Zambia mobilising resources and consensus to combat Climate Change, a modern-day challenge to development

By MacPherson Mukuka

Climate Change has continued to top the list of priorities among many Governments across the World.

This probably due to its adverse effects it is likely to pose on the development agendas of most Nations.

However,  most countries have intensified their programmes for climate change resilience.

Zambia is not an exception.

And Government says climate change is a developmental challenge and the country is taking all necessary actions to minimise further environmental degradations and ramifications on the economy and national development.

Ministry of National Development Planning Permanent Secretary (Development Planning and Administration) Mr. Chola Chabala was speaking when he officially opened the national consultative stakeholder meeting on setting up the National Climate Change Fund (NCCF) in Livingstone on Monday 18 June,  2018.

He emphasised the Government's commitment to mobilise resources to help combat Climate Change and its impact on the economy.

"Zambia has in the past experienced adverse impacts of climate change including climate variability, extreme weather events and other systematic climate changes over the last several decades," he said. "Droughts and floods have increased in frequency and intensity over the last two decades and this has adversely impacted on food and water security, energy availability and general livelihoods of our communities."

The Permanent Secretary said one of the key measures the Government has taken was the formulation of the National Policy on Climate Change of 2016, which provides a framework for coordination and implementation of climate change measures.

He called for consented efforts and innovation to mobilise sufficient resources for climate change mitigation and adaptation, in order to effectively implement programmes on climate change contained in the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP).

"In 2017, Government took the necessary step to establish a catalytic National Climate Change Fund (NCCF). The main objective of the NCCF is to  raise revenue from both public and domestic sources at national and international level to fund climate change programmes and projects," Mr. Chabala explained. "Amongst other objectives, the Fund is to enable Zambia: Tap into new and innovative sources of finance for mitigation and adaptation projects; build national capacity to utilize opportunities presented by international financial mechanisms; increase access to finance for green projects in the country; facilitate appropriate technology transfers into the country for accelerated economic growth and development while achieving a sustainable low carbon development path; accelerate energy access through sustainable renewable energy technologies and solutions; and generate employment opportunities created by implementation of new economic activities through green projects."

The Permanent Secretary called for consensus on the establishment of a national climate fund.

And Zambia National Designated Authority (NDA) for the Green Climate Fund National Co-ordinator Mr. Mainga Luwabelwa said Climate Change impact was multi-dimensional as it affects all sectors of national and human development.

Mr. Luwabelwa explained that the GCF funds projects that promote paradigm shift towards low emission and climate resilient development pathways.

HIVOS, LUSAKA CITY COUNCIL PONDERS ON SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES

By MacPherson Mukuka_ Lusaka

 The United Nations projects that more than 75 percent of the World’s Population will be living in cities by 2050.

This projection means that cities will have to use and generate more waste unlike before.

This also suggests that cities with poor solid waste management will struggle more because of the huge quantities of waste generated by that time.

  

To this effect, organisations and local authorities in Zambia are already making plans on how to tackle challenges of solid waste.

Hivos Southern Africa Hub has developed a solid waste collection mechanism dubbed Waste Lab in partnership with Lusaka City Council with particular emphasis on making Lusaka city sustainable and better.

This is in line with Sustainable Development Goal number 11 which aims at making cities better, safe and resilience for all to live in.

And Hivos Southern Africa Hub says poor waste management has emerged as one of the biggest challenges facing Lusaka city authorities and other stakeholders trying to address the issue.

Speaking during that launch of a two day workshop on solid waste management under a project dubbed Waste Lab, HIVOS Regional Director TANJA LUBBERS says only a small fraction of the waste generated daily is collected and safely disposed or recycled into other useful items.

Ms. LUBBERS said the situation has been exacerbated by inadequate financial capacity and insufficient implementation of policy direction relating to waste management in Lusaka.

She said through the waste lab project, Hivos seeks to identify possible intervention points from the concerted efforts of all stakeholders to maximize its ability of focusing on priority issues in the waste management sector in Lusaka.

Ms. LUBBERS said the project is aimed at addressing integrated solid waste management issues through supporting front-runners, social entrepreneurship and support to multi actor initiatives.  

She added that the project will also focus at influencing waste management policies and support private public partnership integrated waste management.

Ms. LUBBERS said Hivos is aware that so many tireless efforts by you all have been put into resolving the waste management problem in Lusaka and we do not claim to come with the silver bullet that will resolve the problem.

She however, said Hivos is confident that its efforts will continue to build on what each stakeholder has already began to do and looks forward to opportunities that will arise and enable the organisation to work closely in alleviating this important issue in the community of Lusaka.

And Lusaka City Council Deputy Mayor CHILANDO CHITANGALA said solid waste has remained one of the biggest challenges facing Lusaka City.

The Deputy Mayor who was represented by Kapwepwe Ward 25 Councillor PATRICK SALUBUSA said the challenge is among the causes of cholera and other diseases.

She said Lusaka City Council is gratified to partner with Hivos in bringing sanity to Lusaka.

Ms. CHITANGALA has noted that most institutions operating as NGOs have decided to work in isolation without engaging the local authority.

She said it is LCC’s desire to engage with every institution dealing in solid waste to avoid duplication of efforts.

The Deputy Mayor said there is need for stakeholders to aim at creating more awareness among Lusaka residents on the importance of good solid waste management.

Ms. CHITANGALA has since urged stakeholders attending the workshop to look at solid waste challenges and bring out solutions that will help make Lusaka City Clean, green and healthy.

The Workshop comes two weeks after Zambian President EDGAR LUNGU re-launched the make Zambia clean, green and healthy campaign.

ZAMBIAN BREWERIES LEADS PRESERVATION OF WATER RESOURCES

By MacPherson Mukuka

Community members at Itawa Springs supported by Zambian

 

 

Breweries

As World Water Day approaches, one of Lusaka’s largest users of water, Zambian Breweries, is hard at work in its efforts to help preserve the country’s water sources and contribute to helping communities  have access to clean water.
This year’s World Water Day falls on March 22, under the theme of ‘Nature for Water’. Zambian Breweries recognises the importance of preserving nature in order to protect our water sources and has embarked on projects that promote the preservation and protection of the Itawa Springs in Ndola and the Kafue Basin on the outskirts of Lusaka.
The Itawa Springs is an important tributary to the Kafubu River, which accounts for between 50 and 60 percent of the water supply for both domestic and industrial use for the cities of Ndola, Luanshya and Masaiti. Despite its huge importance, the source of water had been under significant threat due to land degradation and pollution caused by brick-making and unregulated effluent discharge.
Zambian Breweries partnered with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) under the Habitat For Humanity Zambia (HFHZ) project and built 28 houses for families who were resettled from the edge of the spring where growing population numbers were proving to be a threat to the water source.
GIZ is a German development agency that provides services in the field of international development cooperation
Zambian Breweries has also partnered with WWF Zambia on a project that aims to protect the Kafue Basin, one of Zambia’s most important water sources that is under threat due to increased water demand. The scheme aims to raise awareness and develop a common plan to tackle the shared challenges the Kafue wetlands are facing.
Zambian Breweries’ corporate affairs director Ezekiel Sekele explained that the company aimed to limit water waste at all its production plants as part of its contribution to the efforts of preserving water.
“Water is a vital resource both for our business and the nation. We therefore treat water as a valuable resource that is at the helm of our entire production base and we aim to limit and prevent water waste at all our plants,” he said.
Zambian Breweries is also one of the 16 partners who include the private sector, public sector, civil society and international organisations that signed a Lusaka Water Security Initiative (LuWSi) Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in December 2016. The stakeholders agreed to strategise on how to improve the quality of water supply in the city.
Apart from its environmental efforts, Zambian Breweries donated ZMW 2.5 millionto the government’s cholera fight. Part of the money will go towards drilling boreholes in areas that do not have access to clean water.
Zambian Breweries also provided a 30,000 litres water bowser to the government taskforce on cholera and Lusaka Water Sewerage Company (LWSC) to help distribute clean safe water and help stop cholera in the capital’s townships.

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.