Life at University of Zambia

DOREEN NAWA, Lusaka
DESPITE being one of the country’s highest learning institutions, the University of Zambia (UNZA) leaves much to be desired as its infrastructure can no longer match the changes that have happened in the last 48 years since it was established.
Etambuyu Muyunda, a second-year student, feels the institution needs drastic infrastructural upgrading.
When Muyunda set foot at the campus, her picture of the institution was that of the University of Namibia (UNAM).
“My sister did her tertiary education in Namibia and we used to visit her time and again, so I thought any African university looked like UNAM. But when I came here (UNZA), I was very sad and regretted that I had decided to do my school here in Zambia,” Muyunda says.
She says she worked hard and excelled in secondary school after which she came from Mongu to Lusaka for the first time in pursuit of a university degree.
To her shock, she found a crumbling university education system which sees over 200 students share a lecture room and many of them have no accommodation.
“It may sound dramatic, but sadly this is the reality facing many Zambian students seeking to further their education,” Ms Muyunda says.
She describes her two-year stay at the campus as “disturbing” because she has to wake up very early for her to find sitting space in the lecture theatre.
“If you come on time for a lecture, you will find all space taken; the best is an hour before class starts.”
She says the living and teaching conditions at the nation’s highest learning institution are “appalling”.
“In many instances, the lecturer teaches over 200 students in one class without the PA [public address] system and the lecture rooms are too small for such a number. I believe they were meant for about 50 students,” she said.
UNZA was built in 1966 shortly after Independence to be a leader in the provision of higher education in the region and to produce professionally trained human resources for the new country’s growing economy.
However, the institution’s original goals are now under threat from overcrowding, falling staff levels and lack of investment in infrastructure.
A lecturer who sought anonymity said the learning infrastructure at the university is demotivating to the teaching staff.
“It is demoralising and it also affects our performance as lecturers where you are teaching and you see students sitting on the floor and others are standing,” the UNZA lecturer said.
Other students talked to said most lecture rooms at the university are in a dilapidated state, many with leaking roofs, creating severe difficulties for students to learn during the rainy season.
“Take a moment and visit our libraries at every school like Education, the books are outdated…there are leakages in almost every lecture theatre.
“In the rainy season you will find that a student has to move from place to place during learning and that is inconveniencing. It’s a sorry sight,” says Kafula Makasa, a student in the school of education.
Besides the learning infrastructure, accommodation crisis has continued to be a thorny issue at UNZA.
In 2011, Government built new hostels, the Levy Mwanawasa hostels, to accommodate 240 students but this has proved to be a drop in the ocean.
Students say living in the hostels is like life in exile in their own country.
Apart from the new Levy Mwanawasa hostels, the old students’ hostels are congested and in a state of disrepair.
More than 80percent of the students are not accommodated and in some cases, eight students share a room that is supposed to be occupied by two people.
In a male hostel called Africa the situation is unbearable. In a tiny room, there are four beds with three or four people sleeping on each bed.
UNZA currently has 3,736 bed spaces for a student population of full-time undergraduates of about 10,500.
Luckily, President Sata recently assured the nation that a project to construct in excess of 4,900 bed spaces would commence this year at UNZA.
And UNZA acting public relations manager Stanslous Chewe says the university is faced with a critical shortage of learning and teaching infrastructure because of the ever growing number of students each year.
“Like the current library built at the inception of the university to cater for just over a thousand students is today not able to meet the demand for reference resources by over 24,800 students.
“We are hopeful that Government will soon fulfil its promise to build hostels,” Mr Chewe said.
World over, it is acknowledged that the universities are premier centres of excellence for research and training aimed at offering practical and workable answers to the challenges mankind faces.
As rightly observed by First President Kenneth Kaunda at his inaugural ceremony as UNZA Chancellor in 1966, a university is one of the keys that can open doors to the future and help overcome the persisting evils of poverty, ignorance and disease.
“Without such an institution, we cannot hope to become the nation we want to be,” Dr Kaunda said.
PUBLISHED IN THE ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL DATED OCTOBER 19, 2014

Agriculture: Potential solution to our economic challenges

DOREEN NAWA, Lusaka
WHEN most people think of agriculture in Zambia and Africa, images of poor and overworked farmers with crude tools on a rural farm readily come to mind.
Many, especially young Africans too, still think that agribusiness is a poor man’s occupation. Nowadays, everybody wants a white-collar office job in the city. Agribusiness is hardly on anyone’s mind.
But for Zambia’s Agriculture Minister Given Lubinda, time to transform agriculture sector is now and the power to do so lies in the hands of the young population.
Agribusiness seems to be topical now and not by Africans, but the world’s top business people.
“Lately, many of the world’s top business people are investing in African agribusiness, all because our youths have shelved it and are not taking it seriously. Time to go back to the land is now. Farming has the potential to all our economic challenges that we face as a continent,” Mr Lubinda said.
Evidenced from the huge number of world’s top business people that invest in agribusiness in Zambia and Africa, agriculture is the biggest business opportunity right now.
According to the World Bank, Sub-Saharan Africa is home to nearly 50 percent of the world’s fertile, usable and uncultivated agricultural land. The size: over 200 million hectares.
This is why the continent is now widely considered to be the future breadbasket of the world. It is this huge abundance of land resources that gives Africa the strategic potential to feed the world. Africa has cheap agricultural land.
Interestingly, a large proportion of Africa’s agricultural land is located in the rural areas. That’s why they’re often cheap to buy or lease. On the average, one hectare of land can be leased for as low as K1000 (US$100) per year (depending on the location). This makes it one of the best land bargains you can find anywhere in the world.
Most of Africa’s agricultural land lies in the savannah and tropical rain forest belt, which receives a favorable amount of rainfall and sunlight all year round. As a direct consequence, more than 80 percent of food crops consumed across the world can be produced here.
But the most challenging aspect of doing business in agriculture or agro-processing is finding a market for the product and adapting the business to cater for changing consumer demands. These are often the leading factors that cause businesses in this industry to fail.
“One of the challenges we face here in Zambia and Africa as a whole is getting to proper market for our produce due to poor road infrastructure. Our feeder roads are in deplorable state,” says Neva Banda, a young farmer Chief Mpezeni’s area in Chipata district in Eastern Province.
Mr Banda says despite the challenges that Zambia and Africa may be facing, the good news is that there is already a ready market and high demand for agricultural produce due to the ever increasing population.
“Agribusiness is one of the best business opportunities in the world because food never goes out of fashion. People must eat food every day,” Mr Banda says. Currently, Africa’s population is just over one billion people. At its current growth rate, the continent’s population is expected to reach 2.2 billion by 2050. Now and in the future, Africa will always have a lot of mouths to feed.
Africa currently spends billions of dollars every year to import grains, flour and all kinds of finished and semi-finished foods which it can produce locally. There is a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs who can provide cheaper and locally-grown alternatives to the food that Africa imports.
“It’s not just the food industry that depends on agribusiness. Several other industries, especially the manufacturing and processing industries, depend on agribusiness for a wide range of raw materials,” Lumuno Organic farms proprietor Khama Mbewe says.
Mr Mbewe says as Africa’s economies continue to grow, the demand for raw materials will surely increase and create more interesting opportunities for agribusiness on the continent.
“Agribusiness in Africa has suffered through the years because of its poor yields and crude farm practices. Most of the crops cultivated on the continent produce very little and are often very prone to pests, diseases and drought,” Mr Mbewe said.
However, due to advances in crop and animal science and technology, it is now possible to harvest more food per hectare than ever before in Africa’s history.
There are now improved crop and animal varieties that mature earlier, require less resources, and are less susceptible to pest attacks, diseases and drought. Across Africa, these improved varieties are increasing yields by as much as 100 percent.
There are now improved and locally-adapted varieties of maize, cassava, millet, rice, sorghum, beans, sweet potato, cowpea, groundnut, soybean, pigeon pea, banana, durum wheat, and bread wheat.
There are also several local and international organisations that are focused on supporting African farmers with improved seedlings and support. One of such organizations is the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), launched by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2006.
Entrepreneurs like Mr Mbewe started the agribusiness in 2007 on his farm. Today, he is a major supplier of Lumuno Chilli sauce to Pick n’ Pay, the South Africa supermarket chain.
And AGRA president Agness Kalibata says the opportunity to start small means that people with little capital can become part of Africa’s multi-billion dollar agribusiness industry.
Dr Kalibata says because of the guaranteed demand for agricultural produce, that small vegetable or poultry farm in your backyard could just become a huge business tomorrow.
“Every evidence shows that you don’t have to be a wealthy investor with millions of dollars in the bank or a highly-educated person in order to start a business in agriculture in Africa. You can start where you are and use what you have, and grow from there,” Dr Kalibata said.
Agribusiness is one of the most effective ways to create jobs and empower millions of Zambians and Africans too.
At present, up to 60 per cent of the labour force in Sub-Saharan Africa is employed in the agribusiness industry. Agribusiness remains a top employer of labour in many African countries.
The value chain in the agribusiness industry, from food production, processing and marketing provide huge opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship.
Africa is changing. Young people need to be a part of this big dream that’s finally coming true.

Chikankata: Agriculture, livestock and craft-making giant

DOREEN NAWA in Mazabuka
SITUATED on the southern side of Kafue district, Chikankata constituency is home to one of Zambia’s oldest missions, Chikankata and Zambia’s biggest producer of electricity, the Kafue Gorge.
The constituency is situated 149 kilometres south of Lusaka.
Chikankata is a district as well as a constituency and is known for being Zambia’s maize production powerhouse after Kalomo.
The constituency is home to Chikankata Salvation Army Hospital, a part of Chikankata Mission, and is situated 32km from the Livingstone Lusaka road.
The constituency has eight wards namely Kasengo, Namalundu, Musaya, Nansenga, Chitete, Malala, Mabwe Tuba and Upper Kaleye.
Considering that some meaningful activities only take place around the Chikankata mission and the Kafue Gorge, the population too is concentrated around these areas.
What drives the economy in the constituency is mainly agriculture, livestock rearing and craft-making of reed mats and baskets for those that live closer to the Kafue River.
Illegal charcoal production is high in the constituency because only 20 percent of its population is in formal employment and 80 percent who are mostly youths are self-employed.
The main employers in the constituency are Kafue Gorge (the largest employer in the constituency) and the Chikankata Mission.
Chikankata constituency has one Government secondary school (Namalundu), one mission secondary school (Chikankata High School) and 30 primary schools.
Chikankata High School is run by the Salvation Army. It is one of the most well-known schools in the country. The school has about 760 pupils, with the majority being boarders that come from southern and Lusaka provinces.
The constituency is also home to Chikankata College of Bio-Medical Sciences and Chikankata Nursing School.
The two institutions are the major health training facilities in the country.
The constituency which has a population of over 90,000 has two hospitals namely Chikankata and Kafue Gorge.
Chikankata Mission Hospital is funded by Government, but it is run by the Salvation Army. The hospital is a second level health institution, that is, it is a referral hospital. The hospital was the first to introduce the concept of home-based care in the treatment of HIV/AIDS.
Kafue Gorge Hospital is a government hospital. In addition, Chikankata constituency has 15 rural health centres scattered around the constituency.
In addition to the generation of power at Kafue Gorge Power Station and running of hydropower courses and conferences at Kafue Gorge Training Centre (KGRTC), the constituency is also involved in commercial and peasant farming.
Chikankata produces a lot of maize. It is second only to Kalomo and no area produces as much as it does. The district also keeps a lot of cattle.
With the main giant economic players; Kafue Gorge Power Station and Kafue Gorge Regional Training Centre (KGRTC) and its strategic location of having two international roads passing through it, that is, Livingstone and Chirundu roads, the constituency is poised to develop substantially.
The constituency is linked to the rest of the country using the 32-kilometre road from the Livingstone-Lusaka road as well as the Kafue-Chirundu road.
Besides the two main roads, the constituency has feeder roads which have not been graded in over three years.
One of the residents, Kebby Chiinda says the poor state of the feeder roads are affecting the transportation of agricultural products to markets.
“We need a periodic maintenance of the feeder road by the Rural Roads Unit. Our share of Constituency Development Fund (CDF) is not enough to cater for the numerous needs in our area,” Mr Chiinda said.
The constituency has two chiefdoms namely Naluwaama and Mwenda.
The main ethnic groups are the Tongas.
The constituency has not had its share of the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) for the year 2014 and 2015, and just like several other rural constituencies, the CDF is not enough following the numerous challenges the people of Chikankata constituency face.
“We are doing our best to ensure that each ward in the constituency gets a share of the CDF projects but the allocation is like a drop in the ocean. We have challenges regarding the poor road networks in the constituency, poor school and health infrastructure, and making an equal share of the funds amount to nothing.
“As rural members of Parliament, we have brought this to the attention of the house; it is our hope that one day something will be done,” Chikankata member of Parliament (MP) Munji Habeenzu said.
Mr Habeenzu said from the 2013 CDF funding, a number of projects have stalled in all the eight wards.
“Drilling of boreholes and construction of classroom blocks and additional health infrastructure is underway in most wards but they have stalled because we have not received funding for two years now,” Mr Habeenzu said.
Mr Habeenzu cited the construction of a maternity wing at Mapangazya Rural Health Centre (RHC), construction of a three-classroom block at Buche Buche all under CDF funding.
And Chieftainess Mwenda says the construction of the 32-kilometre road commonly known as Chikankata road will bring development and recognition to the constituency and district as a whole.
The Chieftainess says Chikankata constituency needs an industry especially for maize to keep the youths in the constituency productive.
“Currently there is no industry here and opening up of any industry in Chikankata constituency will be of great benefit to the unemployed youths,” Chieftainess Mwenda said.
The constituency is surrounded by hills and traditional village settlements with the majority of the population living in remote areas of the Southern Province.