FIRST LADY ESTHER LUNGU DONATES TO WOMEN CLUBS IN SHIBUYUNJI DISTRICT

By MacPherson Mukuka

First Lady ESTHER LUNGU says supporting women and girls in reaching their potential will enable agricultural and rural development processes to be more effective.

She said this is because women and girls are critical agents in the fight against rural poverty and hunger.

Speaking in Shibuyunji District when she donated 400 bags of farming inputs to 50 women associations in the area, Mrs. LUNGU said it is important for all stakeholders to promote multi-sectorial response to reducing rural poverty.

She said there is need to focus on increasing women’s access to productive resources such as strengthening the capacity of rural institutions and services.

The First Lady added that government had made steady progress in increasing productive and entrepreneurial capacity of rural women.

She has cited the provision of start-up capital and equipment to women cooperatives as aimed at increasing production and value addition as one of the strides government has made in empowering women.

She said a number of women and girls in most rural areas are suffering due to non-availability of resources and services to make them compete favourably with their male folk.

The First Lady added that cases of early marriages are usually as a result of poverty and lack of financial muscle to take the girl child to school.

Mrs. LUNGU is confident that the donated farming inputs will go a long way in addressing challenges facing rural women in agriculture.

Meanwhile, Senior Chief SHAKUMBILA of the Sala people has hailed the First Lady for her gesture.

The traditional leader noted that what Mrs. Lungu has done has never happened before in his Chiefdom.

He said women empowerment is the best solution to addressing the challenges facing them in rural areas and that the gesture has come at the right time.

Chief SHAKUMBILA has further urged the First Lady to continue with goodwill gesture of empowering women as long as she remains first lady.

And District Women Association Chairperson DWAC- BRENDA KAMBOLE has also thanked Mrs. LUNGU for her goodwill.

Mrs. KAMBOLE said the women in the district are happy to receive the inputs adding that they will do their best to end poverty in their respective homes.

The farming inputs donated to the women groups are as a result of the partnership between the ESTHER LUNGU foundation trust and Export Trading Group ETG, a company specialised in manufacturing farming inputs.

And ETG Programmes Manager NYAMBE LUHILA has urged the women to put the inputs to good use.

He said the aim of the partnership is to help women achieve their potential of contributing to the national food basket and in their homes.

Mr. LUHILA said he expects the women to be up to task and ensure they produce good results in the 2017 – 2018 farming season.
He said his organisation will monitor the utilisation of the funds so as to yield the intended results.

ENDS//

WATER CHALLENGES IN LUSAKA- DOCUMENTARY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IkGaKDx_cI

ZARRSO INKS LICENSING AGREEMENT WITH MoHE

By MacPherson Mukuka- Lusaka

Copyright is a private right that gives exclusive enjoyment of creative rights to the creator/ author.

However this always has to be balanced with access as the purpose for which it is created is for others to enjoy.

The Zambia Copyright Law does take cognisance of this balance and thereby has made provision for exceptions to allow access and use which does not require the permission of the copyright holder

It is worth noting that these exceptions are limited and then it is in order to ensure that right owners do not lose control of and benefit from their works. 

But because we are living in a dynamic world it is not easy for originators of the works to take control of the exploitation of their works.

Therefore, globally, collective management has proven to be a solution to the creators of different types of works in which copyright subsists.

Zambia has not been left out on this and has in place the Zambia Reprographic Rights Society (ZARRSO) which is a Collective Management organization mandated to manage the reproduction right of copyright subsisting in literary and artistic works.

ZARRSO was created to legitimise the reproduction of such works beyond the provisions of the law but within limits that do not disadvantage the rights of holders of their economic benefits.

After two years of negotiations with the Ministry of Higher Education to centrally license them for copyright reproductions carried out in all public higher learning institutions in Zambia, ZARRSO signed a licensing agreement with the Ministry.

Speaking during the signing ceremony which was held at the Ministry of Higher Education offices, Permanent Secretary Mr OWEN MGEMEZULU expressed Government’s willingness to ensure that all institutions under the Ministry were compliant to the requirements of the laws of the land.

Mr. MGEMEZULU emphasised that the Ministry has realised the importance of taking a leading role in obtaining the copyright reproduction license and were in full support of the operations of ZARRSO as they are endeavoured to protect and remunerate creators for their creativity. 

Meanwhile, ZARRSO Chief Executive Officer RUTH S. MWENYA said the agreement is a huge milestone for the RRO.

She said it is gratifying that the agreement which has been under negotiations for over two years has come to pass.

Ms MWENYA said it was very exciting because the government was taking a lead in ensuring the laws of the land meant to promote and protect literary and artistic works in are respected and enforced.

She further said ZARRSO is very positive that the agreement was going to be effectively implemented and rights holders are going to be incentivised through royalty distribution as that is the primary objective of licensing for reprography.

Ms. MWENYA has further hailed the Ministry of Higher Education for its commitment and ensuring that the negotiations reached a positive conclusion.

 

By MacPherson Mukuka

First Quantum Minerals (FQM) has put its weight behind civil society calls for communities to share in the benefits of the nation’s mineral resources, and has called on government to ensure tax revenues from the mining sector are well spent.

The mining firm, which is Zambia’s largest taxpayer, was responsible for more than a third of government income from the mining sector in 2015, accounting for US$3.3 billion of revenue to the State in the last 11 years.

The company has re-emphasised its commitment to ensuring that it operates within applicable laws and regulations – and indeed exceeds them - and consistently reports all production figures, taxes and royalties to national and regional government.

FQM operates Africa’s single largest mine by production, Kansanshi in Solwezi, as well as the more recent Sentinel mine at Kalumbila. Each mine also has an associated community development organisation: the Kansanshi and Trident foundations respectively, dedicated to ensuring sustainability.

FQM country manager General Kingsley Chinkuli says it is for this reason that the company has spent over US$43 million on its sustainability and community development programmes by aligning the Kansanshi and Trident foundation programmes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

He said true economic growth of a country is reflected in the state of health, education, agriculture and quality of life that its citizens live.

Gen. Chinkuli was speaking ahead of this year’s 6th Zambia Alternative Mining Indaba (ZAMI) to be held under the theme “Mineral development for all, leaving no one behind”, which will take place from June 20-22, 2017 in Lusaka in parallel to the Zambian International Mining and Energy Conference (ZIMEC), a government-sponsored event that attracts the interest and attendance of key industry decision-makers from both public and private sectors.

The main goal of the ZAMI is to create a platform for communities, government, civil society organisations, and companies to discuss the real-life experiences of the costs and benefits of extractive industries and how best they can contribute to sustainable development in the country.

Gen. Chinkuli said despite falling copper prices coupled with a challenging electricity supply, the mining sector has continued to be the country’s major productive industry, with a high contribution to exports and government revenue.

He added that FQM will join the platform provided by ZAMI to highlight the measures his company has put in place to drive growth while fostering conservation farming, healthcare, and business linkages in the areas neighbouring our operations.

According to analysis by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) ten companies contributed approximately 88 percent of total government revenues from the extractive industries sector in 2015, with FQM’s Kansanshi Mining accounting for almost 24 percent of the total extractive revenues for the year from mineral royalties, income tax, pay-as-you earn (PAYE), VAT, customs duties and other taxes and fees.

First Quantum has called on government to ensure that it also plays its part in ensuring that tax revenue is well spent for the benefit of local communities.

The extractive industry contributed 78 percent of the country’s exports in 2014, but that fell dramatically to 47 percent in 2015 due to lower copper prices on the world market. As a result, the sector’s contribution to government revenue fell from 32 percent to 18 percent.

First Quantum has invested in excess of US$5.7 billion in its Sentinel and Kansanshi Mines and the Kansanshi Smelter, and has paid more than US$3.3 billion in taxes in the last 11 years, transforming the economy of North-Western Province and creating employment for more than 8,500 people.

The 2017 ZAMI will gather leading civil society members, government officials and industry experts and players from within Zambia and beyond to learn and share developments in the extractive sector and how mining activities can contribute to Zambia’s socio-economic development trajectory.

The Indaba will also provide for a forum to discuss practical solutions to challenges being faced by mining host communities.

The specific objectives of the ZAMI will be to provide a platform for CSO members to exchange experiences on the sector-specific issues with a focus on potential areas, gaps and challenges in areas of; human development and mining development, taxation, growth and investment, land, environment, compensation, policy and legislation, international and regional mine development agendas.

The event will also generate recommendations for the government and extractive industries for enhanced management of extractive sectors for sustainable development.

Source: Langmead and Baker

LINK BETWEEN POOR SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE INDEPTH 16 03 17

REDUCE WASTE TO MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTS- CLIMATE/ ENVIRO EXPERTS

By MacPherson Mukuka in Lusaka

The year 2016 went into history as one of the twelve warmest years between 1980 to then. Average global temperatures across land and ocean surface areas were recorded at 0.94C .
This is according to a global analysis, 2016 annual report.
All this was as a result of the effects of climate change.
Climate change usually refers to any change in weather over time, whether due to natural inconsistency or as a result of human activity.
The Earth’s atmosphere contains many types of gases, including those known as “greenhouse gases” which hold in the sun’s warmth.
The causes of Climate change are not specific, but research has shown that various factors are at play, among them solid waste management.
This has even attracted the attention of international treaties such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI) of the Kyoto protocol.
The agreement indicates that there is a great potential for addressing methane emissions by reducing the amount of waste that ends up in a landfill.
Zambia national climate change secretariat Environmental and Social Inclusion Manger Carol Zulu, explains that Zambia has made strides in reducing the emission.
Mrs. Zulu says apart from the Kyoto protocol, Zambia is also a part to the Bamako convention among others.
She said the country has so far made progress in formulating policies on waste management that will help reduce climate change impacts.
“The solid waste management industry could have an impact on climate change, and given the operational time frame for many waste management sites, there is a need to examine whether the issues that arise are of such significance that policy or operational changes are required.” She said.
She said current waste management methods, specifically emissions from landfill, account for almost five per cent of total global greenhouse gas emissions and 12 per cent of the world’s emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas with an impact more than 20 times that of carbon dioxide.
Mrs. ZULU has however, indicated that more still needs to be done especially where solid waste management is concerned.
And the Zambia Environmental Management Agency ZEMA says a foundation of sustainable development towards the solid waste challenge is the creation of affordable, effective and truly viable waste management practices in the country.
ZEMA Manager of Planning and Research MWICHE KABWE says when solid waste is used as a landfill, many toxins are administered to the soil and potable water.
She says this may result in the toxins contaminate the soil and take a toll on the living souls of this planet such as natural vegetation.
“The pollutants may even escape into the atmosphere from the soil which acts as one of the major reasons of the climate change problem.” She said.
She says such a process has a devastating effect on the atmosphere.
Globally nearly 70% of solid waste is landfilled, a meagre 19% is recovered through composting or recycling, the remaining 11% is converted to energy through incineration or other waste-to-energy technologies.
In a developing country like Zambia with increasing population, poverty and urbanization, it remains a major challenge for the local authorities to collect, recycle, treat and dispose off increasing quantities of waste, especially in a changing climate.
And Lusaka City Council Public Relation Manager HABEENZU MULUNDA says the City still faces a number of challenges when it comes to effective collection, recycling or disposing off of waste.
He says the situation is so because some sections of society have opted to forego right procedures in disposing off solid waste by disposing of the waste indiscriminately.
“At transfer points, waste is loaded directly into large skip bin container vehicles and transferred by road to the dump site.” Said Mr. MULUNDA.
Mr. MULUNDA says waste transfer stations are also located along the streets, while the dump site in Lusaka commonly referred to as Malabo is far away from the city center.
He says the environmental impacts commonly cited are: stench, dust, bio-aerosols, noise and surface water pollution and surface water runoff management.
The Zambia Institute of Environmental health is alive to the indiscriminate disposal of waste and incineration.
ZIEH Secretary General EDGAR MULWANDA says most manufacturing industries and health institutions; solid waste generation is a common practice.
He says on a daily basis the institutions have to deal with portions of materials containing plastic and sometimes PVC which in most cases is incinerated as a means of disposing it off, and making products respectively.
“When solid waste is burnt, not only does it lose all its recyclability or the opportunity of extracting any raw materials from it, but also it emits dangerous elements such as lead, mercury and cadmium directly into the atmosphere and ashes.” He said.
Mr. MULWANDA says this easily accumulate everywhere on the planet and eventually end up entering into the food chain.
Mr. MULWANDA adds that when products containing plastics and PVC are burnt, they cause harmful dioxides to enter the atmosphere causing many health problems and ultimately climate change.
“In order for people to make a difference in the amount of waste produced and the greenhouse gas emissions associated with their consumption, there is need for people to make smart choices about what they buy, use, and how they dispose it off.” He said.

NUSFAZ WELCOMES CALL TO LIFT EMPLOYMENT FREEZE IN THE AGRIC SECTOR

By MacPherson Mukuka in Lusaka

The National Union of Small Scale Farmers of Zambia NUSFAZ has backed Minister of Agriculture DORA SILIYA’s call to lift the employment freeze on extension services in the Ministry.

NUSFAZ Director General FRANK KAYULA says it is true that there is a shortage of extension officers in the country.

Dr. KAYULA says the current ratio of extension officer to farmers is worrisome and needs urgent attention stating that employing more extension officers is the lasting solution.

He says it is too much for one extension officer to be offering agriculture extension services to more than one Thousand farmers.

Dr. KAYULA has noted that it is perhaps the reason the agriculture is not performing according to expectation.

He says sometimes the extension officer goes off the limit and attends to about 13 thousand small scale farmers.

And Dr. KAYULA has further called on the Ministry of agriculture to consider adopting ICT’s in the delivery of agriculture extension information and services to farmers.    

He says ICT’s have proved to be one of the effective ways of reaching out to many people in information sharing and service delivery.

He says although most small scale farmers do not have access to android powered gadgets such as smart mobile phones, it is vital that the Ministry to embark of such a venture.

He says once that is done; farmers will be encouraged and may end up buying the gadgets for their benefit. 

Last Friday, Minister of Agriculture DORA SILIYA called for the lifting of the employment freeze on extension services in her sector to bridge the gap between farmers and extension officers.

MS SILIYA said currently one extension officer provides extension services to over 1-Thousand farmers which makes it difficult for the dissemination of extension messages to farmers.

TRUMP INAUGURATION_THE LINCOLN BIBLE

MacPherson Mukuka *In Lusaka*

The Lincoln Bible is the bible owned by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. The Lincoln family donated the bible to the Library of Congress, which includes it in their collection.

When Donald J. Trump takes the oath of office on Friday, he will do so with his hand on two Bibles: his own, and one used by Abraham Lincoln in 1861. Only one other president has used that Bible for the oath: Mr. Trump’s predecessor.

Thomas Barrack Jr., the chairman of Mr. Trump’s inaugural committee, said in a statement earlier this week that the president-elect “is humbled to place his hand on Bibles that hold special meaning both to his family and to our country.”

Mr. Trump’s personal Bible was given to him by his mother in 1955, two days before his ninth birthday, according to a statement from the inaugural committee. He had just completed the Sunday Church Primary School at the First Presbyterian Church in Queens, where he grew up.
‘A Certain Kind of Electricity’

To use the Lincoln Bible, the inaugural committee has to borrow it from its permanent home at the Library of Congress.

Lincoln swore the oath on it at his first inaugural in 1861, as the United States stood on the cusp of the Civil War. It was not used again at an inauguration until the election of Barack Obama, who was sworn in on it in 2009 and again in 2013.

Conservationists at the Library of Congress said the book was ready for another big day, though they have wary eyes turned toward a weather forecast that hints at the possibility of rain.

“We always have it in the back of our mind that this might be happening,” said Elmer Eusman, who is the head of conservation. “So we’re prepared.”

“We already had made a protective box for it for Obama’s inauguration,” he said, adding that the library is creating a Mylar wraparound for the cover to protect it from rain.

Mr. Eusman said the library would also have someone on standby who will be notified immediately if the Bible has been damaged and will whisk it back to a conservation lab for immediate repair.

The steps are mostly precautionary. The Lincoln Bible is in good shape, and “it can certainly sustain this kind of activity,” said Mark Dimunation, the head of rare books and special collections.

The Bible was given to the library by Mary Lincoln, the widow of Robert Todd Lincoln, the president’s son, Mr. Dimunation said. The collection also included the contents of President Lincoln’s pocket from the night he was killed.

Source: New York Times

Emirates introduces sustainable blankets made from 100% recycled plastic bottles

By MacPherson Mukuka

Emirates has introduced new sustainable blankets made from 100% recycled plastic bottles. The soft and warm blankets are made using ecoTHREAD™ patented technology and is now available in Economy Class on all long-haul Emirates flights.

Each Emirates ecoTHREAD™ blanket is made from 28 recycled plastic bottles. With the latest innovation, the bottles are recycled into plastic chips before being turned into yarn, creating a polar fleece material. The fine thread is then woven into soft blankets.

The environmentally-friendly blankets were designed in partnership with Buzz, the world’s leading inflight product specialists, and are part of Emirates’ continued commitment to product innovation and sustainability.

Emirates already runs a green programme on board recycling aluminum cans, plastic and glass bottles, and clean paper products such as newspapers, magazines and cardboard cartons where possible.

By the end of 2019, Emirates ecoTHREAD™ blankets would have rescued 88 million plastic bottles from landfills– equivalent to the weight of 44 A380 aircraft. This initiative makes it the largest sustainable blanket programme on board in the airline industry. In addition, the manufacturing process of using recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) reduces energy emissions by 70%.

ecoTHREAD™ is certified with the Intertek Green Leaf Mark by third party testing and certification body Intertek, independently verified to use 100% recycled materials.

The Emirates ecoTHREAD™ blanket for Economy Class completes the recent comforter overhaul across all three classes. The airline introduced a plush, faux sheep-skin blanket in First Class and soft duvets in Business Class.

In the last year, Emirates has added several new products for customers travelling in Economy including the world’s first interactive amenity kits. The amenity kits - filled with necessities such as an eye mask, earplugs, toothbrush and toothpaste, and socks – uses augmented reality technology to unlock entertainment on customers’ mobile devices using the Blippar app.

The content was refreshed last month to feature a new interactive game called The Emirates Destination Dash to keep customers’ busy on long-haul flights or on the ground.


Source: Langmead and Baker

Rainwater Harvesting, a technology to embrace.

 MacPherson MUKUKA in Lusaka

Water is undoubtedly the world’s most used natural resource.

The mineral remains the most critical component of human’s day to day activities.

Over Centuries, the water has played a role of the backbone of all living things, humans, animals and plants, its role cannot replaced by any other natural resource, as it is at the center of life.

However, with the passage of time, and due to some human activities, the resource is slowly been sacked into the ground. Other factors leading to the depletion of the mineral include little or no rainfall and high temperatures resulting into the drying off of major water bodies.

Zambia has not been an exception to this development.

For the last few years, most parts of the country have recorded poor rainfall, leading to shortages of the resource for use at both household and commercial levels.

For urban areas, tap water becomes scarce due to various reasons, and low water table levels, is among them.

Arguably, in the long term, the development has caused the water utility companies to fail to pump expected amount of water to supply to customers.

Lusaka water and sewerage company Public relations and Marketing Manager Topsy Sikalinda discloses that low water tables  have a negative bearing on the operations of the utility.

He says, his organisation faces a number of challenges when the water table level is low as demand cannot be met.

This is coupled with effects of Climate Change which to a larger extent, are human made. Most scholars have argued on whether the whole phenomena is a hoax or not.

But a Climate Change Participatory Adaptation Specialist CCPAS, Martin Sishekanu believes climate change is true and that its effects are felt.

He says human activities such as agriculture and timber processing at commercial level have contributed to the poor rainfall recorded in the country in the previous years.

"Humans have caused all these problems for themselves, the flora that once controlled the movement of the winds has been cut." He said.

Mr. Sishekanu further adds that deforestation alone has caused most parts of the country to stop experiencing torrential rains.

"The movement of the wind has been disturbed, this is why you find, a kilometer from where we are (Maina Soko area) it is raining, meanwhile here it is dry." said Mr. Sishekanu.

The CCPAS told me that the best way to have all the challenges of water overcome in Zambia is to utilise the little resource the country holds to the best ability.

He says Government must commit resources towards setting up rainwater harvesting facilities, and most of all to avoid deforestation.

With only about 40 percent of the entire water resource in the southern region, the need to devise strategies aimed at conserving the water is essential. I had a chance to interviewing Water Resources Management Authority WARMA Director General Dr.Paul Kapotwe who disclosed that authority has formulated guidelines in a quest to safeguard the water resource in the country.

According to Dr. Kapotwe, the guidelines will serve as a deterrent to abusers of the resource.

"The guidelines will come with penalties, and stiffer penalties as a matter of fact." He said.

Disclosed that the Authority has also been mandated to regulate and license all water drilling companies for the purpose of effective management of the water.

The other good news is that Government has in the last few years been to trying to find means of how to store rain water for future use at both household and commercial levels.

And rainwater harvesting has emerged as a solution. The practice involves direct collection of rainwater.

The rainwater collected can be stored for direct use or can be recharged into the ground.
Early in 2016, Government announced and embarked on rainwater harvesting project in selected provinces.

The project includes construction of new dams and rehabilitating existing ones. So far, over 10 news dams have been rehabilitated and 5 new ones constructed.

Government has put its foot forward to ensure all rainwater is channeled towards the right reservoirs in each catchment area.

it must be noted therein that Community based rainwater harvesting in rural areas of Zambia has become more common today than it was before.

It is, in fact, only with the common undeveloped technology that people are able to survive in water scarce areas.

Appropriate systems should ideally evolve from the experience of traditional techniques where these exist.
Above all it is necessary that the systems are appreciated by the communities where they are introduced. Without popular participation and support, projects are unlikely to succeed.

Water harvesting technology is especially relevant to the semi-dry and dry areas where the problems of environmental degradation, drought and population pressures are most evident.

It is an important component of the list of solutions for these problem zones, and there is no doubt that implementation of Water Harvesting techniques will expand in Zambia.