In 1999, near the end of Sierra Leone’s brutal civil war, legal diamond exports made up only about $1.5 million of the estimated $300 million annual value. The rest of the diamond exports were being smuggled out of the country through illegal channels, and neither the Government of Sierra Leone nor its people were benefiting from the country’s riches.

USAID’s Peace Diamond Alliance (PDA) is working to address the global problem of smuggling and exploitation by using the Kimberly Process, a recent global pact requiring that certificates of legal origin be shown prior to diamond sales, and by connecting miners with internationally recognized buyers.

Training is also helping miners assess the true value of rough diamonds and to understand their approximate value before making a sale. In addition, USAID will soon begin a pilot program to give miners access to credit at reasonable terms for mining inputs to avoid getting into serious debt. All of these strategies are designed to help miners sell their stones to the highest bidder