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.”