptive intent was high: 96 per cent expressed willingness to undergo vocational retraining, with agriculture (68%) and SME development (54%) as preferred alternatives.

On environmental matters, 57.7 per cent of respondents were unable to assess changes in soil quality, reflecting the absence of systematic monitoring, baseline surveys, or community environmental communication rather than the absence of risk. Approximately 30.4 per cent believed mining had caused adverse environmental changes.

The study concludes that Chibuluma Mine closure reflects a pattern of institutional abandonment inconsistent with domestic legislation and international best practice. It contributes primary community-level evidence to the mine closure and just transition literature and advances a multi-stakeholder policy framework centred on capital provision, skills training, agricultural extension, and environmental monitoring for post-mining resilience in mining-dependent economies.