In the village of Kakanda, located in the Lubudi territory, Bayeke chiefdom, in Lualaba Province in the south-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, several women spend their days in the Kaka quarry searching for minerals to provide for their families. Working in difficult conditions, amid dust, fatigue and constant risks, they explain that they have no other way to survive.

At the artisanal mining site, some women say that economic hardship forces many households to rely directly on mining. Even in homes where husbands are present, financial difficulties remain significant.

“That’s just how it is; I may have a husband, but he never brings home any money, and others have no husband at all—they’re forced to come and work in the quarry,” says a woman we met at the quarry.

According to several female workers, attempts to engage in other income-generating activities, particularly small-scale trading, have not yielded the hoped-for results. Due to a lack of profit, many return to the quarries where they can earn a daily wage.

“We try other things but it doesn’t work; we do a bit of trading but there’s no profit. As we’re already used to working in the quarries, we get a bit of money straight after work. It’s all we have to survive on. Some of our husbands don’t have jobs either; they come to the quarries too. We’ve got no choice,” explains Marie Katend, another worker.

Despite the risks associated with this work, particularly accidents and gruelling working conditions, these women continue in the hope of ensuring their families’ survival. For many households, the Kaka quarry has become the sole source of income in the face of unemployment and a lack of sustainable economic opportunities.

Written by Noé KALEMEKO