Finding solution to girl child plight

DOREEN NAWA
Chongwe

WHEN schoolgirls in Kumena, Kasenga and Hillcrest about 45 kilometres away from Chongwe town reach puberty, it is a gate way for their parents to marry them off.
For their parents and guardians, this is a way of shifting responsibilities attached to buying sanitary pads to their husbands.
The age of the man does not matter as long as the girl has reached puberty.
Lucy Sakala, one of the girls, reached puberty at 13 and when she got her first period, she asked her mother for sanitary pads.
Her mother dismissively suggested that she should find herself a husband to pay for her sanitary pads.
Two years later, Lucy could not continue with her school. She was forced to drop out of school at 15 when her widowed mother could no longer afford to pay for her school fees and buying sanitary pads.
This situation forced her mother to marry her off.
“My mother told me I could not go to school anymore because she had no money for schools fees. I was so bored at home. Each time I would ask her when I would start school. Her answer was that she did not have money. I had nothing to do and no money. My mother told me it would be best to look for a man so that he could buy me things I needed, like sanitary pads,” Lucy says.
The man who married Lucy only paid K500 for her to become his wife and a year later she had a baby boy.
She says being married off early was shocking to her because she wanted to be in school and pursue her dream.
“I felt frustrated and alone, forced to stay at home all day by a husband who restricted my movements.  My parents struggled to send me to school until I was 15 and there I was, wasting my education by just staying at home,” she says.
Lucy’s story is not uncommon. Many girls in rural areas drop out of education when they begin menstruating because their schools lack proper washrooms or because they cannot afford costly sanitary products.
Peggy Miti, 44, says hundreds of girls in Chongwe are forced into child marriages by parents who are too poor to buy hygiene products.
As a mother, Mrs Miti says many girls in her area are pressured into having sex by boys who offer to buy them sanitary items in return.
Mrs Miti has hope in organisations which advocates for an end to child marriage to donatie sanitary pads in rural schools.
Girl’s menstrual health is still considered taboo subject in conservative rural communities countrywide.
“Even just the mention of buttocks, one can be taken to the traditional council. It is worse when one mentions about a private part to a parent or guardian. Such is considered sacred and only to be said to a husband not anyone,” Mrs Miti says.
For some time now, development experts say child marriage is a major barrier to girls’ education.
Repssi country director Kelvin Ngoma says girls who marry at a young age are often subjected to domestic violence, sexual abuse and social isolation.
Mr Ngoma says lack of formal and informal education in rural areas have reduced options of earning money, thereby leaving girls in child marriages dependent on their husbands.
Repssi is an NGO that advocates for an end to child marriage by training teachers in an effort to address psychosocial issues affecting children which include child marriage.
“Repssi is sensitising communities on psychosocial needs of the children by engaging the Government and local government authorities, traditional leaders, religious leaders, parents and caregivers, communities, and the children,” Mr Ngoma says.
Mr Ngoma says there is need to enforce laws and also providing incentives which will lessen school girl child dropouts.
U.N. children’s agency UNICEF has estimated around 50 percent of girls countrywide miss class because their schools lack separate toilets and washing facilities to help them manage their periods.
Many fall behind and end up quitting school. Once out of school they are more likely to be married off.
Although Zambia has banned child marriage, four in 10 girls are married off before they attain the age of 18 and one in 10 before 15, UNICEF says.
World Vision Zambia National Campaign Coordinator James Zimba says the lack of menstrual hygiene support for schoolgirls was a strong factor in the country’s high drop-out rate.
More than 40 percent of girls fail to complete primary school and only a fifth start secondary school, Mr Zimba says.
“Education is a very powerful tool in the prevention of child marriage.  When girls are out of school because they cannot manage their periods it’s hard for them to avoid marriage,” Mr Zimba says.
Sanitary products could cost girls around K20 a month - a prohibitive price for many in rural areas.
In rural schools, menstruation comes with stigma and bullying especially when one stains their uniform or dress.
To keep safe and away from the embarrassment, instead girls often use old rags, dried leaves or grass or paper - sometimes tearing pages from school books.
To tackle the stigma, several aid agencies have set up menstrual hygiene clubs at schools across the country where girls can make their own reusable cotton sanitary pads with removable waterproof linings.
Mr Zimba says to reduce the cost of sanitary pads, there is need to ensure schools are empowered to make girls make their own sanitary pads.
“There is a lot of ignorance around periods. The effect on the girls was devastating: many skipped school to avoid the bullying. Some never returned,” Mr Zimba says.
At one school, Kumena, boys told this author that they thought girls who bled had been victims of sexual violence and drew demeaning pictures on the blackboard.
Kumena Boys Network chairperson Obert Mwale says an initiative to bring in boys to understand the anatomy of the girls has been formed.
“It is now that boys are included in some clubs, talking about the pads and issues of menstruation,” a pupil at Kumena Obert says.
Zambia is not the only country looking at providing free sanitary towels as a way to boost girls’ education levels. Kenya, Uganda are among the many developing countries that are still grappling with catalysts to child marriages like lack of sanitary pads.
Zambia has also promised to supply pads to schoolgirls - although aid agency WaterAid said Zambia is yet to commit any funding.
But Ministry of General Education permanent secretary Jobbicks Kalumba says the sanitary pads distribution in rural has started.
Dr Kalumba says the exercise is currently donor based.
"Our cooperating partners have started this process and it is all in the hope of reducing the burden than our girls face," Dr Kalumba says. PUBLISH IN THE ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL ON OCTOBER 11, 2020.

Breaking the Silence: Diane’s experience

DOREEN NAWA
Lusaka

“BREAKING the silence,” is Diane Louangrath’s book where she shares her story of sexual violence by her step-father and husbands from two separate marriages.
In line with the title of her book, she sat down with the Sunday Mail to break the silence on her sexual abuse.  
It is not like Diane’s step father wore a sign saying, ‘I’m a sexual predator.’ He was a cool dad.
Diane, an American citizen of Thai origin, never lived happily. She was born from an abusive home. Her parents never lived in peace in their home.
This resulted in the parents divorcing when they relocated from Thailand to Ohio, Texas in United States of America.
Both her parents remarried. Diane was six when her step-father started molesting her.
Her step-father continued molesting her and when she turned 12, the step father became more comfortable and started having sexual intercourse with her.
When the trend continued and turned to rape, Diane decided to disclose to her mom and the principal at her school.
Before disclosing what she was going through, Diane used to watch a lot of movies and documentaries about sexual abuse from which she gathered courage to open up.
“My mom was shocked and speechless,” Diane says.
But when Police came in to investigate the case, Diane’s mom became defensive for her husband.
“When police came in, my mom defended my step-father saying my step-father loved us so much and he could not molest me,” Diane says.
In the United States, when a case of molestation is disclosed to teachers or school authority, police get involved and the victim is separated from their parents or guardian.
So Diane was separated and taken to the Child protective Centre were she was treated like a juvenile delinquent.
Then her cousin came to pick her up and two years later, her mom married Diane off to a 22-year-old man.
This was Diane’s first marriage at 14 years of age.
“I was confused by my mom’s action. Nothing like this had happened before. I was still a kid and all she does is to marry me off. As a result, I went to this marriage with anger. My first husband, the 22-year-old guy was of Asian origin,” she says.
After nine years of being married, Diane left her first marriage.
And in 2007, Diane got marriage to a Zambian national in the United States of America.
In 2010, her husband brought Diane to Zambia for introduction and to introduce their first born daughter.
This marriage too was toxic. Diane was in another abusive marriage and in 2014, she left this marriage.
For the next two years, Diane continued to struggle, both with the physical abuse and the emotional pain it brought her.
“I took steps to prevent the pain, but a part of me was hate. It was another toxic relationship. I did not know that I had gone into depression because no justice was done from the start when my step-father abused me and when I was forced into marriage at 14. I grew up a bitter person and this first experience of abuse affected all my marriages. I ended up experiencing emotional and mental abuses which resulted into me going in clinical depression,” she says.
And in 2016, Diane remarried to another Zambian in the US.
This third marriage too could not last and after three years, Diane divorced again.
“All my three marriages were toxic and unhealthy. I struggled to fit in. The last two marriages with Zambian husbands, one a Bemba and the last one a Tonga made me realise that I needed to heal from trauma. I was so traumatised,” she says.
Diane poses and talks about recovering from sexual abuse.
“Perpetrators of child sexual abuse will often use grooming tactics, like gift-giving, spending alone time and building age-inappropriate relationships with children and teens to keep them silent about the abuse,” she says.
The abuse had serious effects on Diane’s life including mental illness, inability to maintain relationships and suicidal thoughts.
“I attempted suicide three times. The last one was in 2018. Then at that point, God came through and I gathered courage to soldier on,” she says.
Diane says the effects of sexual violence can be challenging to deal with, but with the right support they can be managed.
“They can be particularly challenging for women, men and boys who face unique challenges due to social norms about masculinity. Actually abuse has no colour, race or gender.  Do not internalise the abuse,” she says
She says from her experience, Diane has learnt that it is important to have a supportive group of friends and family to be your rock.
“I think it would have worked better for me if I had a mother who was supportive and if I was able to talk about the abuse to a supportive group of people,” she says.
Diane has now founded an organisation called Renewed Strength Zambia, an organisation that helps survivors of sexual abuses get back to their normal lives and find a way out to the many challenges they face like trauma.
Diane says it is not uncommon for survivors to feel alone and isolated.
For many, Diane says hearing and sharing stories can play a vital role in their recovery from trauma which is the reason she came up with the organisation to help people open up and find help.
She says from her experience, sexual violence can have psychological, emotional, and physical effects on a survivor.
Diane says these effects are not always easy to deal with, but with the right help and support they can be managed.
“Learning more can help you find the best form of care to begin the healing process. I ended up writing a book, titled, Breaking the Silence and it is on Amazon all because I wanted people to know my story and together, we can move on with life because abusers do not apologise and sometimes do not even get punished at all,” she says. ALSO PUBLISHED IN THE ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL ON OCTOBER 4, 2020.

COVID-19 threatens to turn back clock for women’s health & rights

A new High-Level Commission of advocates, experts and activists will be established today to help commitments to women’s health and rights made at the November 2019 Nairobi Summit on ICPD25 stay on track, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is blocking access to essential services, such as family planning and antenatal care.

The Nairobi Summit secured billions of dollars in commitments from governments, the private sector, foundations and others. 

It rallied support to achieve “three zeros” – zero unmet need for family planning, zero preventable maternal deaths, zero gender-based violence and harmful practices – in 10 years.

UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, and the governments of Denmark and Kenya convened the Summit 25 years after the landmark International Conference on Population and Development, which culminated in a global agreement that sexual and reproductive health and rights are a necessity for growth and prosperity. 

But progress in securing these rights has stalled.

“Since the Nairobi Summit, the road to 2030 and the achievement of sexual and reproductive health and rights for all has grown steeper due to COVID-19,” says UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem. 

“Yet we continue to forge ahead, to back up words with deeds and action on the ground. 

The new High-Level Commission will help all of us who made commitments in Nairobi keep those promises.”

Like the delegates at the Nairobi Summit, the membership of the High-Level Commission is radically inclusive. 

 Chaired by H.E. Mr. Jakaya Kikwete, Former President of the United Republic of Tanzania, and H.E. Michaëlle Jean, 27th Governor General of Canada, its members range from former heads of state to grassroots activists and youth. (For a full list of its members, see below).

The Commission will monitor and report on progress towards fulfilling the 1,250 commitments made at the Nairobi Summit, and in particular the 12 global commitments contained in the Nairobi Statement on ICPD25, and make recommendations for removing bottlenecks so that the sexual and reproductive health and rights community maintains its momentum towards a world of rights and choices for all.

 

Life in Munali Hills: Survival of the fittest

DOREEN NAWA

JUST at the mention of the name Munali Hills, what comes to mind is the stealing of goods from vehicles which plunge in the gullies around the area.

Not long ago, stories of motorists and travellers losing their goods in this area were so common.

Worse still, having a breakdown in the night was dreadful for many motorists because of attacks by hooligans who always lay in wait for any misfortune to occur.

But residents now speak of youths who perpetrated the vice at Munali Hills as a changed lot, attributing every ounce of their past misdeeds as the work of poverty.

“In an area like Munali Hills, meeting daily needs is a challenge if one does not have any means of survival. The stories of people stealing from trucks were very common then, but not anymore. I think people are now appreciating the goodness in working for what you eat,” Roddy Siabutuba says.

What has triggered a shift in the minds of people is the opening of Nickel Mine and the goat meat trade by some youths near the mine.

“Here, because it is a dry area, we have a lot of goats and with the re-opening of the mine a lot of boys have found something to do. They braai goat meat and sell to mine employees and visitors who come to Nickel Mine. Before the mine re-opened, the situation was so bad. There were a lot of delinquencies among young people here,” Mr Siabutuba says.

Meat processing, especially for goats, seems to be the only sustainable way out of poverty among some people at Munali Hills.

Edwin Kaulu says keeping goats has reduced his vulnerability to dry weather conditions in the area.

For him, goat rearing holds special hope for Munali Hills because goats are disease resistant and can survive with little water available.

Mr Kaulu says the returns from goat rearing are massive when carefully managed.

He says goat meat is on high demand within Munali Hills and mostly Lusaka.

Sale of Goat meat at Munali Nickel Mine has kept many youths away from grabbing items from transiting trucks at Munali Hills.

Gibson Kabuku, one of the youths trading in smoked goat meat at the Munali Nickel Mine junction in Chikankata said the re-opening of the mine has created an opportunity for the youth in the area to team up and start selling goat meat.

“We call it ‘Shokazi’ (Braai) here; it has market around this area. We are a group of youths, we are eleven of us. We do buy goats from here and slaughter, and this trend has helped keep me and other youth busy,” Mr Kabuku says.

Petty thefts were common among young people not only from transiting trucks but also vehicles that get involved in accidents.

“Since the coming of Nickel Mine again, such cases have reduced. Youth have regrouped to venture into goat meat and the commodity is a hot cake even among travellers. People stop by to just have a bite,” Mr Kabuku says

Entrepreneurial culture around Munali Hills youth is almost like a big family adding that the trend is also providing readily available market for goat farmers around the area.

And another youth Felix Mwandenge says the goat meat business at Munali Nickel Mine has given youth in the area a hope of bettering their lives.

Mr Mwandenge says on a daily basis, a team of five youth do make between K600-K800.

“The money we get out of this business is shared at the end of the day among the group. So if on that day, five youth were working, then whatever the daily earnings then we share amongst us,” Mr Mwandenge says.

In April 2019, President Lungu re-opened of Munali Nickel Mine in Mazabuka District.

Munali Nickel Mine had been off operations for the last eight years since being placed under care and maintenance.

Consolidated Nickel Mines (CNM), a UK based firm acquired the rights to operate the mine from the owners Jinchuan Group out of China in 2014 and invested more than US$55 million to revive the nickel mine.

Apart from venturing into goat rearing, some people in Munali Hills engage in charcoal production to make ends meet.

Purity Banda says the dry weather conditions in the area has forced her to concentrate on charcoal production although she has a field where she grows some maize.

“We cannot farm here or cultivate any meaningful crops; all we do is produce charcoal from the available trees and sell to travellers,” Mrs Banda says.

She has been trading in charcoal for many years and says charcoal production is the only means of survival in Munali Hills.

“I have a small field eight kilometres from here and quite close to Dallas Farms where we grow maize and beans. It is quite a distance but there is nothing I can do. Because of distance I spend nights there during planting, weeding and harvesting season,” Mrs Banda says.

Mrs Banda adds, “We are not the only ones having a feel of hardship in this dry land here selling charcoal. There are other women left at home who toil trying to get water because water here is another challenge.”

Driving through the stretch one is able to see that no crop can grow because the area is mountainous and dry. It has quite a number of baobab trees.

There are gullies on both sides of the road and the road is narrow. This makes the place prone to road traffic accidents.

The search for a better life is not exactly easy here. The residents of Munali Hills travel great distances to get to Nickel Mine junction or indeed areas where they can farm.

Vince Mwakasungula, a resident of Munali Hills, says the future is uncertain as he expects more challenging times.

“The population is growing and this area is expanding and yet there is no show of infrastructure from Government or the private sector. This will increase the number of people living here to continue in abject poverty leading others to stealing,” Mr Mwakasungula says.

Asked if he is willing to relocate, Mr Mwakasungula says Munali Hills is where his ancestors are buried and relocating will mean displacing him forever.

“I cannot go anywhere; I don’t want to live like a refugee in a foreign land. This is the land of my birth. Yes it is a dry land but it has supported my life and that of my family for years, all that is needed here is support in terms of infrastructure like skills training facilities,” Mr Mwakasungula says.

The women walk long distances to fetch water from the nearest source and carry it home on their heads often with their babies strapped on their backs.

“We are not the only ones having a feel of hardship in this dry land here selling charcoal. There are other women left at home who toil trying to get water because water here is another challenge,” Mrs Banda says.

Unity Kandyata, another resident of Munali Hills, feels life around the hills is redeemable if empowerment schemes available in urban areas spill over to their area.

“I have lived here for my whole life and I have not seen meaningful flow of development here apart from the Nickel Mine. The mine is a blessing because it has employed some of the youths who were jobless for years,” she says.

Mrs Kandyata has asked for a piece of land close to Dallas Farm where she has managed to harvest some maize.

“Life without anywhere to farm is too difficult. So I had to ask for some piece of land close to Dallas Farm. Like now, I managed to harvest some maize and this is what we will be eating until it finishes,” she says.

When she runs out of maize Mrs Kandyata joins the bandwagon of charcoal produsers.

“The common food around this season is Chidyobbo, this is cooked dry maize mixed with pumpkin. Life around Munali Hills is not easy but we are used,” she says.

Munali Hill lies about 56km north of Mazabuka.

The name Munali is historical. There is a sign to Munali Hills historic site, a stone cairn.

It lies one kilometre on the Munali Pass road commemorating David Livingstone's passage through the hill pass that separates the Lusaka high plateau from the Kafue Flats.

It is believed that the Scottish explorer went up the Munali Hills to catch a perfect view of the Kafue River.

From the locals around the hills, the name Munali means 'you have been' or 'you have passed through.' Munali was the nickname given to Dr Livingstone, reminding the locals of his memorable visit.

Originally, Munali Hill was called Kunanalika in Ila.

However, though motorists and travellers may still have bad memories of Munali Hills, they have a chance to stopover for soup “ya mbuzi (goat soup)” or tasty roasted goat meat.     

Securing the catch in Nega Nega amid COVID-19

DOREEN NAWA
Mazabuka
FISHING activities are at their peak in Nega Nega in Mazabuka district, but the gains are getting lower because of COVID-19.
Fishing in this area is considered to be essential by not only the community in Nega Nega, but their usual markets, restaurants in Kafue, Mazabuka and the capital city, Lusaka.
Even with COVID-19, there is still some belief among fishing communities in the area that there is a silver lining to this crisis.
As coronavirus threatens the population’s livelihoods, small-scale fisheries in Nega Nega are working out ways to stay safe while maintaining their livelihoods.
They have taken steps to ensure that all actors respect safety measures to curb the spread of coronavirus, such as washing hands with water and soap and hand sanitiser and observing social distancing among canoe crews.
“Those going deep in the river carried more than five to seven men, but right now we have reduced that number to two or three men if the river is raging. We reduced the number because of the health guidelines we got from the district authorities in Mazabuka and Kafue. We know that Kafue is an epicentre,” says Teddy Shalubala, the fishing community chairperson.
Besides ensuring social distancing, small-scale fishermen are also redirecting the sales of their catch.
They have gone from selling immediately after landing the catch to packing first and selling the catch at a less populated spot.
“We used to have people come here with their refrigeration facilities for stock-piling, but now that is not the case. Fishing communities are applying measures such as social distancing and regular hand washing to fight against the spread of the virus. We know we are not an exception. Even here we can have COVID-19, so we prefer to prevent it,” Mr Shalubala says.
It is not only the leaders that are supportive of these preventive measures. Fishermen, too, have a buy-in.
A fisherman, Charles Kaliyangile, says the system aims at avoiding crowding in landing sites.
“We came up with this system before the virus outbreak in our area. We know that we have customers that come from Kafue and Lusaka. Our initial thought was to ensure orderliness among ourselves, which should spill over to anyone who visits this area,” says Mr Kaliyangile.
Fish sellers, on the other hand, have made washing of hands mandatory.
“We have found hand sanitiser to be extremely expensive for us. We have made it a must that we carry a bar of soap for washing hands. Anyone who comes to buy fish is asked to wash his or her hands first. And the adherence is amazing, but we still have some people who do not religiously follow the preventive measures,” says Precious Phiri, a fishmonger.
Although the fishing community in Nega Nega is following safety and sanitary measures amid COVID-19, they question some measures like masking up, saying they are “too extreme” and are threatening their livelihoods.

“No one has ever had to deal with anything like this [masking up] before. We comfort ourselves to a certain degree, that where we live, in a more sparsely populated area, the disease may not arrive in the same way. Wearing masks is for areas that are highly populated,” says Mrs Phiri.
To date, wearing of masks is optional in these areas, while those who wear masks are looked at as the ‘rich’ in their communities.
“The price is also what keeps the masks inaccessible. Buying a mask for K10 to K15 is beyond the reach of many here. It is better to buy soap for K10 which everyone can use. But for the mask, it’s only for one person,” Lucia Loongo adds.
Mr Cephas Loongo, owner of two canoes, has seen unprecedented low catches for the past weeks, a situation he links to social distancing requirements.    
“The reduction of manpower because of social distancing has made business bad. We hardly bring a full net from the river. The work we do requires a good number of manpower. Two to three men are not enough to shoot nets, withdraw the net and offload it. I know that it is a law for our own safety, but when we cannot get something for our family it becomes a serious problem,” Mr Loongo says.
In normal conditions, the withdrawal of nets requires seven men for middle-size canoes and at least 12 for large canoes.
Access to local fish for women fishmongers is harder every day, as prices are doubling due to low catches compounded by lack of manpower following the restrictions.
Normally, during this time every year fishing activities are on their peak and fishermen cash in over K5,000 every week.
Fishmongers, mostly women, usually buy in bulk for resale in Mazabuka and Kafue, but the reduction of catches has sparked inflation in prices.

“I am buying the hand-size tilapia bundle of 10 pieces at K130 now. Before, I was buying at K100. Add my transport cost to this, I pay K90 on public transport to come here every day,” says Sarah Hamachila, a fishmonger.
“I have been here since this morning. I have not bought any fish. The boys are not bringing enough fish from the waters, and what is even worse is that some of our friends have pre-paid for the catch. So people like me who are not yet customers to any of these fishermen are suffering. I am giving myself up to tomorrow evening, and then I will leave this place,” she says.
The fisheries sector in this area employs an estimated 10,000 throughout the value chain, which includes the Kafue wetlands in Naluama and Nega Nega area in Kafue and Mazabuka districts.

Met Machela the Cute Farmer

Machela

DOREEN NAWA
Lusaka
FARMS are not easy to start, and require a lot of land and skill, but for Machela Mumba, 29, a customer care officer she decided to start goat farming with no skills just a dream.
She also did not have land she could call her own.
Machela does not subscribe to farming as a dirty job; she says youth should see it as a swag and cute profession.
And to demystify this thinking, Machela has decided to call herself the Cute Farmer.
One day because of the inspiration from her grandmother, Machela asked her parents if she could use part of the land at their farm in Rufunsa to venture into Goat farming.
It was a trial and error kind of venture, she did not have capital specific for that Goat farming business.
Currently, Machela works as a Customer Care officer at University of Lusaka, Leopards Hill campus.
“From my little servings, I managed to buy 10 goats and in no time they were over 40 goats, and that’s how my goat farm was established,” Machela says.
As time went by, she thought of the market and what came to her mind was value addition.
Machela is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Cute Farmer; she not only rears goats, but has put together her passion and her culinary skills to work.
She tried making goat sharwamas and to her surprise, all was sold out.
Machela again tried selling goat kebabs, cookies and chocolate brownies made from her Goat milk and everything sold out.
From then until now, Goat Sharwama, Kebabs, Cookies and Chocolate brownies made out of goat milk has become her trade make.
She does deliveries on request.
“All my doings in goat farming and value addition has been self-taught. I have not been to any agriculture school. I learn all this through reading. I read a lot of books,” she says.
Machela says through her journey in goat farming, she has learned that farm work in general is quite varied, so it certainly helps to be skilled in many different areas.
And her skill has come about because of the interest she has had in farming.
“I appreciate what I do, I used materials that were seemingly abandoned by my mum and dad and my aunty to make a fence,” Machela says.
Through it all, Machela says understanding the responsibilities and demands of goat farming are sometimes overwhelming.
She says time and again, she has been told that if one wants to become a farmer, they will need to acquire the practical, technical and theoretical knowledge of farm work.
But for Machela, she reads a lot and also has employed five people that take care of the goats.
“Farming involves plenty of manual labour. I have people that I pay from my own pocket to do the work when I am not there,” she says.
Machela described herself as a passionate and hardworking lady, who has finally put her dreams into reality.
She's into Goat meat and milk production, she also sells her goat product in various ways.
She adds, “During some weeks, I also get involved and do some sort of manual labour, now when it’s Monday, sometimes I feel so tired to even get up. But above all, I enjoy juggling between work and farming.”
One of her biggest achievements was registering her company, ‘The Cute Farmer,’ and starting up all by herself as a female is a responsibility she takes seriously.
She is ow looking forward to being one of largest goat breeders nationwide.
“I looked around and I felt goats were the easiest for me because the demand is there and very few people are in goats,” she says.
Now, she is looking into other opportunities like cheese production, flavoured goat milk beverages and other products such as sausages, polony and viennas.
She has seen the power in value addition and she would like to explore more opportunities and potential market.
Machela breeds one of the best quality goats called Kalahari and has no comprise on the quality of herd. As her numbers increase, she hopes to setup an abattoir and cold room facilities.
She has the intention of facilitating trainings to educate those who want to be a part of the goat rearing industry.
Her major challenge has been finding a market but with her diverse products it has narrowed and bridged the gaps she has been facing.
Machela’s words of encouragement to fellow youth are, “Start where you are, with what you have and exercise a lot of patience, consistency, hard work and determination.”
Machela has been in goat farming for a year now, but has only recently begun to commercialise and expand her operation, aligning it to her ultimate goal of eventually going into stud production.
Through her journey she says certain qualities set successful farmers apart, namely a positive attitude and the ability to embrace change.
“Farmers have a capacity for hard work and thorough decision-making, they’re able to handle adversity and work with a great deal of autonomy. Remember, a farmer’s job is more than just their livelihood, it’s their life, and it’s as far away as you can get,” she says.
She says what inspires her is that experienced farmers are self-employed and wear many hats.
Machela says life on the farm provides a sense of community with family often working together contributing to the running of the farm, a thing she feels youth should value.
As a farmer, she is on-call 24 hours a day seven days a week.
Machela says, “I am inspired to make a lasting impact on the planet.”

More than lockdown

A vegetable trader at Shikoswe market wearing a mask.

DOREEN NAWA

Kafue

TENSION and fear is what characterized Kafue district on April 11, 2020.

This was after word went round that the district had been mapped out as a hotspot.

On Saturday, April 11, 2020, Minister of Health Dr Chitalu Chilufya announced that Kafue has been mapped out following a COVID-19 related death that happened on April 8, 2020 in Kafue.

In no time, Government on Wednesday April 15, 2020 declared a 24 hours lockdown on the small town.

The lockdown added more fear.

The lockdown was to roll out drastic measures aimed at curtailing any possible new infections amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19, the highly infectious disease caused by the virus, has so far killed almost 8,000 people globally, while others have recovered. In Zambia, the virus has claimed two lives.

Before the lockdown, despite all the warnings, Kafue residents were seen all over going about their business as usual.

Now more than ever, they felt the urge to adhere to hygiene standards like wearing masks and washing hands with soap.

“I have never been this terrified in my life and I am not alone. People here are scared,” said Karen Luneta, as she hurried entered her house up the hill in Kafue's Kalundu view Township.

"We have tried our best to put up hand washing facilities at our Shikoswe market where I trade from.  But again, the challenge is that some people will only wash their hands while at the market not because they do not want, but because they cannot afford soap and clean water," she added with a laugh.

She says some people in her area have stubbornly tried to defy the appeals to avoid crowded spaces amid a general atmosphere of hesitation in the streets and other public gatherings.

Two weeks ago in his address to the nation, President Lungu called ‘for a change of behavior amongst all Zambians.’

Gatherings of more than 50 people were prohibited while the population was advised to minimise contact with others and do the "elbow greeting" rather than shaking hands.

By the end of his address, nothing much seemed to have changed.

While others heed to his address and jumped into action, other people did not.

A number of people in Kafue were not convinced that the country's fighting chance against the new coronavirus is social distancing and precautious behavior like hand washing with soap, no hugs, no gatherings and many other preventive measures given as guidelines by the line Ministries.

One of the main worries is what will happen once the virus reaches the crowded inner cities and townships.

"I must alert all Kafue residents that the internal transmission risk is now settling in our small town. Please stay home and stay safe. Adhere to the hygiene practices lined up," Kafue Member of Parliament Miriam Chonya said in an interview.

"Once this infection starts spreading in taxis and buses, and these high density areas like Soloboni, it will create a new dynamic, so such a thing like the mandatory screening is good for us," Ms Chonya said.

She added that, “COVID-19 infects people of all ages, but evidence to date suggests that older adults and those with underlying medical conditions are at higher risk of becoming severely ill. So let’s be serious about the measures lined up to protect ourselves.”

Spread of rumours on who can get corona virus on public transport and on the streets were more common.

Others believed that corona virus only affects white people.

But after the confirmed death and the lockdown, in the streets of Kafue, the mood has shifted from cracking "corona" jokes to general tension and confusion.

In Kalundu view, a high density Township on the east of Kafue, people were seen closed up in their homes, makeshift shops abandoned as they wait to be screened.

Shops and other places frequented by the public intensified hygienic controls. Some started wearing homemade face masks.

“We need Government to assist us. Having Kafue mapped as a hotspot has affected our lives, we order tomatoes and vegetables from Mungu and other Shimabala areas, and because we cannot sell as before, we end up losing out,” Precious Himaimbo, a marketer now trading at Khosa stadium said.

At the entrance of a local supermarket, two ladies sprayed a paste in everyone's hands in an attempt to limit germs and requested everyone to wash their hands.

"It's serious," the security guard at the Khosa stadium said, laughing timidly.

Having believed a rumour that COVID-19 comes from eating meat, some people think they have to change their diets.

On his way out of a local corner shop, a man proudly held up his plastic bag and announced that he is now buying fish.

“Ni Yalelo (Fish) manje, Nyama [meat] ipasa corona (gives you corona)," the security guard who did not want to be named said as he walked away.

Khosa Stadium is now the new trading area for Tuesday and Friday market.

Kafue District Commissioner Joseph Kamana said information is an important factor to contain the virus and that people should be responsible enough to take up preventive measures.

“The measures put in place to combat the virus are not complicated, we don't have any other preventive measures apart from these basics like no hugs, social distancing, washing hands with soap," he said.

He added, “These are just the basics” referring to the shaking hands, giving hugs or going to gatherings is not acceptable any more.

Mr Kamana’s message is centered on his repeatedly appeal for adherence, “If we carry on as if there is no Corona virus in our area, then we are risking our lives and that of our neighbours and children.”

But even when information is accessible, there is denial. It seems it’s a culture of keeping the hygiene standards that is lacking.

Myths, fears in coronavirus hotspots

Ms Tina Nambao

WITH her figure cast into shadow by a fig tree, Ms Tina Nambao, a street vendor in Chaisa Township, is selling groundnuts on a table which once served as a stand for her salaula (second-hand clothes) business.

Had it not been for the myth that second-hand clothes being sold in Zambia now are from coronavirus victims overseas, Ms Nambao would still be selling salaula.

But as the fight against COVID-19 in Lusaka intensifies, Ms Nambao finds herself trapped between the myth surrounding second-hand clothes and the reality of living in a township declared a coronavirus hotspot by the Ministry of Health.

 As the epicentre of COVID-19 pandemic, Lusaka has five townships that have been announced as hotspots. These are Ibex Hill, Chaisa, Jack, Lilayi and Makeni.

With such an announcement, living in these areas has become more challenging for some residents who live each day in uncertainty.

Nambao says living in a COVID-19 hotspot has changed her life.

As a salaula trader, Ms Nambao says COVID-19 has hit her business hard because people have stopped buying second-hand clothes on suspicion that the clothes are from coronavirus victims overseas.

Ms Nambao has now changed from salaula to selling fresh sweet potatoes and fresh groundnuts.

“I know food never runs out of fashion and that is why I have decided to try selling food. I used to trade in salaula and I was running at a loss since January when news of the disease broke out,” Ms Nambao says.

There are major concerns that the virus will exert a heavy death toll on the country’s poor, as social distancing is particularly difficult to adhere to in densely populated informal settlements and townships.

In areas like Chaisa and Jack, which have been declared hotspots, some people are still going about their daily duties unmindful about COVID-19 measures.

But Ms Nambao feels there is need for voluntary testing for COVID-19 in various hotspots to demystify the rumours that have caused confusion among the residents.

She says preparedness and response plans should urgently be developed and implemented in order to allay fears the disease has brought in people living in these areas.

“It will be good to have Chaisa clinic declared a testing centre so that people can go there and have check-ups. I think now it is scary, and there is uncertainty among residents. People are ever in-doors and life has come to a standstill,” Ms Nambao says.

She hopes early detection and rapid response, including community-based surveillance within hotspots will help stop the spread of coronavirus.

In most high-density areas like Chaisa, people depend on small businesses like selling tomatoes and vegetables.

“Living indoors for an indefinite period is the hardest for us. We are not in formal jobs,” Nambao says.

She says what is happening in Lusaka now reminds her of Cholera outbreak in 2018.

“We are the big part of the problem. Our townships intensify the spread and transmission of infectious diseases through increased human contact,” she says.

Just like any other business, the taxi business in the COVID-19 hotspots areas has suffered a setback, too.

A taxi driver in Chaisa, John Mubanga, says his taxi business has also been badly hit by the pandemic.

“It is a two-way street. Not only are the drivers terrified and scared, the passengers are, too. When they see a taxi, they think it’s a coronavirus carrier coming to pick them up,” Mr Mubanga says.

He adds, “Before this disease outbreak, I was making K300 every day. But now, things are bad. I make sometimes K50 a day and sometimes nothing. People are scared of taxis and as a driver, I am also scared of my possible customers,” Mr Mubanga says.

In Jack Township, the situation is not different. During a spot check, people were seen going about their daily duties.

Cephas Musuka, a resident in Jack Township, has appealed to Government to introduce the door-to-door COVD-19 testing in order to identify residents who are affected.

“Just telling us that Jack Township is a hotspot does not change anything. We need to know why Government is saying that. Nothing has been shown to us to justify the announcement. That is why as residents here, we find it hard to stomach the ‘reality’,” Mr Musuka says.

In Lilayi, Chewe Mumbi, a resident of Eureka, says nothing has changed much apart from being indoors and not going for work.

Mr Chewe, however, says now he has time for his family and he has dedicated three hours each day to do revision lessons with his twins who are both in Grade seven.

Because of being in an area that has been listed as a hotspot, he has restricted a number of people who visit his home.

“Only my kids miss going out to the malls, but for me, it is a good thing. I have more time for my family now. If I miss a beer, I will just take a glass of wine and the craving is gone,” Mr Chewe says.

In Ibex Hill, Lushomo Chitalu, a mother of five, says as a working mother, the announcement of Ibex as a hotspot is a thought she dreads every day.

Mrs Chitalu says because of the seclusion kind of living in Ibex, it is difficult for residents to know who is affected.

“I fear for my kids, look at how our houses are here. What separates us from one another are wall fences. So, if the wind blows in my neighbour’s yard, it will soon reach in my yard, too. I wish Government can do a door-to-door testing so that those affected can be taken for treatment,” Mrs Chitalu says. PUBISH IN THE ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL ON APRIL 12, 2020. LINK: http://www.daily-mail.co.zm/myths-fears-in-coronavirus-hotspots/

Fish maw: The hidden treasure in Nile perch

By DOREEN NAWA
THE Nile perch is under threat. This is so because of its highly prized swim bladder also known as the maw.
At Kiyindi Landing site in Buikwe District in Uganda, fishermen dock their boats filled with both tilapia and Nile perch. Immediately, fish traders wait to offload the Nile perch that has turned profitable for many traders. It is not because of its fillet.
The swim bladder, is the reason for the rise in demand for the Nile perch. It is believed that the swim bladder is used as an aphrodisiac in China.
The fish maw is served in soups and stews and is a delicacy in China, the largest market for the fish maw.
Because of this delicacy inside the Nile perch, the fish could disappear altogether from Africa’s Lake Victoria because it is a lucrative business attracting big monies.
Visiting Kiyindi Landing site in Buikwe District in Uganda confirms it all. The volumes of a catch of the Nile perch is massive, dozens of traders rush to the boat as soon as it docks fighting to buy the Nile perch, largely because of its maw.
Demand for fish maw has spawned such a lucrative business enterprise in Uganda that it is raising concerns of overfishing. "I buy one Nile perch between $4-$7 dollars and once I get the fish, I hire some boys to open the fish and get the maw out. It is sold separate to other buyers that come specific for the same," James Mwasigye says.
Mwasigye says it hurts to sale the maw at that lower price because in China, it fetches over $450 each.
“As fishermen, I think we are being swindled in broad day light. This is not right. Look at the price that these Chinese buy the maw at ad get it sold back in their country," Mwasigye says.
Mwasigye says two decades ago, Nile perch fish maw would be fried and eaten by locals. But not anymore. Nile perch fish maw would be fried and eaten by locals. But lately, the Chinese market has made it more lucrative, especially for the exporter.
International prices for dry maw range between $450 and $1,000 per kilogram, depending on the size, quality and market strength.
Fish sold to locals have the swim bladders taken out and sold for between $107 to $214 per kilogram.
At Kiyindi landing site, as soon as a boat lands on the shores of Lake Victoria in Buikwe District the town’s fishmongers are leaping over the gunwales with fists full of cash.
The high profits involved mean that traders keep a low profile, and are secretive about their haul’s eventual destination, according to the women who gut the perch to extract the precious maw.
But now the fish maw has being recognized as Gold by the Ugandan Government.
Uganda’s minister for agriculture, animal industry and fisheries Vincent Ssempijja says fish maw is a new item that needs to be regulated.
The Minister confirms that the fish maw in the Nile perch is gold, “Yes, it’s certainly a new type of gold, so we need to look at it more critically.”
He says as Government they are trying to coordinate with various private partners and ensure a win-win situation.
The minister adds: “That’s why we want to regulate it, so that our fish farmers and of course the fish mongers and the fisheries sector really, benefit from this very lucrative business.”
A recent study by the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization has shown that a growing appetite in Asia has seen the former waste by-product becoming a multi-million-dollar export.
In East Africa, particularly Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania collectively earn $86 million from trading the commodity. Uganda alone earned $40 million in 2017 as the largest exporter of the Nile perch swim bladder to China.

Kenyan agribusiness fears the worst from locust invasion

Although damage from Kenya’s locust plague has so far been limited, many farmers are worried about its potential effects on the next harvest.

Swarms of desert locusts that originated in Yemen last July have made their way into East Africa, leading to what the UN has described as Kenya’s worst locust infestation in 70 years.

By mid-February, 17 counties had been affected, with many more under threat if the government and its development partners are unable to prevent the current swarm from laying eggs and spawning another generation.

The locusts are estimated to number in the billions. While a swarm covering 1 sq km can contain 40-80m individuals, at the end of January a large cloud in northeast Kenya was estimated to spread over 2,400 sq km. A single locust can consume its own weight in food every day, and a swarm of 40m will work its way through the daily equivalent of food for 35,000 people. Swarms can travel up to 150km per day and can be extremely hard to contain.

Kenya’s agriculture sector accounts for approximately one quarter of the country’s overall GDP and employs around half of the total labour force, leaving many concerned about the potentially disastrous effects on the economy and food security.
“For us in the private sector we are really very worried,” says Lucy Muchoki, coordinator of the Kenya Agribusiness and Agroindustry Alliance (KAAA).
“You just need to go an speak to the farmers on the ground and you can sense the fear.”

More to come

Kenya’s short-term agricultural output has been shielded from serious disruption with economists predicting only a 0.8% drop in GDP as a worse-case scenario, according to London-based Capital Economics.
Much of Kenya’s agricultural produce had already reached harvest-maturity when the locusts, which prefer to feast on green vegetation and shrubs, arrived in December.
As farmers begin to plant crops in preparation for Kenya’s long rains which run from April to June, many fear the locusts will have spawned a much larger generation which will wipe out the country’s next harvest.
If allowed to breed, Kenya could be facing 500 times as many locusts by June.
“We were lucky because when the locusts invaded Kenya the crops had already matured and the locusts only eat the greener parts of plants, so the damage was limited to that extent,” says Hamisi Williams, deputy country representative at the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
“Now it’s almost time for planting the fear is that if those crops were to start germinating and we still have locusts around then those crops will be no more.”

Desert locusts are commonly found in arid and semi-arid habitats. Their ideal conditions for procreation are sandy soil, large pastures and ample wind, which make parts of northern Kenya a perfect breeding ground. 

Though spawning will cause great damage if not prevented, the current swarms which migrated from Somalia and Ethiopia are already troubling some of Kenya’s most destitute communities.
Pastoralists in northern Kenya have seen much of their grazing grounds destroyed, forcing herders to walk miles in search of pasture
These communities have suffered two serious droughts since 2018 during the short rains season running from October to December as well as a recent bout of heavy flooding, resulting in 3.1m people facing acute food insecurity according to Save the Children.
“Where the swarms enter, they clear the pasture for livestock which will destroy the livelihoods of pastoralists living in that area,” says Moses Emalu, country operations and humanitarian coordinator for the NGO.
“The biggest concern is food security.”

Agribusiness impact

Most agribusinesses have thus far managed to remain shielded from the negative effects, though any change to agricultural output risks pushing prices up and sparking inflation.

Some of Kenya’s large producers import raw materials from abroad and will therefore be able to avoid any disruption to supply chains. Elsewhere, Kenya’s export-led flower industry, which often relies on large tents and greenhouses to grow produce, will most likely be able to prevent its crops from being eaten.

Yet smallholders, who so often feed into the supply chains of larger companies, remain at serious risk if the swarms are prevalent when the next crop cycle begins. Some farmers in Meru have already reported the decimation of the cash crop miraa, otherwise known as khat, and many fear widespread disruptions in other crops across the country.   

As Kenya scrambles to respond, the KAAA says the government is yet to hold meetings with the private sector to advise on any worst-case scenario.

“The private sector is expecting the government to do more than they are doing,” says coordinator Muchoki. “We want to have frank discussions with the government, we want to know exactly what is happening and what the situation is. We want to know how they can improve on what they have been doing.”

The government, working in partnership with development agencies, is yet to provide an impact assessment to accurately quantify the possible fallout for businesses and the economy. Commodity traders in Nairobi and Mombasa are reportedly hoarding goods, fearing a shock to the economy.

Immediate responses

The government, however, remains confident that it can thwart the spawning of a second generation and therefore avert a full-blown crisis.

“If we had many swarms hatching in an uncontrolled manner it would impact food security and it would impact livelihoods,” says David Mwangi, the head of plant protection services at the Ministry of Agriculture. “But we cannot let that happen, so we are not going to have that worst-case scenario. That would only happen if we are not doing anything, but we are ensuring that that does not occur.”

The government has sent six helicopters to spray the swarms and hatching sites with pesticides, accompanied by teams on the ground. The National Youth Service has recently begun to enlist and train volunteers to assist with the spraying and county governments are also rolling out control operations in the areas affected. Yet the government’s lack of resources and technical expertise leaves it unprepared for the long-term dangers of a potential crisis.

The FAO recently estimated that East Africa needs $76m to contain the phenomenon, up from previous estimates of $70m. While the UN is raising the money, many are concerned the funds will take too long to materialise. Delays to the provision of $500,000 during a locust invasion in West Africa in 2004 led to a revised figure of $500m just two weeks later amid a quickly worsening crisis.

Another concern is the region’s capacity to formulate a coordinated response to the infestation. As locusts cover so much ground in just one day, country-specific prevention will do little to counter the breeding cycle if swarms are able to lay eggs and hatch in a neighbouring country.

Without adequate control mechanisms in restive Somalia, for example, northern Kenya will continue to be plagued by locusts despite all its best efforts. -AFRICAN BUSINESS