- Value of official diamond exports from Sierra Leone in 2006: US$120 million
- Value of official diamond exports near the end of the Civil War (in 1999): US$1.5 million
- Ranking of Sierra Leone in the list of world's diamond producing countries by value in 2005: 9
- Ranking of Sierra Leone in the list of world's poorest countries (by GDP) in 2004: 6
Sources: 1 Partnership Africa Canada / United States Agency for International Development; 2 Northwest Territories Industry, Tourism and Investment / United Nations Development Programme
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone is one of the ten largest diamond-producing countries in the world, yet it is one of the world's poorest nations. Diamonds, once a financial boon to only warlords and terrorists, are slowly coming to be a positive force. Still, there are inequities. For their backbreaking labour, many miners, like Mohammed, earn less than a dollar a day and a small percentage of what they find. Most days, weeks or even months, there is nothing. Although the average daily wage of a diamond digger is extremely low, diamonds generate income for Sierra Leone's estimated 120,000 artisanal diggers and their families. They also generate some investment in the local economy, but as many local development workers believe, they could generate much more. As the rough stones pass from miners' hands to landowners and a small group of well-connected exporters, the value of the stone continues to increase, earning more money for those further along the pipeline.
Fair Trade Diamonds
A fair-trade diamond seeks to improve standards of living for diamond miners through fair pricing and fair wages. A diamond marketed as "fair-trade" has a price premium that will trickle back to the miner. Industry leaders like Martin Rapaport are trying to establish fair trade jewelry standards and products. For Martin, the industry has a responsibility to ensure that the diamond dream is as much the woman in Sierra Leone as it is the woman on Fifth Avenue.
To watch a featured story about Martin's fair trade campaign, click here.