Microfinance in Zambia
Microfinance has not yet taken off in Zambia, but it has transformed impoverished communities all over the developing world. Grameen bank is perhaps the most famous microfinance bank for its work in extending credit to the rural poor in Bangladesh. Kiva is also well-known for its international reach, servicing low-income people in countries all over the world.
Microfinance is the extension of financial services, often to the extremely poor who would normally not have access to such services. Microcredit is a subset of microfinance and refers to very small loans given to those people who have little or no collateral with which to finance a loan. As the microfinance movement spreads across the globe and practices improve, different forms of microfinance, such as group lending through cooperatives, have gained popularity.
One obstacle to social enterprise for rural farmers in Zambia is a lack of adequate money to fund initiatives. Through microcredit, farmers will be able to take out small loans to purchase new seeds, tools, and technology. When accompanied with proper training and awareness, such a change could break the vicious cycle of poverty and allow farmers to take their livelihood into their own hands.
Economic empowerment of the rural poor, and especially of women, is increasingly seen as the way to create a real lasting change in developing countries. Gender roles in rural Zambia are still split, with women tending to be limited to child care, household work, and subsistence farming. Increasing the access women have to other income-generating activities will lead to greater gender equity as well as the betterment of children and the entire community.
One type of microfinance is collective borrowing through the use of cooperatives; an example of this is a group of 30 women creating a cooperative in which they will pool their funds which they can use to take out larger loans. This method has been used in rural communities to purchase water tanks for all of the women in a village. Others have used cooperatives to purchase livestock or supplies.
In rural Zambia, microcredit loans can be used to create fish farms, improve current agricultural practices, purchase seeds for a diversified crop portfolio, reinforce and build wells, and start fish and poultry farms. Microfinance is for rural Zambia unforeseen and untapped potential and access to opportunities that were at one time not available.
WASH – the Crisis Relevant to Eight SDGs
As climate change disrupts the global ecosystem and brings up questions about the sustainability of natural resources, people in developing countries are confronted with a crisis in their daily livelihoods and health. Under half of rural Zambians have access to safe water and just over a quarter of households have access to adequate sanitation. Many of the most vulnerable groups such as women and children are affected more severely by the water crisis. Sanitation and hygiene are among the most off-track Sustainable Development Goals, making the water crisis an issue that Humanity Africa has highlighted as a target for long-term, sustainable development.
Clean water and sanitation is number 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but the issue of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) is strongly correlated with at least eight of the SDGs. For example, water might not be the immediate solution to the SDG of “zero hunger,” but improved irrigation will increase water supply for farmers, directly improving food security in the region and decreasing hunger. In this report, we will break down and highlight the importance of WASH in a range of issues across the SDGs.
Water and Disease Prevention
Unsafe water sources can lead to disease and infection and are often the root cause of many deaths, especially in rural areas where sanitation issues are worse. Young children are especially susceptible to water-related diseases which often end in death. Over 1,000 children under the age of five die yearly as a result of diarrhoea caused by unsafe drinking water and a lack of hygienic practices. Malaria, which is spread by mosquitos which breed in water, caused up to 3,000 deaths in 2014 and over 4,000 hospital admissions. Of those deaths, 50% were children under the age of five.
In order to combat the spread of disease holistically, facilities must be created, resources made available, and people educated so that awareness about sanitation and hygiene create behavioural changes. The creation of sanitary facilities won’t make a difference unless people are made aware of the importance of washing hands and hygienic practices in preventing the spread of disease.
Increasing Awareness, Creating New Practices
Basic sanitary processes such as boiling water in order to clean their water and the development of saline solutions to treat diarrhoeal disease are fundamental to the health of the communities. Rehydrating a person who is dehydrated is aided by saline solution, which can be created at saline facilities or even by hand at home. However, saline solution made with unsafe drinking water can worsen a person’s condition and even lead to death. We want to ensure that people understand the importance of purifying water in every circumstance.
Communities also need to be aware of homemade saline solutions that can reduce child mortality as a result of diarrhoea. The lack of safe drinking water can be addressed by providing water purifying tablets at a low price. However, even more effective and far-reaching than this is teaching people the concept of boiling water to kill bacteria and get rid of impurities. People are often unaware of simple practices such as this; awareness and education are often the most powerful tools in creating lasting change.
An Institutional Issue: Schools and Hospitals
The lack of sanitation facilities at schools disproportionately affects girls, many of whom miss school due to a lack of sanitation facilities in more than 25% of schools. A lack of sanitation facilities and lack of access to cheap sanitary napkins leaves many girls unable to attend school during menstruation due to inconvenience and shame. Oftentimes, the frequent absences lead to girls dropping out of school entirely, creating a gendered education imbalance. Girls can be empowered to attend school during menstruation if they are provided with cheap sanitary napkins and sanitation facilities at school. Since the crisis affects both institutions and households, awareness of the topic is the most important step and the education of the community over the importance of proper hygiene and clean water is vital. The people of Zambia must first value hygiene and sanitary processes to properly implement new projects.
The water crisis does not end at the community but is exacerbated by a lack of sanitation facilities at institutions such as schools and hospitals. According to UNICEF, in some hospitals, babies are not washed when they are born because it is more dangerous to wash them with dirty water which may lead to infections during a very vulnerable period of life.
Infrastructure
With rainfall decreasing in the past three decades, there is greater stress on land-based water sources. Zambia has a good supply of freshwater sources, but rural areas lack irrigation to take advantage of surface water, and fields are often too far away from water sources to allow people to properly irrigate their fields. Women and children must walk several miles a day to retrieve water, often making several trips to unsafe water sources. A closer option is wells, but wells are often hand-dug and left without reinforcement or covering. This leaves the water that is drawn from wells susceptible to contamination and disease.
Fields nearby water sources should be irrigated to take advantage of rivers and springs, allowing farmers to grow more crops more effectively without relying solely on rain. People must be made aware of good washing and disposal practices so that water sources are not polluted by washing or faeces. Wells should be reinforced by concrete and people trained to cover their wells when they are not in use. This will prevent contamination and increase the longevity of a well.
The Connection to the Sustainable Development Goals
Increasing access to clean water and introducing the proper resources to improve hygiene and sanitation facilities and practices will tackle the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations. The goal of no poverty will be addressed by improving irrigation and access to water that will increase crop yields and result in the improvement of people’s’ livelihoods. Improved irrigation will increase water supply for farmers, directly improving food security in the region and decreasing hunger. We will work towards good health and well-being by increasing access to clean water to allow people to maintain their health and help prevent potentially deadly diseases. The quality of Zambian students’ education can be improved by introducing proper hygiene and sanitation focusing on girls’ menstruation. Menstruation hinders the quality of education that girls are exposed to and therefore by introducing cheap sanitary napkins the Gender Equality can be reached through education. By also giving access to sanitary facilities and accessible water there can be reduced inequalities. Women can have the same opportunities and resources as men as a result of not having to travel miles by foot to bring water home.
Conclusion
Humanity Africa has honed in on WASH as a crucial factor in improving the livelihoods of rural Zambians and working towards several Sustainable Development Goals simultaneously. Our focus on a solution that is deeply intertwined with multiple issues will ensure that the resulting changes feed back into one another.
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Works Cited
“Resources.” UNICEF Zambia. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 July 2016. <http://www.unicef.org/zambia/5109_8460.html>.
“Simple Solution Improves Water and Sanitation in Zambian Health-care Facilities.” WHO. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 July 2016. <http://www.who.int/features/2015/zambia-sanitation/en/>.
“Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene.” UNICEF Zambia. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 July 2016. <http://www.unicef.org/zambia/washe.html>.
Microfinance in Zambia
Microfinance has not yet taken off in Zambia, but it has transformed impoverished communities all over the developing world. Grameen bank is perhaps the most famous microfinance bank for its work in extending credit to the rural poor in Bangladesh. Kiva is also well-known for its international reach, servicing low-income people in countries all over the world.
Microfinance is the extension of financial services, often to the extremely poor who would normally not have access to such services. Microcredit is a subset of microfinance and refers to very small loans given to those people who have little or no collateral with which to finance a loan. As the microfinance movement spreads across the globe and practices improve, different forms of microfinance, such as group lending through cooperatives, have gained popularity.
One obstacle to social enterprise for rural farmers in Zambia is a lack of adequate money to fund initiatives. Through microcredit, farmers will be able to take out small loans to purchase new seeds, tools, and technology. When accompanied with proper training and awareness, such a change could break the vicious cycle of poverty and allow farmers to take their livelihood into their own hands.
Economic empowerment of the rural poor, and especially of women, is increasingly seen as the way to create a real lasting change in developing countries. Gender roles in rural Zambia are still split, with women tending to be limited to child care, household work, and subsistence farming. Increasing the access women have to other income-generating activities will lead to greater gender equity as well as the betterment of children and the entire community.
One type of microfinance is collective borrowing through the use of cooperatives; an example of this is a group of 30 women creating a cooperative in which they will pool their funds which they can use to take out larger loans. This method has been used in rural communities to purchase water tanks for all of the women in a village. Others have used cooperatives to purchase livestock or supplies.
In rural Zambia, microcredit loans can be used to create fish farms, improve current agricultural practices, purchase seeds for a diversified crop portfolio, reinforce and build wells, and start fish and poultry farms. Microfinance is for rural Zambia unforeseen and untapped potential and access to opportunities that were at one time not available.
The Importance of Aquaculture in Zambia
Small-scale fisheries and aquaculture have come to employ over 41 million people all over the world, with the majority of those people in developing countries. Many people and their communities have benefitted from joining the growing industry, especially as capture fisheries increasingly reach their capacity. For maize-dependent, malnourished communities in rural Zambia, a lack of diversified income and adequate sources of nutrition has created a vicious cycle of poverty and malnutrition. Zambia produces the largest amount of fish produce in sub-Saharan Africa, but the reach of fish production has yet to take root in many rural communities. People do not yet have the money or awareness to pursue alternate sources of income and nourishment, but there is massive potential for small-scale fisheries in rural Zambia, and the benefits a family-owned fish farm reach beyond the household to the surrounding community.
Fish are a healthy source of protein and nutrition. It is a great addition to starch-based diets, which is one of the problems facing rural Zambians. As a result of the corn monocrop, people consume maize without many other sources of nutrition in their diet. Consuming fish provides amino acids that improve the protein found in vegetables, and fatty acids, which are essential for brain and body development. This makes fish invaluable for babies, children, and pregnant and lactating women. The consumption of fish is also beneficial for people with HIV, as proper nutrition supports the effectiveness of anti-retroviral drugs. The rural poor who farm fish for subsistence tend to consume more small, low-value fish, which provide more minerals when consumed in their entirety than the same quantity of meat or large fish.
Fish has become the source of over half of people’s protein consumption in countries like Gambia, Sierra Leone, and Ghana. Many rural Zambians rely on unstable sources of food which contribute to seasonal hunger and poverty. Family-owned pond cultures have become a sustainable method to produce fish throughout the year so that families will not be as affected by a bad crop. It is also a more efficient use of land and resources than raising cattle or pork. Land that is used to grow fish produces ten times more consumable product than the amount of cattle or pork that would be produced by the same area of land; and fish farming requires less input than raising cattle or pork.
Though small-scale aquaculture systems have been adopted by household producers, aquaculture is generally not included as part of national development plans. There is not enough data on the productivity of small-scale fisheries to monitor their progress or prove their impact. However, aquaculture has clearly increased employment rapidly, especially in Asia, where the industry has grown the most. Aquaculture is particularly beneficial for women, employing millions of women in developing countries, promoting gender equality and giving women greater control over the livelihood of their household.
Aquaculture has transformed communities in Bangladesh, Cambodia, and the Philippines. The World Fish Centre has chosen to focus its efforts in Africa in Zambia because of the clear potential for aquaculture there. The Zambian government recognizes the need for diversified sources of income and nutrition, which will hopefully lead to good regulation and support for aquaculture in Zambia’s future.
Fish farming in rural Zambia will address many of the Sustainable Development Goals such as improved food security, reduced child mortality, improved maternal health, and the combating of HIV/AIDS and other diseases. It will also improve overall nutrition and promote gender equality by providing greater employment opportunities for women. Aquaculture has great potential for future growth in Zambia and Humanity Africa will be right there to support its development.
Sources:
http://www.practicalbusinessideas.com/2012/01/fish-farming-and-agriculture-importance.html
Zambia in the face of climate change: the rural farmer’s story
There are several development issues that affect rural farmers in Zambia that have an effect on the entire Zambian population. The struggle for food security in the face of climate change has become increasingly important for families’ daily lives. Climate change has caused ongoing problems such as floods, droughts, waterlogging, off rain seasons and more. Without proper irrigation systems and rain seasons falling behind, farmers cannot properly grow their crops and therefore do not earn enough money to keep their families with the proper nutrition.
Climate change has depressed food production and thus affected at least 80% of the population due to food insecurity. As climate change worsens, rains have been pushed back and because rain seasons are crucial for corn, this causes corn crops to fail. These corn crops are essential to the communities because they can only be harvested once a year and their livelihoods rest on it. Their entire food and income source is based on those crops that are now becoming failed harvests. Along with the lack of proper irrigation, due to the depreciation of kwacha, farmers do not have enough money to maintain their crops with fertilisers or purchase new tools. As a result of this, many people suffer from malnutrition and poor living conditions. Without proper sanitation systems, malaria is more common and therefore death rates are high.
Health and sanitation are heavily affected due to the poor food production. Farmers not earning enough money and although there are resources to treat diseases, such as malaria and HIV, they are not attainable to the majority of the population. Families cannot afford transportation to where medicines and treatments are available.
Humanity Africa has focused on the UN Sustainable Development Goals to promote sustainable agriculture and the livelihoods of the poorest populations. Humanity Africa works with community members by creating hands-on training, developing and sustaining markets.
Humanity Africa is devoted and has created several development goals in order to improve agricultural awareness and practices so that the livelihood of people in Zambia is bettered for the long run
Sustainable Development: The Key to Zambian Food Security
Zambia’s stable political environment and high GDP growth in the past decade has belied the poverty and hunger affecting its rural population.
While many farmers and rural citizens in Zambia seem to eat enough and make their livelihoods off of agriculture, a maize monoculture has led to malnutrition and a worrying lack of diversification. Any environmental or economic shocks have a severe effect on rural farmers who are completely dependent on the single crop. It also means that children, who make up a large proportion of the Zambian population, are not receiving proper nutrition, which affects physical growth and health and also negatively affects performance in school.
Our long-term solution for rural farmers in Zambia lies in the creation of social enterprises. This will allow us to develop and in the process, train farmers to develop their own enterprises—starting from agriculture and spreading into livestock and fisheries.
The cultivation of maize is currently the main source of income for most of the rural population. Since it is the most profitable crop to grow in the short term, other more nutritious crops have been traded for short-term profit. Commercialization of a more diverse nutritional basket will mean more nutrition is available to the farmers and their families, as well as protecting farmers from being severely effected by exogenous shocks to the maize market. Up until this point, Zambian farmers have not diversified their crops because of a lack of awareness, lack of opportunities, and economic circumstances that have pushed their crop portfolio to its current state.
In order create a lasting and sustainable change requires both diversifying sources of income and improving performance on the current activity of growing maize. This requires increasing awareness of more effective and efficient farming techniques, educating farmers about the importance of a diversified nutritional basket, and expanding farmers’ capacity to take on these changes.
One obstacle to social enterprise is lack of access to adequate funds. Farmers can jumpstart their enterprises by taking out microcredit loans to invest in new seeds and technology. Economic empowerment will produce a lasting and sustainable change where aid creates dependency. Farmers will have full ownership of their enterprises.
The aquaculture industry is still in early stages of development in Zambia, but Zambia produces among the most fish in Sub-Saharan Africa and there is great potential for future growth at the commercial and rural level. Pond culture is used in rural fisheries, which are often family-owned and for subsistence. One of the barriers to the growth of fisheries in rural areas has been a lack of technical training, but families and communities that have taken on aquaculture have found it to be a way to make a livelihood and provide a stable source of protein where the land cannot support other livestock.
As Humanity Africa’s own social enterprises take off, our staff will have greater capacity and more resources to train farmers and provide support on the ground. Once operations have stabilised there will be increased opportunities in areas such as poultry and fish farming, or aquaculture.
