DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT

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Deficiencies in information sharing have led to unnecessary deaths in Southern Africa. Such deficiencies are said to be
even worse due to lack of knowledge and appropriate communication systems.
SADC countries are addressing the issue.
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Five hours after a quake struck northwestern Sumatra, Indonesia,triggering a massive tsunami with a series
of waves that quickly travelled through the Indian Ocean, some African countries were hit.

Somalia was among the countries affected. Others were South Africa, Madagascar, Kenya and Tanzania.
Tanzania, which lost 13 citizens, believes that the movement of the tsunami waves would have allowed enough time for
warning to, especially, affected countries but there was no any such kind of warning until the disaster struck,
resulting into deaths.

Faced with this lack of information, Southern African Development Community (SADC) member countries
have realized the need for information sharing in all aspects of disaster prevention, preparedness and response.
Coming to the aid of the 13-nation grouping is Inwent, a German capacitybuilding organization which seeks to fill
the information gap among SADCcountries.

Inwent organized a “Regional Training Plan for Information Management” from 19 to 22 April 2005 in
Tanzania.

Information “key” to successful measures against disasters.

The event, which took place in the coastal town of Bagamoyo (exit harbour for slaves - a disaster to humanity), was a
capacity building come together in sector-crossing information management for trans-boundary disaster prevention
and preparedness.

Opening the workshop, Rose Lugembe, Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office in Tanzania, said
disaster management depended on fast and accurate information collection and dissemination. “The reason for this
school of thought lies in the fact that information is key to any successful implementation of measures against
disasters,” she said.

Ms Lugembe said the impacts of the year 2000 floods in Mozambique could have been reduced had people been furnished
with prior information about their vulnerability to imminent floods in their areas of residence.

She said although the 26 December 2004 earthquake and tsunami had taken place some 5,000 kilometres away, it affected Tanzania,
leading to the death of 13 people.

“These two examples indicate deficiencies in terms of information and its dissemination to people. Deficiencies
in trans-boundary information sharing are even worse due to lack of knowledge and appropriate communication systems. We
must find a way to overcome this through organized mechanisms and plan of implementation,” she prodded
participants.

SADC regional training plan ready

Sussane Breuer, the Berlin-based Inwent project manager, said the world became aware of the importance of disaster
reduction because of the tsunami which had happened days before the start of the World Conference on Disaster Reduction
in Kobe, Japan, in January this year.

“The world became aware of the importance of measures about risks, preparedness measures and a functioning early warning system crucial to avoidance
or at least mitigation of such disastrous impacts of natural disasters,” Ms Breuer said.

She added: “Here again, we have seen: There were experts who knew about the event in time, but there was no
information system or structure to send the important warning to responsible authorities, let alone to the affected
people.”

Referring to the workshop, Ms Breuer said a lot of good ideas had been developed in this “golden age”, adding
that Inwent would soon begin the planning for the next steps.

Mr Florian Bemmerlein-Lux, an expert on disaster management, said the workshop in Bagamoyo came finally to at least three
good results. “The training plan is ready and the first three courses will be implemented. Enough material was
collected to start writing concepts for a project proposal as soon as the call for
proposals is out,” he said.

Mr Bemmerlein-Lux, who is based in Nürnberg, Germany, runs a consultancy firm called “Eco-Institutional Development Consult”.
The workshop in Bagamoyo was a continuation of a process which began in Pretoria, South Africa, in August 2004.The process sought to develop a regional
training plan for information management in disaster risk management.
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DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT

From doomsday prophets to harbingers of hope

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In Zambia an intensive campaign is in progress to provide information on HIV and
AIDS. The goal is to communicate information to people in the places where they congregate,
and to invite ordinary people to take part in dialogue on AIDS issues.
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LUSAKA “The people working to combat AIDS at the Family Health Trust (FHT) used to be regarded as doomsday prophets, but as the epidemic has spread, they are increasingly being looked upon as harbingers of hope.” Rosemary Zulu is project manager of FHT, a Zambian NGO supported by NORAD.

She relates that when they initiated an outreach programme a few years ago they met with a great deal of opposition from local communities. People refused to accept that the HIV/AIDS epidemic was a reality right up until the time they saw children, parents, friends
and relations dying in large numbers.

“We have helped to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS. The people working for NGOs are key
players in this effort,” says Ms Zulu. She begins her day at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka by reading documents and correspondence from the patient archives. She finds many people at the hospital whom she counsels and tries to help.

Then she looks in her pigeonhole to see if the staff have left any messages for her about people who need help. They may have learned that they are HIVpositive, or come to be tested.

Later, Rosemary Zulu visits patients who are either receiving treatment at UTH or other clinics, or recovering in their own homes. She encourages them not to lose hope.

Counselling gives hope

The outreach programme coordinated by Rosemary Zulu has about 700 clients, 75 per cent of whom are over the age of 20.

Commenting on her charitable work, Ms Zulu says: “The situation isn’t hopeless. People used to
be very scared, but counselling has given them hope.”

The FHT offers support, prevention and treatment. The organization provides practical assistance in the form of cornflour, soya beans, protein-rich supplements and cooking
oil for AIDS patients.

The preventive programme takes the form of awareness-raising seminars, where family members learn how to protect themselves from HIV infection when looking after sick patients, and where they are informed about and encouraged to use condoms.

The FHT also buys simple medicines, which it distributes to patients to relieve the symptoms.

300 volunteers

The FHT has divided the capital into six zones, each of which has a health clinic with a qualified nurse. The organization has also trained about three hundred volunteers to help the nurses.

The recruitment of volunteers in the local community has been highly successful and Ms Zulu believes that this is a promising sign that the programme will live on.

Local volunteers have helped to reduce the stigmatization associated with HIV and AIDS. “We have found that an increasing number of people come to be tested.

Many come to be reassured about their situation before they get married or travel abroad to
study,” says Rosemary Zulu, referring to the breakthrough they have achieved in their information activities.

Information

At weekends, the FHT coordinator spends her free time visiting towns and villages in a van full of special equipment.

Project Manager Prisca Chitomfwa relates that the van has become an important tool because it
has a loudspeaker system, video and TV.

First the FHT workers drive through the neighbourhood announcing over the loudspeakers
that they are going to show a film.

The people in these local communities are often starved of entertainment and quickly gather round. Then the film is shown, explaining how people become infected with HIV and AIDS
and how to avoid infection.

After that there is a talk-show and the audience is encouraged to participate by asking questions.
“The van, and the equipment it contains, is an excellent tool for mobilizing people. It attracts attention and lots of people come,” relates Prisca Chitomfwa.

“Our work is useful, too, because it encourages people to learn more about HIV.”
The FHT programme also includes the CINDI (Children in Distress) Project, which aims to improve the quality of life for orphans.

When CINDI was established a few years ago, the project looked after very few children.
Due to the epidemic, however, the project has grown to an almost unmanageable level.

Project Manager John Munsanje explains that the organization has been forced to focus
more and more on children who have lost their parents because of AIDS.

Can’t cope with everyone

The project is currently responsible for approximately 24,000 children all over the country. CINDI has limited its activities to youngsters below the age of 20.

“We can’t cope with everyone. More children have been orphaned than we have the resources to care for,” says Mr Munsanje.

According to the Central Statistical Organization, there were 961,344 orphans under the age of 20 in 1998 who had lost their mother, their father or both parents.

The statistics show that in the same year, 44 per cent of all Zambian households were caring
for orphans.

Thanks to the growing number of NGOs, the HIV/AIDS situation is not quite as gloomy as it may at first seem. Assistance for orphans, information activities and HIV testing
have helped to raise awareness of the disease.

NORAD is one of the organizations that has been supporting the fight against AIDS for more than ten years and now intends to focus more on helping orphans.

NORAD has been engaged in combating AIDS by cooperating with both the Zambian
government and non-governmental organizations such as the Family Health Trust, Kara Counselling, the Copperbelt Health Education Programme (CHEP) and the Human
Resources Trust.
Edusport
Edusport is a Zambian sports and lifestyle organization for children and young people that
combines participation in sporting activities with a holistic approach to the situation of children.

The organization aims to develop positive ethical attitudes and values among children by encouraging them to participate in sport.

Edusport also tries to change attitudes to HIV and AIDS. The organization communicates with the children at their own level and offers a variety of sports and personal development
programmes.

Edusport emphasizes that AIDS can be combated and seeks to counter the apathy that is
widespread among young Zambians.

The organization’s members come from poor population groups and it has helped many children to a better life by providing advice and support for their families. Edusport cooperates with the Norwegian Football Association and has sent a girl’s team to take part in the Norway Cup several times.

Norway contributed NOK 402,000 to Edusport in 2001.
Co -authored with Newton Sibanda for Sorvis in the 2001 NORAD annual report
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From doomsday prophets to harbingers of hope

Helping others to help themselves

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Helping others to help themselves

Zambezi River Basin data sought

As part of the agenda to enhance the development of an Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Strategy for the Zambezi River Basin, the Zambezi Action Plan Project 6, Phase II (ZACPRO 6.2) has engaged a big consultancy firm ARCADIS Euroconsult to help realise this dream.

ARCADIS Euroconsult has been tasked with the mammoth responsibility of assisting in the development of a strategy for integrated water development of the Zambezi River Basin, shared by Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Aracadis Euro Consult, mainly a European consulting firm, operates all over the world and has projects in Mozambique for the Pungwe river which covers parts of Mozambique, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. The firm is also working in the Niger River Basin in West Africa.

They cover quite a number of countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Central Asia, Eastern Europe (in four river basins), Guinea, Mali (Upper River Basin), Kazakhstan (Northern Aral Sea area), Macedonia Greece, Russia and Vietnam (lower Mekong Basin), working in major river basins in the world.
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Zambezi River Basin data sought

Farmers reap from banana fibres

When Njiba Kamau embarked on full scale banana cultivation over a decade ago, little did realise that he would reap more money beyond the banana fruit.

Mr. Njiba, 52, who owns a two-acre farm in Maragua district, 70 kilometres north of the capital, Nairobi, makes a fortune from banana fibre.“We realised that there’s more money in fibre products than in the fruit itself, from a single stem, you can get four times more from the fibre product,” Njihia explained.

He said the banana fibre has added to the farmers’ creativity in their quest to earn bit money.

From the fibre, farmers weave the traditional baskets (kyondosi), photo albums, table mats, ear rings, wall mats, fruit mats, bible carriers, picture frames, among other products.
Farmers also make honey care packaging materials, which are used to wrap honey bottles. These articles sell from Ksh200 each and farmers sell up to Ksh3, 000 per day during the peak of the tourism season.

During elections, farmers make fly-whisks which are popular with politicians.A former teacher, Mr. Njiba said banana fibre has enabled his family earn decent income besides the sale of the banana fruit.

“From fibre, I have invested in buildings and tissue culture nursery,” he said.Fibre has also created employment opportunities for the youth in the country.

“Farmers are very innovative,” Njiba said at his exhibition stand during the Banana 2008 international conference in Mombasa.

Njihia who leads the 1,000-member strong Highridge Banana Growers and Marketing Association in the central province, however, bemoaned the fluctuations on the market.

He said that tourists were the major clients of the fibre products and business tended to be slow when tourism was off peak.

He said that during the recent political stand off in the country, which led to clashes among the rival political groups, tourism was heavily affected, so were the sales of their products.

“Global warming also has an effect, when it is too dry, we have difficulties in getting good fibre materials,” Njiba said.He expressed his members’ frustrations at the failure to penetrate the European and United States markets due to stringent procedures.

Njiba cites lack of patenting of their products as a drawback in their business because other merchants from other countries and continents easily imitated their products.

The utilisation of fibre products has added to unity among banana growers, as they are able to share experiences. Mgenzi Byabachwezi, a Ugandan scientist, said utilisation of banana fibre was similar in the Eastern African community.

Byabachwezi said farmers in Tanzania also make bags, mats, roofing materials, ropes as well as recycling it to make mulch which kills weeds in the field. Mwenebanda, a Malawian research associate, echoed his sentiments.

Stella Mwashumbe, a technical assistant at Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, based at Mtwapa Research Centre, said banana varieties like bokoboko and mzdzavudza produce the best fibre because they are straight and strong.

She said while bokoboko was used for wrapping of tobacco, mzdzavudza was used to make ropes for tying animals like goats.

With competition emerging, Njiba says farmers should take advantage of tissue culture to plan for the markets. “With tissue culture, you can have many harvests at the same time, get better bunches and good tasting bananas,” he said.

He called for the change of eating habits in Kenya to take advantage of the more nutritious banana products.
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Farmers reap from banana fibres

FAZ should postpone BP Top 8 final

WHEN the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals come to an end this weekend, Zambian clubs and the Football Association will be counting the financial losses caused by the biggest sporting event.

FIFA, world's soccer governing body, did not desire that soccer in Third World countries like Zambia should suffer, rather benefit from staging the tournament for the first time ever in the Far East.

The last three weeks has dealt a severe blow to the coffers of local teams.

Attendance during league and BP Top Eight Cup matches had been extremely low as most fans were glued to their TV sets to watch top flight soccer in Korea and Japan.

Local fans' loyalty was split between Zambian teams and the likes of Brazil, England, Senegal, Italy and given a choice which they had, they stayed home-at absolutely no cost.

With most sponsors cutting down on sponsorship, gate receipts have been the mainstay of most Super and Division One teams.

Only teams like Green Buffaloes, Kabwe Warriors, Red Arrows, Zanaco and maybe Power Dynamos would survive even without gate receipts going by their sound sponsorship.

FAZ should have realised this and postponed the league and BP Top Eight until after the World Cup.

Soccer crazy fans should have trooped back en masse to watch their favourite local clubs and contribute towards their sustenance by paying to see the matches.

Postponing the league and BP could also have probably helped our standards of soccer to improve because almost all the players and coaches could have been watching the matches and noting one or two things.

Assuming FAZ had vision and deferred the league, most training sessions should have been taking place in the evenings, with coaches asking players whether they enjoyed the day's games and analyse a few of them.

Flair, skill and game organisation may not be contagious - especially through the small screens - but discussing the games between administrators, coaches and players could at least help raise our game a bit.

But as the situation stood, very few players and coaches particularly among the Super Division clubs watched preliminary matches because they train twice a day.

FAZ felt the impact of the World Cup when a paltry K400,000 was raised from the semi-final bash between Power Dynamos and Konkola Blades.

The other semi-final match between Warriors and Wanderers raked in about K7 million, which could have been almost double had the World Cup not been taking place.

Club administrators and FAZ should take cues from the current World Cup to tailor the staging of the league and cup matches so that international fixtures do not starve local clubs of the crowds and the much-needed cash.

[Daily Mail]
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FAZ should postpone BP Top 8 final

Supreme Court dismisses presidential petition

LUSAKA - THE Supreme Court in Zambia has upheld the disputable election of the country's President Levy Mwanawasa, ending three years of anxiety in the southern African nation.

While acknowledging that the December 27, 2001 tripartite elections were flawed, the Zambia's highest appeal court ruled on Wednesday, February 16 that the irregularities had not affected the final result, and declined to order a recount of election results.

Three opposition parties the United Party for National Development (UPND), the Forum for Democracy and Development and the Heritage Party petitioned the election of Mr Mwanawasa alleging that it was fraudulent.

The three parties filed their complaints in January 2002, just 14 days after Mwanawasa took office, alleging that the poll had been rigged, and that the ruling Movement for Multi-Party Democracy had used state funds to buy campaign vehicles - a violation of Zambian law.

The petitioners were seeking an order for scrutiny, re-count and verification.
Delivering a 12-hour judgement in the capital city, Lusaka, a full bench led by Chief Justice Ernest Sakala admitted that there were flaws in the electoral process that affected all presidential candidates and did not in any way advantage President Mwanawasa.

Justice Sakala said despite the electoral process not being perfect, the election was held in conformity with the law.

On scrutiny, the bench said there was no evidence while on verification, the court felt that two constituencies that had verification exercise could not justify a scrutiny for the whole country.

Reacting to the ruling, President Mwanawasa says he would have stepped down had the Supreme Court ruled that he wasn't duly elected.

Mr Mwanawasa said: "Like I promised, I was ready to step down if the courts found that I wasn't duly elected. But since I was properly elected, I won't step down."
Mr Mwanawasa said now that the Presidential petition was done with, it was time for all the people, including members of opposition parties who wanted to see development come to the country, to work together and address the problems that had besieged the country.

The judgement has however attracted sharp criticism from the opposition and NGOs, who have raised concerns over the independence of the judiciary and the country's electoral laws.

"The judiciary is itself under trial" Christon Tembo, president of the opposition party, FDD.

UPND president Anderson Mazoka blamed the judicial system over the presidential petition outcome.

Mazoka was quoted by the British Broadcasting Corporation as saying the petition outcome was not in the best interest of the general public and said he had lost trust in the country's judicial system.

And a lecturer in the department of Philosophy and Applied Ethics at the University of Zambia Austin Mbozi said the three political parties should have not taken the petition to court because the issue was political.

Mr Mbozi said it was important that political parties should concentrate on making sure that some sections in the constitution that pertains to the electoral process were addressed by the next elections due in 2006.

While the judgement headed off fears of a constitutional crisis, observers said the ruling illustrated the need to reform the country's electoral laws.

The petitioners were also seeking Mwanawasa picked up nearly 29 percent of the vote in the 2001 poll, followed closely by Mazoka, who garnered about 27 percent.
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Supreme Court dismisses presidential petition

School feeding programme

A World Food Programme (WFP) school feeding programme has improved school enrollment and daily class attendance in Zambian schools.

In some areas, enrollment and attendance have almost doubled due to the programme.
"I wish to state that the impact of hunger and micro nutrient deficiencies are now a thing of the past in my schools in these districts. However, the major impact of the feeding programme to my ministry is improvements in school enrollment and daily class attendance," said Education minister Andrew Mulenga at the handover of motorcycles by WFP to the ministry's school feeding programme.

"Enrollments have almost doubled and attendance have almost doubled due to the programme," Mr Mulenga said. The school-feeding programme is two-fold, the rural school feeding programme implemented by the Ministry of Education and the Urban school feeding programme implemented by Project Concern International.

In July 2003 my Ministry, The Ministry of Education, with support from WFP started implementing School Feeding Programme in July 2003 in the Southern Province districts of Siavonga, Gwembe and Sinazongwe, covering a total of 30 schools.

Two other districts, Livingstone in Southern, and Chadiza in Eastern province, have been included in the feeding programme bringing the number of schools to a total of 61.

Since January 2003, WFP Zambia has been targeting orphans, street children and other vulnerable children with an intervention that aims to increase access to education for the children, while assisting food-insecure families hosting Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs) in community schools with increased food needs at home.

Children in community schools who attend school 20 days of the month receive a wet ration of fortified porridge in school, while selected food-insecure families receive a take-home ration of grain.

The activity has a particular focus in urban areas, but due consideration is also given to those areas where children are at risk due to aggravating factors such as areas facing drought-risk, areas with low enrollment and attendance rates, and those with high numbers of out-of-school children and high rates of stunting and chronic malnutrition. Particular attention is paid to children from child-headed households and households headed by the elderly. Currently 59,461 students enrolled at school receive the wet ration, whilst 8,268 families benefit from the take-home ration.
Children in school receive 100g of HEPS and 10g of oil per day served as a hot porridge to be consumed before beginning the day's lessons.

Partnerships

Currently, Project Concern International is the main implementing partner for this activity. The Ministry of Education and UNICEF are also partners.

The rural school feeding programme in Zambia was launched by the United Nations World Food Programme, the United Nations Children's Fund and the Ministry of Education in July 2003 in three districts in Southern Province; Siavonga, Sinazongwe and Gwembe.

In September 2003 the school feeding programme expanded to the districts of Chadiza and Livingstone as well.

The targeted districts have been selected with the Ministry of Education based on an assessment of areas with chronic food shortages, high percentage of female-headed households and low rates of school enrollment and attendance.

The programme is a combined school feeding and HIV/AIDS intervention targeted at orphans and vulnerable children in community schools.

Both programmes are designed within a key international Millennium Development Goal (MDG) and Zambia's Poverty Reduction Strategy.

School children attending school each day get a hot porridge of fortified blended food (High Energy Protein Supplement), sugar and oil.

The ration provides the children with 810 kilo calories and 21 grams of protein per child per day. The ration is intended to encourage enrollment and attendance at school, to alleviate short-term hunger and to improve the ability of students to concentrate on their lessons.

Flying Angles Missions Community School in Lusaka's sprawling shanty township of Ng'ombe, is one of the beneficiary schools from the programme.

The school which opened its doors to the public in 1978 has 590 pupils and the Headmaster Bernard Sakala is proud of attendance rates since the introduction of the feeding programme. "In terms of attendance, it has improved tremendously ever since the feeding programme was introduced at the school.
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School feeding programme

Transforming lifes: a wildlife conservation project in Kaoma, Zambia

Chief Kahare of Kaoma district in western Zambia presides over an area that was once a poachers’ haven which has now been transformed into a sustainable production area.
Concerted efforts by WWF-Zambia, the Norwegian embassy and, most importantly, former poachers and the community have turned the area into a multi-production zone.

WWF-Zambia’s efforts in transforming poachers and making local communities resourceful through alternative livelihoods have added impetus to the programmes.

Mafunta was gazetted a Game Management Area (GMA) in 2007.

The Mufunta GMA lies on the western border of the Kafue National Park, Zambia’s largest national park. It is the buffer zone for the Kafue National Park. “I lived in Namwala near a GMA, people who live in GMAs live well, they are able to take their children to school and afford decent health services,” Chief Kahare said.

Apart from wildlife, Mufunta is rich in timber, grass, as well as fish which should be conserved sustainably through participatory management by local people.

“The purpose of the project is to establish efficient, equitable and sustainable participatory natural resource management systems in the Mufunta Game Management Area by 2015,” Martin Mbewe, manager of the WWF-Mufunta Project, said.

The organisation has initiated sustainable alternative livelihood strategies to keep members of the communities busy. This was done through the establishment of village action groups and community resource boards.

About 154 commodity groups have been established with the sole mandate of providing alternative livelihoods and income generation activities to members of the local communities.

“Under the project, we proposed to have 10 Village Action Groups (VAGs),” Stephen Mtongo, WWF – Zambia Mufunta Community-Based Natural Resources Management project field officer, said.

While VAGs are expected to initiate protective strategies within their areas, WWF–Zambia has on its part devised a holistic approach towards the same by training VAG and community group representatives in gender, HIV and AIDS by linking it to natural resources management.
Villagers have been taught entrepreneurship, business administration, marketing and natural resources management.

Because of the training received, some VAGs have embarked on a number of ventures such as horticulture, poultry, piggery, honey and wax production, fish farming, carpentry, tailoring and handicrafts.

Kamwaya Kamwaya, 63, a farmer said working as a group has proved profitable because the labour output has improved. “In terms of food, we are more secure than before, we could not produce vegetables during the dry season, we relied on rain-fed crops,” said the retired policeman.

Ford Musamba, 36, is a beneficiary of the anti-poaching drive in the area. A reformed poacher, Mr. Musamba is among 20 village scouts who have been trained at Nyamalume College in Mfuwe and is cherishing being employed as a scout.

One of the success stories of Mufunta is the schools and conservation education where environmental issues are taught in schools. Effective environmental education has increased public awareness and knowledge of the relevant issues among the villagers and has led to a better understanding of how individual and collective actions affect the environment.

Norwegian ambassador to Zambia, Tore Gjøs, said Norway supports Mufunta GMA through WWF to develop income-generating activities as an alternative to poaching. “So far, the emphasis has been on agriculture, livestock, aquaculture and forestry, but the communities have identified one or two areas that can be developed as tourist camps,” Mr. Gjøs said.

He explained: “At the moment there are no tourism facilities on the western border of the park. The challenge will be both to get an operator who is willing to invest in tourism in Mufunta and to have a sustainable level of wildlife. Safari tourism and "photo tourism" will also have to be zoned.”
Posted at 08:41 AM in Africa, Aid Donors, Environment | Permalink
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Transforming lifes: a wildlife conservation project in Kaoma, Zambia

Passions, Isidingo crowd Zambia’s television waves

Pay TV stations, which offer such pickings as the American and South African soap operas Passions, the Bold and the Beautiful, and Isidingo are a big hit in Zambia. As a result, viewers choose to watch foreign programming over local ones, to the detriment of the local film and even sports industry.

Even though it is 30 minutes before closing time, Jessy Mutale, a secretary with a Zambian legal firm, swings open the exit door of her office. Her steps are short and brisk as she scurries her way past an equally busy crowd, trying to get to the bus stop to catch a ride home as quickly as possible.

Jessy's agitated manoeuvres may well replicate how hundreds of other Zambians end their daytime activities so that they can partake in an increasingly common pastime: to watch one of the most popular soap operas, Passions, which has swept the country like a tidal wave.

The advent of foreign soaps, especially those from South Africa, has seen Zambian women, students and men alike push the political dialogues that frequent television into the back seat. While foreign films are not alien to the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC), it is the arrival of Multi-Choice, cable television providers from South Africa, which has dominated the pay-channel entertainment scene in Zambia and has popularised foreign programming.

Multi-Choice Zambia, representatives of M-Net, has about 1,300 subscribers throughout Zambia. The firm's head of public relations, Fridah Mudenda, says subscriptions are increasing at 12.5 percent every year. Soap operas are most popular among women, and many follow soccer.

African Broadcasting Network (ABN) has also captured the attention of Zambian viewers. Pat Sithole, sales director at ABN, said the pan-African broadcaster recently funded research on television viewership and demographics in Zambia. Their findings revealed that over 70 percent of the respondents watch ABN's partner, ZNBC, and a full 95 percent of those viewers rated the ABN hour and its programming as top quality.

Apart from the American soap, Passions, shown daily, viewers are treated to the comedy Soul Food every Friday and the hilarious Bill Cosby on Tuesdays. This is not to forget the widely popular South African soap, Isidingo, a daily show on ZNBC TV.
But Zambians without pay TV can still watch another South African hit show, Egoli, if they tune into the one-hour free M-net channel offered in the evening. Other South African shows that have invaded local screens include the Bold and Beautiful, Sub-Urban Bliss, and Generations. Prior to this, No One But You, a Mexican show, kept Zambian audiences busy every Wednesday night in 1998 and 1999.
Apart from Multi-Choice and ABN, Zambia also boasts of an indigenous pay TV called Cable and Satellite Technologies Limited (CASAT), which specialises in American movies. CASAT also offers a sports channel, Asian channel for selected clients, and CNN for news.

William Ngoma, CASAT technical manager, defended his firm's propensity to air foreign movies, saying: "The Zambian film industry has nothing to offer, we do not have any movies that we can show on a 24-hour basis." He said CASAT is committed to helping the local movie film industry flourish "as long quality movies are produced."

Viewers complain that most of the South African and American programmes they are being subjected to are not latest. They watch them six months or a year after the film has been released in their countries of origin. Ngoma acknowledged the complaints from viewers but explained that this is standard procedure. "In the movie industry, new movies are first meant for the big screens for quite sometime, then for home use later."

The domination of programming from outside of Zambia has resulted in viewers tending to choose foreign shows over locally produced ones. For example, foreign soaps have virtually eclipsed Zambia's first soap opera, Kabanana.

Football fans shun coverage of local football matches in preference for Super Sport, the Pay TV channel that brings sport to the homes at the same time as local matches are taking place. A prominent leader in Zambia once invited journalists to watch the English FA Cup final on a day the national team was playing and the game was being covered on local television. Even after being reminded that the Zambia game was live on TV, the man ignored his guests and told everybody to enjoy the English match.
The proliferation of foreign programming has had many effects in Zambia. For example, the tendency for viewers to choose to watch foreign football matches has meant that local teams have lost revenue because of reduced gate takings. To copy what they see on foreign soap operas, young girls and women have abandoned their style of dressing in favour of leggings and what they call hip-stars, or tight pants

Source: http://www.newsfromafrica.org/newsfromafrica/articles/art_607.html
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Passions, Isidingo crowd Zambia’s television waves

Experts predict climate change

WEATHER experts have projected drastic climate changes over the next 100 years.
It is expected that global temperatures will increase about 2 to 6 degrees Celsius, hence precipitation will change.

Speaking in Nairobi, Kenya at a Climate Change workshop for African journalists, Paul Desanker, a professor of Geography at Penn State University in the United States of America said changes in climate could be extreme while natural disasters could get worse.

In his paper entitled "Welcome my world" Prof. Desanker said "Climate change is not a simple issue with easy sound bites."

"Africa is connected to the global climate system, so important to understand the bigger issue of climate change at all scales – national/regional, Africa and globally," he said at the November 24-26 workshop which was organised by the United Nations Environmental Programme Africa Regional Office in Nairobi.

" Climate change as predicted to change over the next 100 years, will seriously impact everything you can think of," Prof. Desanker said, adding " Many effects will be new and will require deliberate actions to adapt and cope."

As result of these climatic changes, sea levels are expected to rise.
Recent increases in temperatures have led to the land and Oceans becoming warm, moisture getting trapped in ice and this has resulted in drying of rest of the world.
This also culminated into serious droughts in Africa, prompting Africans to migrate north and east, re-populating Asia, Australia,

North Africa and Europe to form modern man

"Now, we are talking about +2 to +6 degrees Celsius global temperature increase over the next 100 years, you can imagine how serious the impacts can be," said Malawian-born Prof. Desanker.

Prof. Desanker pointed out that as an international problem, there are common but
differentiated obligations upon different groups of countries.

"Climate is but one of several environmental problems – land degradation, desertification, erosion, loss of productivity and poor soils," he said.
Vulnerability is context-specific and depends on local environmental, social and economic factors

Climate change has promoted changes in precipitation patterns

Some of the highlights of potential direct impacts of climate change has seen the melting of glaciers melting while some inland lakes like Lake Chad have been drying up.

Other effects of climate change have led to extreme temperature – heat waves, cold spells like in Europe last year resulting in excessive deaths over short period of time (15,000 people died in a few weeks of summer of 2003 in France alone) while cold spells – in parts of Africa causing deaths.

Ecological Effects

Prof. Desanker said Climate change has also witnessed changes in phenology (biological time). It has led to earlier flowering of plants and budding of trees and earlier laying of eggs in birds.

There has also been risk of asynchronous timing of events between species with tight synchronization requirements e.g. late arrival of migratory birds after peak of food availability has passed.

Other ecological effects have been changes in water flow and level leading to loss of aquatic habitats, riparian forests, recreational opportunities, eutrophication,
etc. Would lead to habitat loss, species loss.

It has also led to increased pests and disease – especially in areas previously too cold: frost or cold spells kill off insects and other germ agents (e.g. grasshoppers?)

Agricultural Effects

Prof. Desanker says there have been remarked growing season changes – most immediately serious for many areas that rely on rain-fed agriculture and subsistence farming with rainfall becoming increasingly erratic.

Local Case Studies

Prof. Desanker says findings by scientists indicate local people recognize there are changes in climate that are unusual. "They are experimenting with adaptations e.g. staggered planting to ‘catch’ the growing season," he says.

Climate change is having an impact on ecosystems and will alter regional agricultural systems – specifics will vary.

Thermal regime expand northwards: significant reduction of boreal and Arctic ecosystems.. It is envisaged that increased variability in rain-fed
production will result in reductions in potential cereal production in continents like Africa. In developed countries, expanded land at high latitudes would increase production potential.

Role of past trends

"Past not adequate to guide possible future trends. We are Likely to see new threats through dramatic
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Experts predict climate change

Levy, MMD bounce back

LUSAKA – PRESIDENT Levy Mwanawasa and his ruling Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) have bounced back to power in elections the opposition parties say were rigged yet again.

In the September 28 elections in which the MMD suffered severe losses in the urban areas of Zambia, the opposition Patriotic Front (PF) and the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) accused the ruling party of electoral malpractices to stay in power.
PF president Michael Sata and his UDA counterpart, Hikainde Hichilema, called for the verification of the rural votes which swept back the MMD into power.

So incensed were PF cadres that some of them ran riot in poor areas of Lusaka and certain parts of the Copperbelt, hitherto an MMD stronghold, to protest loudly their grievances.

The riots forced the swearing-in ceremony to be moved from the traditional venue at the Supreme Court in Lusaka to the Parliament buildings were security is tighter.
Mr. Mwanawasa beat four other presidential candidates to emerge the disputed winner with run-away ballots of 1,177,846 representing 42.98 per cent.

His closest rival Mr. Sata polled 804,748 representing 29.37 percent while Mr. Hichilema came third after polling 693,772, representing 25.32 percent.

Others who contested the elections were Heritage Party president, Brigadier-General Godfrey Miyanda with 42,891 and All People’s Congress Party led by Winright Ngondo who trailed with 20,921 votes representing 0.76 percent.

The PF won 43 parliamentary seats, the ruling MMD got 72, while the UDA got 26, with three independents scooping seats.

But demands for a re-count of the rural votes by the PF and UDA fell on deaf ears as the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) went ahead with its business and four days after the elections, Mr. Mwanawasa was controversially declared winner and was inaugurated on Monday, October 2.

Mr. Sata had taken an early lead in the presidential polls winning by landslides in the Copperbelt, Luapula, Northern and Lusaka provinces. Ironically, with the exception of Lusaka, the three regions gifted Mr. Mwanawasa the presidency in 2001.

The delay in announcing the rural vote unsettled the political players whose fears were justified just when Mr. Mwanawasa started getting run-away votes from remote areas to eventually hand him back the presidency.

In some areas of rural Zambia, voting continued three days after the election date.
Unlike in 2001 when United Party for National Development (UPND) late president Anderson Mazoka asked the Chief Justice to declare him winner mid-way through the counting of ballots, Mr. Sata stayed calm as he led by 55 percent of the votes counted.

He, however, saw danger when the MMD vote from rural areas continued to flood the Electoral Commission Centre in Lusaka.

While his votes remained static, sometimes overtaken by Mr. Hichilema, Mr. Mwanawasa’s votes swelled. Three days after elections, and it was clear Mr. Mwanawasa had won, though Mr. Sata regained the second position. The PF has since indicated they would petition results in 50 parliamentary seats but would not petition the presidential election results because the Supreme Court could take long to dispose of the case – a sign of loss of confidence in the country’s judicial system.

The PF has said it was not satisfied that it lost the just-ended elections as it had irrefutable evidence of political malpractice.

The PF accuses the MMD of having used their agents to buy voters’ cards from PF members. Security chiefs collected voters’ cards from their staff and members of their families in unexplained circumstances.

The PF also accuses officers from the Office of the President, Special Division, were also accused of driving vehicles labelled ECZ.

As if that was not enough, Electoral Commission of Zambia director Danny Kalale was briefly detained at the Lusaka International Airport by alert customs and police officers who suspected foul play as more ballot papers arrived from South Africa 48 hours before voting started.

While international observers such as the African Union and the Southern African Development Community have declared the 2006 elections free and fair, the manner in which the ECZ conducted the polls leaves much to be desired.

Some results ECZ chairperson Ireen Mambilima announced to the nation differed sharply with what returning officers on the ground had.

As a result, some candidates who were earlier announced as having won ended up being declared losers.

President Mwanawasa begins his last term in office with another disputed election. Like in the last elections, he does not command any popularity in Lusaka. What is worse, he has even lost the Copperbelt, his stronghold to the PF.

It also remains to be seen how Mr. Mwanawasa would reconcile with the influential Bemba tribe of the north after appointing only two ministers from there. While Mr. Mwanawasa has rewarded the easterners with the vice presidency and other key ministries for giving him a lot of votes, it is clear the Bembas, who predominantly voted for tribesman Michael Sata, would find the president’s stay in office for another five years repulsive.
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Levy, MMD bounce back

ZAMBIA: Home-based care projects flourishing

LUSAKA, 3 June (PLUSNEWS) - As Zambia struggles to provide adequate treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS, a long-standing community project has proven a valuable resource in efforts to mitigate the impact of the disease.

One such project in Chazanga township, north of the capital, Lusaka, is called Bwafwano, meaning "helping each other", and has provided much-needed assistance to an estimated 2,000 township dwellers living with the virus.

The project is an offshoot of the community work done by the Bwafwano centre and is "equipping communities with the organisational and technical skills needed to tackle the disease".

A key component of the programme is providing women widowed by AIDS with skills to ensure that they become financially self-sufficient. Bwafwano executive director Beatrice Chola told IRIN that HIV/AIDS was the most serious economic challenge for the residents of Chazanga township.

So far the Bwafwano centre has trained 305 volunteers and recruited a further 250 people to form the HIV/AIDS support group. Volunteers visit almost 1,800 patients each day. Nursing the patients includes counselling, administering medication and bathing them.

However, the biggest obstacle facing the project was the ongoing stigma associated with those living with the virus. Charles Zulu, sexual reproductive health officer at the centre, said ongoing HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns were the most effective weapon in combating discrimination.

Zulu's team of volunteers target barbershops, salons and tuck shops, which now serve as "drop-in centres" for condoms and brochures on HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. "Some people are shy to be associated with Bwafwano for fear of being stigmatised," he told IRIN.

To assist the growing number of AIDS orphans, Bwafwano has registered 1,479 children in need of help, whose caregivers receive detergents, blankets and soya meal to supplement their nutrition. The UN Children's Fund donates education materials to the centre, while the World Food Progamme provides food for the children.

An estimated 16 percent of Zambians aged between 15 to 49 years are living with the virus.
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ZAMBIA: Home-based care projects flourishing