Young farmers driving rural transformation

FLORENCE (far left),cassava farmer with her sisters

DOREEN NAWA, Lusaka
AS more and more young farmers ignite sparks in rural communities, a new generation of ideas has begun to sprout in Kazungula, Mungwi and Choma areas.
These young farmers are content with their lives in rural areas and their desire to relocate to urban cities is fading.
The rural people not just aim towards the improvement of living conditions and the activation of agriculture as a business, but also extend the vision to ecological conservation of the surroundings.
Under the activation of rural transformation through improved agriculture activities, rural communities in Mungwi, Kazungula and Choma district have gradually separated themselves from the stereotype of poverty and ruin.
Many of them are undergoing successful transformation and have become popular spots of ecological conservation. Ecological conservation deals with the preservation and management of biodiversity and natural resources.
Young people are now enjoying the rural lifestyle by listening to the whispering breeze, feeling the air dancing on the chest, tasting fresh local agricultural products and learning profound cultural heritage.
The comprehensive economy is taking root on these rural areas little by little.
This experience has given hope to many young people who had plans to relocate to urban cities like Lusaka and other towns along the line of rail.
Florence Simasiku, a 30-year-old cassava farmer of Kapongolo village in Mungwi says her thought of relocating to Lusaka or any other city on the Copperbelt has died out because of the increased agriculture productivity.
“I have always admired living in the cities because of the good roads, better social amenities like schools, hospitals and better sanitation facilities. But from the time I learnt better methods of farming, my yield has improved and I am making more money. This has created a sense of contentment and I no longer think of relocating,” Ms Simasiku says.
For Ms Simasiku, she now can afford buying clothes and meeting her daily needs, all because she is producing enough for sale and consumption.
She has been motivated to remain in the village as opposed to relocating to the city like she has earlier thought.
“We need a thriving agriculture sector that can sustainably intensify its production and cater to the needs of an increasing urban population and the demand for more livestock products, such as eggs and meat. Until then, it will be difficult to convince many young people that you can make it in life anywhere, you don’t need to migrate to cities,” Ms Simasiku says.
Young people in particular, believe that better opportunities await them in cities, “a better life” so to speak.
Only a few of them like Kawewa Kawewa 31, of Sikaunzwe area in Kazungula district consider that cities cannot cope with the increasing levels of rural to urban migration.
Cities do not have the adequate infrastructure, energy, electricity, water or healthcare, to satisfy demand for jobs, housing and other basic needs.
Not to mention the already skyrocketing unemployment figures that can be seen in many urban areas.
As most rural to urban migrants are uneducated and unskilled, they tend to find work in the informal sector where conditions of service are pathetic.
But for Gloria Hamweemba, 30 a young livestock farmer of Choma, there is need to figure out how to encourage young people to stay in rural areas.
“Government must work hard to provide prospects for youths living in rural areas. As youths, we are doing our best to change our lives but we need Government to help transform rural areas in order to keep us here,” Mrs Hamweemba says.
For Mrs Hamweemba, the much needed help from Government must include increased public investments in mechanisation and new digital technologies.
Improved infrastructure to facilitate access to markets in nearby towns and cities, access to finance for farmers to grow businesses is also paramount in ensuring success in rural development
While urbanisation is important and often seen as a sign of economic development, it has implications for rural transformation and for food and nutrition security.
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) president Gilbert Houngbo says agriculture and rural development are the best answer to migration of people from the countryside to urban areas.
For Mr Houngbo said the need for Zambia and Africa as a whole to come up with policies that will prioritise rural transformation is the way forward.
Currently, a considerably high number of migrants move within their countries, mainly from rural to urban areas or from one rural area to another, in search of better livelihoods because most rural areas are underdeveloped.
Migration can have positive and negative impacts on rural livelihoods and food security, and currently, migrants, who are mainly adult youths, are a potential resource for agriculture and rural development as well as poverty reduction in their areas of origin.
“The migration of rural youths can result in loss of an important share of the most vital and dynamic part of the workforce, with obvious consequences for agricultural productivity.
Moreover, migration is reshaping the traditional social and economic structure of rural areas mainly dependent on agriculture,” Mr Houngbo says.
Mr Houngbo says there is urgent need for a policy that promotes agriculture and rural development.
“In particular, policies aiming to reduce migration of rural youths should factor in the need to generate viable options for rural youths in farm and non-farm activities,” he said.
Lombe village headman, John Lombe of Kasama’s Lwabwe area says development of rural social services has various effects on rural-urban migration.
Better rural education, which improves the chances of urban employment, will stimulate rural-urban migration, while successful rural agriculture programmes will guarantee food security.
“Better rural health services also reduce the chances of rural-urban migration as well.
“I suggest that governments should reconsider policies which rely on rural development to curb rural-urban migration and alleviate problems of urban poverty and underemployment,” headman Lombe says.
With the right policies in place, Zambia’s agricultural sector can help solve the chronic socio-economic challenges of food insecurity, poverty and unemployment the rural populace face thereby forcing them to relocate to urban cities. PUBLISHED IN THE ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL ON AUGUST 27, 2017. LINK:https://www.daily-mail.co.zm/young-farmers-driving-rural-transformation/

Prioritise health in national development agendas, Mugabe tells African Governments

The President of Zimbabwe, H.E Robert Mugabe has called on African governments to prioritise health in their national development agenda. He said the health challenges facing the Region including communicable, maternal and child deaths and non-communicable disease require concerted efforts to tackle them.

“Let us therefore push health to take its deserved prominence on our agendas in our sub-regional groups, at the African Union level and indeed on the global forum,” he said as he officially opened the 67th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa going on currently in Victoria Falls.

“The adage that life is health and health is wealth holds true”, the president reminded the delegates adding that “we have all witnessed the interplay between health and development.

President Mugabe also noted that Africa is disproportionately represented on the global disease burden for communicable and non-communicable diseases. “We must ask ourselves why this is so, and more importantly, what can we do to arrest and reverse these trends,” he said.

 According to President Mugabe, part of the solution to these health challenges is to evolve and continuously build the formal health care systems to respond to the currently broader health issues. This, he added, will have to go hand-in-hand with addressing many determinants of health through adoption of the right supporting policies and interventions in non-health sectors. 

Such determinants of health, he pointed out, include educating the girl child, designing better roads, planning urban settlements, empowering communities and managing climate change. “We must therefore provide the solutions across these sectors for better health outcome, and as leaders, it is our duty to foster this broader approach, “he said.

In his remarks, the Director-General of WHO, Dr Tedros Gebreyesus Adhanom, informed the delegates that the Organization’s mission to “keep the world safe, improve health and serve the vulnerable” is set within the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which guide global development including public health. To achieve the mission, Dr Tedros outlined five strategies that will define WHO’s work for the period 2019-2023.

The strategies are the ability to prevent, detect and respond to epidemics including polio outbreaks and antimicrobial resistance; provision of health services in emergencies and rebuilding health systems in fragile conflict and vulnerable states; helping countries to strengthen systems to progress towards universal health coverage; drive progress towards the specific SDG health targets; and provision of a governance platform for health. 

According to Dr Tedros, in order to fully implement the strategies, WHO will have to change and do its work differently? First, there will be more focus on outcomes and impact so that end results of WHO’s work are “the people whose health is protected or promoted by it”. Furthermore, WHO will become more operational especially in vulnerable and conflict states in addition to continuing with its normative and standard setting functions?  Dr Tedreos concluded his remarks by reminding the delegates that “we are here because we care about the health of the world’s people. They must be foremost in all our minds this week. The challenges we face are great. So must be our ambitions.”

Addressing the session, WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, thanked the government of Zimbabwe for hosting the sixty-seventh session of the Regional Committee. She drew attention to the growing convergence of views on the need to strengthen health security and health systems which is being translated into action by the global community.

“Building stronger, resilient and responsive health systems, which reach all localities and citizens, is the best way to stop outbreaks from becoming epidemics. It is the best way to bring equitable health care to all people in Africa,” she said.

Highlighting some of the progress in the drive to eliminate diseases from the region, the Regional Director noted that WHO’s new ‘Treat All’ recommendations for HIV-positive patients have expanded coverage of antiretroviral therapy (ART) with 13.8 million people in the Region now receiving ART. The ESPEN, the Expanded Special Project for Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases set up last year to eliminate the five diseases amenable to preventive chemotherapy, has leveraged medicines donations for mass drug administration, reaching millions of people in the first year of operation. Dr Moeti also reinforced the importance of a comprehensive approach in addressing the Social Determinants of Health stressing that health is impacted by several factors outside the health sector.  Furthermore Region is already seeing faster, more effective responses to outbreaks and an evaluation of the Reform programme initiated at the WHO secretariat shows significant progress made in accountability, compliance and risk management. 

In her statement, the African Union Commission Commissioner for Social Affairs, H.E Amira Effadil, underscored the importance of strong partnerships and collective efforts to ensure that Africans have a high standard of living, quality of life, sound health and wellbeing as expressed in the aspirations of Agenda 2063.

“The ‘Africa we Want’ is within our reach and we as Africans need only to strengthen our partnerships and turn our Health Aspirations into a reality,” she stressed.

The 67th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa is the annual meeting of ministers of health from the WHO African Region where they discuss a range of strategies and actions aimed at improving the health and well-being of people in the Region.  The Regional Committee is the Organization’s highest decision-making body on health in the Region and its decisions have over the years contributed immensely in the region’s health development.

The week-long session is organised by the WHO in the African Region and hosted by the Government of Zimbabwe. Among the dignitaries attending the meeting are; the newly-elected Director-General of WHO, Dr Tedros Gebreyesus Adhanom; WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, Representatives of UN Agencies, Funds and Programmes, civil society, bilateral, multilateral organizations and other development partners.

Compulsory testing: The social media way

DOREEN NAWA, Lusaka
THE month of August 15, 2017 brought back the hype on HIV/AIDS following the announcement of the mandatory testing.

President Lungu recently announced that HIV Testing, Counselling and Treatment are now compulsory in all government-run health institutions.
The announcement has been received with mixed feelings, fuelling heated debates in public and private gatherings but it is the social media that has added another dimension altogether.
A catch-word, Tipima, has evolved and it is making rounds on social media in all forms, basically to encourage people to go for compulsory HIV testing.
Tipima, in Nyanja lingua franca, means: “We are testing”, in relation to the compulsory HIV testing. It is currently trending on social media and people have interpreted it differently.
Those who support compulsory HIV testing argue that it has many benefits to both the individual and the nation.
Compulsory testing give individuals an opportunity to know their status and start medication early, thereby prolonging their lives.
The Tipima catch word designed by an unknown individual is also helping to break the silence on HIV compulsory testing.
The idea is simple: people joke, pledge on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, or Twitter to encourage a friend, a relative or indeed themselves to undergo HIV testing as per announcement by the President.
“This has let people talk about HIV and AIDS anywhere and from such talks, individually people have gathered courage to go and test for HIV. We were talking about it with a friend and the moment I went home, I saw the sense in our discussion and the following day, I went for testing. Because the results are confidential, I cannot disclose to anyone,” Gibson Changwe of Lusaka’s Kamwala Township says.
In effect, the goal is to turn an online social network into a resource for finding colleagues with whom one can safely confide and engage in a constructive discussion that will encourage testing.
For Mr Changwe, a thought to undergo HIV testing was stimulated by the conversation that began while on a bus after someone read a joke to friend on how quick the hashtag #Tipima on social media has gone.
The digital buzz has made many think critically of their status and those who had not tested are now contemplating to do so.
Febby Sakala of Lusaka’s Rhodespark area says it is obvious that if one is not infected, they are indeed affected.
Ms Sakala looks at how many lives have been lost all because people did not go for testing.
“Tipima means taking measurements in Mathematics and Science, while in medicine it means getting diagnosed or health check-ups. Thereafter finding an answer which in this case are result. Knowing your status is better,” Ms Sakala says.
For James Chewe, of Lusaka’s Garden Township, the Tipima catchword should be an encouragement for everyone to undergo testing and know their status.
“I think it is a self-encouragement towards knowledge about my health state. Unless the catchword was Tizaba Pima (we will test them) then it would have been discriminatory, because it is referring to a certain group but Tipima means everyone can be tested and it’s up to you to take a decision and go test,” Mr Chewe says.
But mixed feelings have arisen regarding the Tipima catchword, with some feeling it is discriminatory and should be stopped.
“In as much as we are trying to make up HIV and AIDS jokes, let us not forget that there are those living positive. Funny as it may be, it maybe injurious to those that are HIV positive. We need to refrain from posting such jokes because some people may feel alienated,” says Kondwani Banda of Lusaka’s Garden Township.
For Mr Banda, the catchword which is on the lips of many people all because of the introduction of HIV/AIDS mandatory testing is discriminatory.
“I am disappointed and I think the catchword is totally stigma in form of a joke, a joke coined by someone, somewhere who is HIV negative with the intent of mocking some people suspected to be HIV positive,” Mr Banda says.
To all those who are posting on social media and making fun of the catchword, Mr Banda has one message to them, “Take time to think about the impact and pain that this word is having on the people affected and infected. Put yourselves in their shoes. Tipima is discriminatory.”
The announcement signals a new policy measure in response to the government’s HIV agenda of eradicating the virus by 2030.
AIDS has affected Zambia’s economic growth by reducing the availability of human capital.
The ravages that AIDS has caused to the country are known as evidenced from the statistics.
According to Ministry of Health statistics, over one million Zambians have died of AIDS since the disease was first reported in the country. Currently 81 percent of all cases that result in mortality at the University Teaching Hospital are HIV related.
Moreover, new infections for females aged 15-24, males aged 25-35 have doubled.
All these statistics alone, measured against having an HIV-free generation by 2030, call for decisive action within the context of the greater good of humanity.
Without proper prevention, nutrition, health care and medicine that is available, large numbers of people are falling victim to HIV/AIDS. PUBLISHED IN THE ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL ON AUGUST 27, 2017. LINK: https://www.daily-mail.co.zm/compulsory-testing-the-social-media-way/

When the rain god will not answer

IFAD president Gilbert Houngbo (centre) with experts in the field recently in Kasama.

DOREEN NAWA, Kasama
SO, MOST rural people in Zambia are still looking for the rain god?
But with the current global climatic change, the rain god may not answer to their call.
And in times like these, conservation agriculture (CA) seems to be the way to go. It is a simple science that will increase yield.
Use of dry grass and other plant residue to conserve water under the soil and to prevent evaporation, zero tillage will boost productivity and food security.
In many parts of Zambia, as well as Africa, stagnant productivity, population pressure, environmental degradation and the threat of climate change suggest an increasingly bleak future for millions of families whose livelihoods depend on farming.
To mitigate these effects, some people of Muchinga, Luapula and Northern provinces in Zambia have adopted conservation agriculture and they are a living proof of what the methods can do to improve yields in the face of changing weather patterns.
In rural Kasama in Northern Province, life is hard, especially for smallholder farmers.
Each year, they struggle to get a decent yield to provide food for their families and generate income.
According to Ruth Chileshe, a small holder farmer of Lwabwe community, located over 30 kilometres from Kasama town, her annual yield has tremendously increased since she abandoned making ridges and adopted conservation agriculture in 2015.
They learnt about this technique of conservation agriculture from an International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) agriculture extension officer who visited them shortly before the planting season in 2015.
Programme Co-ordinator for Rural Finance Expansion Programme (RUFEP), an IFAD-funded project, Micheal Mbulo says conservation agriculture decreases soil erosion, leaching of fertiliser, pesticides and herbicides into the ground water, thereby improving soil fertility and yields.
Mr Mbulo says the reason the rural populace experience low yields annually is the slow adoption of modern farming methods, which, despite being hailed as the panacea for food security have led to decreased crop yields.
The rural farmers, who form the bulwark of agricultural production in Zambia, can hardly afford expensive farm inputs or improved seeds.
That is why the idea of conservation agriculture becomes handy for them.
“Conservation farming is not expensive, preserves soil structure, utilises soil nutrients effectively and does not rely on rainfall to grow crops. I want farmers to understand that solutions are within reach, practical and affordable. I would also like them to learn about Conservation farming as the next frontier in farming that will extricate them from cyclical poverty. They don’t have to use fertilizers or tractor to produce their desired yield,” Mr Mbulo says.
Because of the global climatic change, in dry areas like most rural parts of the country, the little rain that is available seeps into the ground before crops make use of it. In the end, farmers harvest little despite cultivating large tracts of land.
Currently, in Kasama’s Lwabwe and Nkolemfumu, the conservation agricultural work is at inception stage. A few farmers have embraced the idea purely on experimental basis with positive results.
Abel Bwalya, a conservation farmer in Nkolemfumu area says the reason there is so much hunger in his area is that people rely on rain to grow crops.
Mr Bwalya, 46, says he could see water going to waste during the short rains, followed by biting drought.
But now, Mr Bwalya has established an all-year-round field where he is practising conservation agriculture on the Kansobe River just half a kilometer away from his home. On this field, he plants various crops for consumption and for sale.
For Mr Bwalya, agriculture is a business, and from the time the method was introduced, his thinking towards agriculture has changed. Some members of his community have also changed their perception of agriculture and do not take it just as a way of feeding their families.
On his demonstration farm located over 65 kilometres from Kasama town, Mr Bwalya is introducing other farmers in the village to new and innovative methods of farming.
The method of conservation agriculture enables farmers to improve their annual yield from one to 1.5 tonnes per hectare to between four and seven tonnes per hectare last year.
“The results of conservation agriculture gave a lot of hope to the farmers. Now more farmers are asking to learn how to use conservation agriculture to improve their skills in agriculture and reduce poverty as well as ending hunger in homes and the communities as a whole,” Mr Bwalya says.
Farmers in Kasama face many problems. A number of farmers take the subsidised fertiliser and seeds from Government while other get loans from micro-financing to buy seeds, fertilisers and pesticides.
They have to pay monthly interest rates of over three percent but are forced to sell their produce at a low price in order to repay the loan.
For a long time, agriculture activities in Luapula, Muchinga and Northern provinces have always centered on subsidies.
“Before I entered into conservation agriculture, my life was very hard, I was putting in a lot and getting nothing whenever I harvest. I was getting fertiliser subsidies but my yields were getting lower each year,” says Mr Bwalya.
“But one day, an extension officer came to teach us about the new method of farming. I compared the conventional method of farming to conservation and I was so impressed with the yield from the two Lima where I had practised conservation farming,” Mr Bwalya adds.
Conservation agriculture has made it easier for the smallholder farmers in Kasama’s Lwabwe and Nkole mfumu communities in Paramount Chief Chitimukulu’s area.
Now that they have seen the benefits of conservation agriculture, the farmers in these two areas hold meetings to share their knowledge and experience with other farmers.
One of the participants Lugwalo Muchanga, is one of the pioneer farmers in cassava growing.
She says intercropping and crop rotation that was taught to them by an extension officer has yielded positive results in their way of farming.
Many young people see no hope for the future in their villages and go to towns in search of work.
Now that the rain gods seem not to answer the villagers’ prayers any more, increasing the productivity and resilience of smallholder farming systems is a huge challenge that will require significant and sustained technical, financial and political support and action at both the national and local levels.
However, a handful of low-cost and local approaches such as conservation agriculture could go a long way towards beginning to address this critical challenge and improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers across the country. PUBLISHED IN THE ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL ON AUGUST 20, 2017. LINK: http://www.daily-mail.co.zm/when-the-rain-god-will-not-answer/

Women empowerment changes lives

DOREEN NAWA, Kazungula
NOT long ago, women in Kazungula district were breadwinners for their families.
This was so following the fading away of gender roles as men left the masculine roles like farming to women.
Despite the gender roles having always been well defined and firmly entrenched in African traditional society, many women in Kazungula took the roles of men to fend for their families.
With regard to agriculture, men are expected to play a pivotal role in the production of food for both consumption and sale. But today, the scenario is changing.
Currently, women constitute more than 80 percent of the labour force in agriculture in Zambia.
But in Kazungula, women are saying no to such trends that are common in many rural areas in the country.
Tables have turned in the district with men assuming the role of major players in farming activities.
Five years ago, men whiled away their time drinking beer from neighbouring Botswana and Namibia.
Until 2012, some women felt that the men had neglected their roles as heads of families, leaving the responsibility to their wives. They believe that was a clear form of gender-based violence.
The United Nations defines violence against women as any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.
Esnart Siandavu of Kazungula’s Sikaunzwe area says gender-based violence also exists in agriculture because once the produce is ready, husbands immediately take charge of selling the produce to Food Reserve Agency (FRA) or private buyers.
Mrs Siandavu, a small-scale livestock farmer under the Singendende Farmers group, says gender-based violence does not only apply to wife battery, but in the distribution of resources as well.
“I think gender-based violence is not only when a husband beats his wife. Even in the distribution of resources. Like here, women are involved in farming while their husbands go drinking. Surprisingly, when it is time to sell the produce to FRA or other private buyers, it is the husbands who take a central role as if we do not know where the FRA depots are. I think it is a violation of our rights because we do not see the money after toiling for the whole farming season,” Mrs Siandavu says.
But Mrs Siandavu says after being introduced to a project funded by International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) on livestock management, she learnt how women can be self-reliant as opposed to being oppressed by their husbands.
“I joined Singendenge group and with financial assistance from IFAD, we started rearing goats and cattle, and when these animals breed, we sell some and share the money. It is from this money that I have decided to buy my own animals and when I want to sell them, I do so without restrictions.
“After selling these animals, I also contribute to the well-being of the family. This has helped me become self-reliant. And because of having something I call my own, my husband now looks at me with that respect that any human being deserves,” Mrs Siandavu says.
Many women, especially in rural areas, are victims of gender-based violence and seem to have accepted it as part of life.
But for women in Kazungula district, change is the direction to go.
Another woman, Matildah Nasilele of Bilibisi farmers group says not long ago, most men in Kazungula were unproductive, as they spent most of their time getting their goods into Zambia.
Mrs Nasilele says instead of turning to farming during the rainy season, most men continue to spend time at the border drinking beer and pottering around.
“Our men here in Kazungula used to be a problem and because of tradition, where a wife cannot castigate her husband, we end up accommodating their ill behaviour for the sake of the children. Most families were looked after by women and not because they just wanted to, but because their husbands were irresponsible,” she says.
According to Mrs Nasilele, women were in the forefront of farming but when it was time to sell the produce, husbands took up the responsibility.
Worse still, when they are paid, all the money was spent on beer instead of school requirements for the children.
She also says levels of literacy were very low in Kazungula five years ago. She attributes this to irresponsible husbands who could not take care of their children’s school needs.
Since the introduction of women’s clubs in Kazungula district, fathers are evolving into role models in most homes.
It is gratifying to see change in some communities, which constitute major strides Zambia has made in the fight against gender-based violence.
Even if the vice still exists in many areas, the change being experienced in Kazungula should motivate others.
According to Ackim Simamba, men resorted to drinking beer and left all the masculine jobs to women because of frustrations and pressure of fending for their families.
“Being the sole provider of all the needs at home is not easy, and as you may be aware, men are not as courageous as women when it comes to confronting situations. We get so scared and may not show it,” Mr Simamba says.
Edwin Sikute, a community leader and former Zambia Railways human resource personnel, admits that beer drinking was rife among men in Kazungula and this was because of the frustrations incurred due to the massive loss of cattle because of the Contagious Bovine Pleuro Pneumonia (CBPP) disease.
“People here are pastoralists, and when the disease struck their cattle, most of them entered into depression and started drinking beer and spending too much time at the border, living their wives to do most of the work in their fields,” Mr Sikute says.
After losing all the cattle they had, men in Kazungula district resorted to fishing and beer trading as survival means.
It is empowering when women co-operate in income-generating activities as they get to meet regularly, build solidarity, share ideas, interface with local officials and development personnel, and better understand their community’s economy.
From the women’s talks in Kazungula, it is clear to see that women participating in these programmes tend to develop improved self-worth and self-esteem.
In some cases, women leaders have emerged and developed their skills and knowledge.
From this experience, it is clear that the empowerment of women through the provision of activities that can bring them income is a key strategy in the sustainable development of the country.
In Kazungula, women are now increasingly contributing to, and often assume sole responsibility for the welfare of their families.
The change happening in Kazungula district is possible anywhere, and it is a pointer to a statement that, ‘when you empower a woman, you empower a community’. PUBLISHED IN THE ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL ON AUGUST 13, 2017. LINK: https://www.daily-mail.co.zm/women-empowerment-changes-lives/

Whats future for children born to prisoners

Matron Mainga

DOREEN NAWA, Lusaka
THEY have done nothing wrong to earn a prison sentence but they have been subjected to a harsh life in prison. This is the story of children born to women in prison.
At Lusaka Central Correctional Facility, popularly known as Chimbokaila, there are seven children, all aged below two.
Behind the high whitewashed walls, mothers dressed in pink dresses carry babies around the yard.
Some toddlers playfully move hand-in-hand with their mothers, while others play in the open space within the prison walls.
It is a neat and clean environment but still does not offer an environment fit for children to grow in.
These children find themselves behind these walls because of circumstances and that is why the law refers to them as circumstantial children.
Currently, there are seven children in the Lusaka Central Correctional Facility because of the crimes of their mothers.
Matron Mainga, 35, is in prison with her 11-month-old baby.
She was jailed in Livingstone for illegal possession of ivory, but she was later transferred to Lusaka because her son has a medical condition that needs attention.
“My son was born in prison. I was arrested when I was three months pregnant. But a few days after he was born, he could not defecate and his tummy started swelling. I have been sentenced to five years imprisonment for being found in possession of ivory,” she says.
She narrates how she found herself and her baby in prison.
“On the fateful day, I was at home in Sikaunzwe, Kasaya area in Kazungula district when I saw security men coming. They came home and asked for my husband and I told them he was not home. They told me that they had information that my husband had pieces of ivory. They pushed themselves into my home and found pieces of ivory. I told them to wait for my husband but they refused and instead picked me for questioning, and since then, I have never returned home,” Ms Mainga says.
Ms Mainga is originally from Nalisa Village in Sesheke district. She describes her stay in jail with her son as the hardest thing ever in her life.
Her son now has a tube inserted in his tummy to help him pass stool.
Ms Mainga had to fight for her son’s right to treatment.
When she was in Livingstone, she refused to enter her cell until her son was attended to.
“I told the officer on duty that I will not enter the cells until I am attended to. Then I was allowed to take my son to Livingstone General Hospital, where he was operated on. The hospital staff managed to open his tummy and made a provisional point for passing stool,” she says.
She found herself at Lusaka Central Correctional Facility after medical staff referred her son to the University Teaching Hospital for specialist treatment.
For Ms Mainga, who has two other children, boys aged six and eight, entrusting her baby to relatives outside the jail walls was unthinkable.
“Feeding children in prison is a challenge because they have special dietary needs which the prison authorities cannot afford. But again allowing my son to live with relatives is harder. I know life is hard out there and giving people an extra responsibility is hard with the current economic challenges,” Ms Mainga says.
Incarcerated mothers like Ms Mainga are often the primary or sole caretakers of their children, and sometimes the children are too young to be separated while others have delicate conditions like Ms Mainga’s son.
As such, the Zambian law allows children to temporarily reside in prison with their mothers.
The Zambian Constitution, Article 56 of the Prisons Act (Cap 97), says the infant of a woman prisoner may be received into the prison with its mother and may be supplied with clothing and necessities at public expense.
The Prisons Act further says when the child is four years and if the officer-in-charge is satisfied that there are relatives or friends of the child who are able and willing to support it, he can hand it over to the relatives or an approved child welfare.
Since this law is not cast in stone, some children are left to remain with their mother for a longer time.
Another inmate at Lusaka Central Correctional Facility, Prudence Mpalanga, 37, of Garden Chilulu in Lusaka, says giving up her one-year-old daughter to the relatives will affect her stay in prison.
Ms Mpalanga is in prison with her husband for aggravated robbery after they were arrested in 2015.
At the time of her imprisonment, she was five months pregnant and she later gave birth to a baby girl whilst in prison.
“She is the only friend I have here. I spend all my time with her. I would rather she is with me here because this way, she gives me comfort. I am able to see what she has eaten and I know her current condition,” Ms Mpalanga says.
But the biggest challenge for prison authorities is to supply the children’s needs. Zambia Correctional Service commissioner general Percy Chato acknowledged that providing the needs of circumstantial children has not been easy for the prisons authority.
“Children’s needs are different from their mothers’ in everything, be it dietary or clothing. We expect a change once the paradigm shift, the process of repealing and replacing the Prisons Act (Cap 97 of the laws of Zambia), is done. We have faith-based organisations and non-governmental organisations that supplement very often,” Mr Chato says.
Mr Chato says currently, once the child reaches four years, it is given to a relative who is able and willing to assume responsibility, and in the absence of such an option, it is sent to a foster home or orphanages.
Currently, there are 82 children under the age of four living within the confines of prisons country-wide with their mothers, who are serving various jail sentences.
Just like any person, each child has the right to particular protection and is entitled to a safe and stimulating environment of growth to develop in a balanced way.
The only hope for the ‘incarcerated’ children lies in the repeal and replacement of the current Prisons Act.
For now, the issue of what happens to a child when a parent is incarcerated is one that needs to receive the attention of Government and civil society organisations.
And certainly, the scale of the issue is not small. PUBLISHED IN THE ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL ON AUGUST 6, 2017. LINK: https://www.daily-mail.co.zm/whats-future-for-children-born-to-prisoners/