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The challenge facing large-scale mining companies, governments and civil society is to harness ASM as an activity that can contribute responsibly towards the achievement of local development objectives. Issues of governance, social and environmental management, conflict, safety, protection of communities’ and miners’ rights, and alternative livelihoods remain urgent.

Extractive companies, governments and civil society all actively engage in capacity building initiatives such as: health and safety awareness, training of local service providers; training for alternative livelihoods; and developing better information systems. Capacity building should make community investments more effective and sustainable leading to improved local welfare as well as enhanced productivity and reputation of companies.

Community Development is the process of increasing the strength and effectiveness of communities, improving peoples’ quality of life, and enabling people to participate in decision-making to achieve greater long-term control over their lives. This involves empowering and helping communities to improve their social and physical environments, increase equity and social justice, overcome social exclusion, build social capital and capacities, and be involved in assessment and decision-making processes that influence local conditions.

To support local development, extractive companies often rely on community-level foundations to channel and oversee funds. Community Foundations collect donations into a coordinated investment and grant-making facility committed to the social and economic development of a particular place or region. In an extractive industry context, foundations will most likely be corporate foundations governed with a community spirit.

Corporate Social Responsibility has been defined by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) as “the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large.”

In many communities touched by oil, gas and mining projects, education remains a significant development challenge in terms of access and quality. As such, many extractive companies invest in local schools and other education programs—vocational, adult literacy, health awareness. Companies have an interest in developing skills directly related to their operations so they have a prepared workforce. 

Management and preservation of natural environments, ecological systems, and biodiversity are essential for sustainable economic, social, cultural and business development. Environmental concerns linked to extractive industry include water quality, use of mercury, waste disposal, land grading, deforestation, gas flaring, oil spills, disruption to ecosystems, and climate change.

Extractive industries can contribute to sustainable development, when projects are implemented well and preserve the rights of affected people, and if the benefits they generate are well-used. Extractive industries can yield benefits for countries through tax revenues, foreign exchange earnings, debt payments, production sharing and rents, the provision of jobs and infrastructure, and company social programs.

The development effectiveness and sustainability of community development investments could increase significantly by taking into account how oil, gas and mining activities can benefit men and women more equally. Through engagement with female stakeholders, actions to address gender bias issues in the sector have been identified.

Extractive industry presents both risks and opportunities for community health and safety. Companies typically bring access to improved medical supplies and counseling to rural communities. But in addition, extractive projects can attract ills such as drugs, prostitution and HIV/AIDs. Both large scale and small scale extractive efforts yield occupational safety hazards. But some companies invest heavily in awareness raising and procedures to limit occupation risk while also conducting campaigns to reduce secondary risks such as transport accidents and poor sanitation. 

Many companies recognize that respect for human rights is a fundamental part of being a responsible business and many have begun to integrate human rights considerations into their mainstream decision-making. Human rights offer a common framework for businesses to understand societies’ expectations and deliver value to stakeholders in a more sustainable way.

Though the term has no universal definition, 'indigenous peoples' usually refers to an ethnic group inhabiting a geographic region from which they originated or which they have occupied for many centuries.

Demand for labor is seen by companies as one of their main contributions to local livelihoods, however, the pursuit of economic growth through employment creation and income generation should be balanced with protection for basic rights of workers.

The design and implementation of sustainable community investment and related programs in the context of extractive development projects requires careful analysis and implementation to optimize positive benefits and avoid generation of strife and conflict. While some tensions and conflicts are unpredictable, many can be anticipated through adequate contextual and social analysis of the different stakeholders.

Companies, government, civil society and donors, are piloting ways to further community development without circumventing local government and traditional leaders. This involves capacity building for local government in areas such as: revenue management, participatory planning and monitoring, transparency and communications.

Companies have the potential to bring significant economic benefits to local and regional levels through direct and indirect employment, infrastructure improvements, education and skills building, access to information, direct support for social services, and through taxes.

Effective M & E of community development programs can improve management, accountability, participation, trust, learning, efficiency and development impacts. Monitoring is as much about building relationships, trust and mutual learning as it is about collecting and reporting data.

Partnerships are ubiquitous within business, government, civil society and communities. They generally involve voluntary agreement, shared objectives, distinct accountabilities and reciprocal obligations and are expected to add value to what each partner could achieve alone.

Numerous government policies, such as taxes, shape local development opportunities and constraints, affecting both people and business. Rules about transparency and accountability at the national, regional and local levels also help to determine the impact of extractive projects on local people.

Many countries rely on revenues collected from extractive industries in the form of taxes, royalties and production shares. For some states these revenues can be the sole source of funding for social development and economic growth. Unfortunately, in some countries, the lack of accountability and transparency in revenue management can exacerbate poor governance, leading to corruption, conflict and increasing inequality. Campaigns such as the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative combined with more inclusive governing approaches, such as participatory budgeting, show promise for improving the impact that extractive revenues have on community welfare. Capacity building for government, civil society including media, and companies is essential to take advantage of finite extractive resources.