CLWR's Involvement in Zambia
Description of Program
In 2000, Eastern Province had a population of 1,306,173 persons. Most of the people in the province live in Chipata, which is the provincial capital. The province has an agro-based economy. Relatively good soils and usually sufficient rainfall provide the potential for excellent production of crops like maize, groundnuts, cotton, sunflower, tobacco, and Soya beans. The valley areas are mostly suitable for drought tolerant crops such as sorghum, finger millet, sesame, tobacco and cotton.
Traditional livestock farming is also carried out in the district and involves cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, and poultry.
The target area is Katete (total area 3,989 square kilometres) and has projected population for 2005 of 223,947 (111,695 male and 112,252 female). Predominant ethnic groups in Katete District are Chewa peoples.
Katete has inherently poorer sandy veldt soils. The sandy soils are highly leached and depleted with low organic matter; low nutrient levels especially nitrogen and have low water holding capacity mainly due to single crop farming and deforestation. Deforestation due to population increase, charcoal burning, agriculture and construction purposes has taken its toll on the natural resource base of both districts.
The average annual rainfall ranges from 800 to 1000 mm. Mean minimum and maximum temperatures for the District averages 15°C and 26°C respectively during the rainy season. Mean maximum temperatures may reach 32°C in October with minimum below 10°C in July.
The road network in Katete District is comparatively good but the conditions of the roads are so poor that some places become impassable during the rainy season.
In Katete, the project will cover Mkaika, Chabvuka, Kapangulula and Kafumbwe Wards.
The key problems facing the target communities are summarized below.
Perennial Food Insecurity: Household food insecurity is caused by low agricultural productivity due to poor health, HIV/AIDS in communities, high illiteracy rates, and unsustainable use of natural resources. These problems result in low crop yields, dependence on rain-fed agriculture, poor marketing arrangements for produce, lack of start-up capital for income earning activities, and high cost of agro-inputs. Household production lasts for about seven (7) months for more than half of the rural inhabitants in each year experiencing a normal season. Food for most households runs out by October.
This food shortage makes Eastern Province being one of the provinces in Zambia with the highest malnutrition levels (over 50% of children under the age of 6 are stunted - a sign of chronic malnutrition). The high levels of malnutrition result in poor mental capability and inability to perform productive activities.
To cope with times of hunger, households will
- Reduce the number of meals from two to one,
- Limit the amount of food per meal,
- Resort to eating Mangoes (unripe ones are cooked),
- Consume only vegetables such as Black Jack (Bidens pilosa), Amaranthus (Amaranth spp), pumpkin leaves, wild tubers and roots,
- Do work for better off community members,
- Temporary migration to Mozambique for households with relatives there, and
- Sell off livestock at give-away prices.
Causes of food insecurity include:
- Frequent droughts and overdependence on rain fed cropping
- Mono cropping and unsustainable use of natural resources
- Inadequate draught power
- High Cost of Agro-inputs and start up capital
High Levels of Sickness and Prevalence of HIV and AIDS: HIV/AIDS is a problem continues because of many issues. The HIV/AIDS spread is worsened by poverty, negative cultural beliefs and practices such as widow inheritance, sexual cleansing, and high illiteracy rates in the target areas. The effects of HIV/AIDS are that it mostly affects productive people, increases number of orphans and overburdens health services. In Katete, persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) comprise 18% of the population of which 53% are females and 47% are males. The problems in primary health include high sickness and death rates especially among infants, cultural barriers to embracing health education, and there has been inadequate health education tackling hygiene, sanitation, disease prevention, unsupervised home deliveries, and family planning and nutrition issues in the target areas. Malaria is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in both target areas.
Patients from as far places as Chadiza, which has no district hospital yet, overwhelm Katete District Hospital. Accessibility to health facilities by the inhabitants of Katete is relatively good but has a very limited range of services offered. More critical are child health care and maternal health services. In Katete, malnutrition cases are very prevalent.
Lack of Income: Unemployment in Katete district is high. Apart from a cotton ginnery factory there are no other significant industrial activities. Grassroots based organisations lack capacity to create self-employment opportunities and a viable informal sector.
Degraded natural resource base: Many areas of Katete District have very visible signs of intense cutting down of trees for charcoal burning and firewood, and overgrazing. Animal and plant diversity has been greatly eroded by human activity.
The main causes of unsustainable use of natural resources are: - deforestation (indiscriminate cutting down of trees and bush burning) and poor land use practices (e.g. overgrazing in some areas, ploughing down the slope) due to inadequate knowledge of natural resource management by the communities in the target areas. The deforestation has resulted in perennial rivers becoming seasonal ones hence creating a lot of water problems for the communities.
What is CLWR Doing?
To respond to the above challenges, CLWR is supporting the following key activities:
- Conducting training sessions for farmers in sustainable agricultural practices and agricultural diversification
- Promoting production of crops such as drought resistant cassava and sweet potatoes
- Providing agricultural extension services
- Conducting training on agro forestry, woodlot management and growing fruit tress such as mangoes, guavas, lemons, avocados, paw-paws and bananas
- Training sessions on environmental education
- Supporting the formation and training of small business groups
- Conducting human rights campaigns within groups and local communities through meetings, workshops, development theatres and community radio programmes on the importance of gender equality and equity in society
Partner(s):
- Lutheran World Federation
Total Program Cost: $850,000
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