Devt. Project

The Zambia African National Congress

10X PROJECT

By description the 10X project is one that serves to classify the country into manageable units. These units come in the form of cities or regions classified according to the population. The project entails a gradual but constant development of a given targeted region so as to equip it with adequate social and economic sustainability and sufficiency. In doing so, there is a need to rearrange the settlement of people towards productive areas with consideration to accessibility. In currying out this project, the sole purpose is to ensure that people have access to banks, insurance, post and telecommunication, food supply, policing, medical and health care, basic, higher and continuing education, media, sports and other social amenities.

Zambia covers a total area of 752,614 sq km divided into water (11,890 sq km) and land (740,724 sq km). The population of Zambia is about 12 million people. The biggest worry is that with this good land to population ratio, Zambia is still fighting to educate, clothe, house and feed her population. The people have taken up the culture of sitting idle awaiting the government to take an initiative in development of even the basic necessities. Most cities, with virtually excellent development potential, don’t take up any developmental projects and remain unclassified on the Zambian map. If most of the Copperbelt cities are known for mining, what are those in the Western, Eastern, Central, Northwestern, Luapula and Northern provinces known for? We could pick out a few like Mazabuka for sugar, Mansa for batteries, Mwinilunga for pineapples and the others for being fed. Although we would not expect all cities to be known for something, but at least most cities should be. If we look at the world economies, we find that the concentration of specific developmental activities in cities leads to development and placing that area on the rightful place it deserves on the country’s map. In Eastern France, a place called Champagne produced wine and became world famous. Cambridge is known for education and examinations. From these examples we realise that cities can be transformed to higher heights by any aspect of the socio-economic sector. The question shall be; what shall Petauke, Mukushi, Kabompo, Lukulu, Siavonga for instance, be known for? While in Zambia we call Livingstone city as a tourism capital we don’t provide incentives for local people to visit there and the international people would rather see the Victoria Falls from the Zimbabwean side. Only recently has there been internationally recognised development in the area, however, this is still underdevelopment compared to other places in the world.

I believe, if we take a number of cities and try to develop them, our beloved country would prosper. With the problems Zambia has today, to try and develop the country as a whole at the same time can never work. This is why I would propose that we take a step at a time. City by city, province by province or city by province, we can make significant development. Development projects would include those pertaining to agriculture, education, food and drink processing, techno industry, sport, manufacturing, etc. In Zambia we have the maize belt (which is ever dwindling). We need the cotton belt, fruit belt, silk belt, tea/coffee belt, rice belt, vegetable belt, wheat belt spread across the country. Every city and district must fend for itself with a lot more to spare. Every city should be capable of educating its own people. For this to work, the tax law, for instance, has to change. Currently, in most rural towns, the town is serviced by a few working people. That is to say, a town would have over half a million people with roughly only one in a thousand working and giving tax to service the health centres, town council, and other social services. The rest are there just waiting for the government (from the tax payers’ money) to provide the basic necessities. If we develop towns either in terms of government initiated agriculture or other, and get as many people as possible to bare the load of providing necessary capital, the ultimate standard of living would increase.

If we would take the population at twelve million, Zambia and her government is well placed to work towards a sustainable development. The project entails the selection of special areas and tries to provide all necessary development within a given timeframe. The main purpose is to urbanise the rural areas. Zambia is one of the most urbanised countries in Africa not because she has a lot of urban areas but because the population is small and located in the few urban areas. A lot of people don’t want to be left behind; most rural areas don’t have energy and those that have, the supply is very erratic.

Zambia has nine provinces. That gives us nine provincial capitals. In developing any province the capital stands as a priority. If we divide the population into ten cities (nine provincial capitals plus Kitwe for instance), we would have an average of one million people per city. Of the one million people, 47.1% are 14 years and under, 50.4% are 64 years and under and only 2.5% are 65 years and over. This could be considered as a very manageable group.

Education Division by Target Cities

More than half of the population is school-aged children. What they mostly need are school facilities. From the estimates, we could say that the total school places needed in the whole country per stream could be 25000. That is, a 12 year school period would need about 3,000,000 places for the population ratio, which is about a million places for each level: primary, junior secondary and senior secondary.

At city level we would have 2500 places for each stream. This would mean that in a city of one million people, a goal could be to set up 100 classes each containing 25 pupils/students for every stream. These classes can be divided into 10 large primary schools, 10 large junior secondary schools and 10 large senior secondary schools each with 10 classes to suffice the demand.

Furthermore, 10, 000 places on average for a period of four years are needed to cater tertiary education. That is approximately 2500 secondary school graduates per year could be shared by Teacher Training Colleges, Trade Schools, Agriculture Training Institutes, Nursing Colleges, Technical and Vocational Schools, University, Art & Craft Colleges, etc in a given city.

With this aim, all students who obtain an Ordinary Level Certificate would stand a chance of undergoing a form of tertiary education. The current imbalance of places at primary, secondary and tertiary level causes a lot of push outs who later, in desperation, loose their focus in life goals and eventually become a menace to society. This particular view of the education problem shows how feasibly the current education problem can be handled.

To bring it home, the plan is for one city. If one city is picked in a province, we have the whole plan of the province. Try to spread out the plan for a city to the province. However, maintain the statistics and the calculations. Today in Zambia, each province could have approximately 1.3 million people. More so, spread the budget to be covered in five consecutive years.

Rural Education and Regrouping

This plan however, is for one particular location at a given time. A vast number of schools and colleges put together in a given location build up into a big community. When people are together, more development plans are initiated. Competition springs up, and better commodities and services are produced. The community soon becomes self-sufficient. Today the government is failing to provide for communities especially in the rural area, not because it can’t but because the communities are insignificantly too small. Villages are too scattered. In some cases, schools are made up of less than one hundred students, with half of them having to travel long distances to get to school. These students live in a community far away from the nearest medical centre or clinic, let alone shopping centres.

Education can be a means of bringing people to belonging to a government and a country. We can never talk about education for all if we are not making deliberate effort to providing it.

Tradition and the claiming of birthrights are at the helm of Zambia’s problem. Many families would like to remain in a given area because it is a location where they buried their beloved ancestors. As much as this holds a sentimental value, the question remains, how much suffering has this claim brought to us? If we can’t let go, what can we do to maintain contact with our departed ancestors while making headway in our current life?

Such kinds of trends have caused Zambia to be in a backward state for a long time. People would rather stay in the areas, remain unproductive and cry out loud to the chief, who’s never paid them a visit in the past fifty years, for relief food.

The benefit of education is not recognised in a lot of rural communities. The world is as big as their noses and the children only plan to be in school as long as their “uneducated” parents permit. Competition is measured not by national or international standard but by village measuring rods. For example, one would be proud to announce that his family tops all in a given village because his son or daughter dropped out of school at Grade Nine. He is the best because others dropped out at Grade Seven or lower. The government is allowing this trend to continue by doing nothing.

When the chance of formal education passes and the people realise too late that the world is not what they thought it to be, quick means of survival become a resort. Today we talk about juvenile delinquency. The problem we all recognise but refuse to agree and the government planners fail to tackle the source of the problem. If we say that “ignorance is no defence in the court of law” then we would mean that the question of human rights in decisions made out of ignorance does not count. Therefore, all those who decide (out of ignorance or misinformation) to cut short their education will be guilty of breaking the law that talks about education for all. This is so because the responsibility of education for all is not only the providing but also the receiving. Thus the party that must provide must do its part and so is the party that must receive. If one fails they must be held accountable. And more so, any informed institution which does nothing about the situation stands guilty and accountable.

The problems of rural education have continued to grow even though the world is changing rapidly towards modernization in science and technology. These problems would be solved by urbanizing the rural area. The urbanization is not done by bringing the rural communities into the large cities but by turning the smaller communities into large ones through regrouping. The rural regrouping exercise could help solve a lot of pending problems in rural areas. Regrouping would be one way of improving rural education and social life.

Rural Schools Infrastructure

In Zambia the average school building in urban or rural areas ranges from 30 to 40 years old. Many are in disrepair due to lack of maintenance. Age-related deterioration is a problem in districts with inadequate access to capital improvement funding. The nation’s schools need a large sum of money in renovations, repairs and modernisation to comply with national and international standards. However, nations like Zambia “don’t” have the capacity to fund the projects but have to wait for donor countries and organizations.

The background to this problem lies in the fact that almost half of the nation’s public primary and secondary schools are in rural areas or small towns. Though the facilities problem affects both rural and urban areas, rural districts tend to have several distinguishing characteristics. First, since the rural schools usually serve smaller communities and that funding is frequently tied to enrolment, the schools don’t have construction money available. This is because rural areas have a higher proportion of residents in poverty or near poverty compared to metropolitan areas. Second, considering age and deterioration, rural schools tend to have lower property value assessments. As a result, it is hard for rural districts to vie for bank loans, bond issues etc leaving school districts with insufficient resources to erect or maintain school buildings.

Naming the Spade

In Zambia and indeed in most African countries, a large percentage of rural schools and small town schools register at least one problem including inadequate roofing, foundations, or plumbing. More so, almost all schools in rural areas and small towns have at least one inadequate building.

The current Education Reform worldwide require schools to accommodate new teaching and learning styles, which includes the provision of labs, flexible instruction areas that can facilitate small-group, large-group, and multi-age instruction. Alas to say that Zambian rural schools face a much broad array of facility upgrades. More than 60 percent have inadequate science laboratory facilities, almost 90 percent have inadequate space for large-group instruction, and more than 80 percent report an inadequate library or media centre.

Technology is yet another factor towards building modification. Many schools lack electrical wiring for computers and other communications technology, and inadequate electrical features such as proper outlets. Technology could help rural schools overcome barriers associated with isolation by linking educators to professional development and curriculum resources. Without the necessary infrastructure, however, schools cannot realise the true potential of technology.

Many rural schools are experiencing problems of aging school facilities. Such as school boilers, kitchen facilities, hazardous buildings materials including asbestos. Many more still report at least one unsatisfactory condition. Leading problems include, perpetual blackouts caused mostly by faulty district power generators, damaged necessities such as window panes, desks, chalk boards, sanitation facilities, etc. Many rural schools lack adequate resources to comply with national mandates.

Rural School Teachers

The rural school districts are in short of teachers in all subjects but more especially math, science and special education. According to the national teacher training statistics, there are inadequate numbers of teachers trained each year and more so many leave the country for greener pastures. The few who are trained would also prefer to be stationed in the urban areas.

There are many reasons that cause rural apathy in terms of teachers. However, major reasons include:

Isolation: rural areas are geographically isolated from larger communities, family and shopping.

Professional: many teachers would like to improve their careers in line with the growing demand in computer literacy, and other technological development.

Electricity: Though Zambia is one of the Largest Hydro electricity producers in Africa, its rural electrification is at the embryo stage. Many rural schools removed from the towns do not have power.

Accessibility: the development of transport networks in Zambia mostly depend on production areas. Thus schools removed from these areas suffer a great deal in transport. Roads are highly inaccessible especially in the wet summers (for almost six months).

Cultural: practices in some parts of rural Zambia (e.g. North-western Kaonde people’s Kitemene farming practice) makes families to move from place to place thus teachers find it hard to fit in the constantly changing community.

Some Solutions

With efforts mainly by the government as a whole, not necessarily the ministry of education, the many problems of rural education could be alleviated. In all the tasks the provincial and national educational departments should at least do some of the following:

Development of teacher-and-demand analysis to track the availability in subject areas and across communities. This analysis would help determine among other things factors that determine teacher shortages (e.g. incentive programs, salary levels, certification, etc).

Address Homelessness: The social construct of the home describes the physical and emotional space needed for sustaining a private life. Without this, in educational terms, children are deprived of the security they need to be themselves.

Rural Regrouping: In Zambia, many rural communities are very small but close knit. However, many studies show that small communities are usually low at capital and income thus they are poverty-stricken or near poverty. This in not a conducive situation in education service provision. Therefore, it is important for the small communities to join forces and put their resources together to curb the problems. When they regroup, the communities are able to fight problems which include:

Accessibility: Many homes will be near the schools, health centres and shops. The problem of children travelling long distances would be cut out. The vast distributed and widespread facilities would concentrate in one area thus combining the efforts of all resources and skill together to build a much bigger and self-sufficient community.

Capital Deficit: Increase in population would bring an increase in per capita income. This is evident in metropolitan cities. Business people gain interest and thus develop businesses in the community.

Hunger: In rural Zambia, some children move along distance from home to school carrying with them a weeks ration. In most cases, the children may run out of food or eat not to satisfaction. This poses hunger and its effects on education. However, if communities were built which have schools ranging from elementary through tertiary schools; the threat would not be there.

Electrification: it requires a minimum amount of money for electrification of a less dispersed large community based rural area. This will enhance communication, technological development, and other social and economical developments.

Benefits to the farming families: the farming implements, supplies etc would be readily available. This also includes other services such as veterinary facilities, farming training facilities and a larger market thus promoting maximum domestic consumption.

When this is done, our country’s rural communities will move a step further towards urbanization.

The Social Sector

Research on the politics of poverty carried by some organisations looked at the question of how effectively governments can convert a country's GNP into poverty reduction. In their report, they concluded that:

Population density matters - it is easier and cheaper to provide health and education to densely- clustered populations

Geography matters - Some African regions are less effective at converting resources into human development, probably because of their highly disease-prone natural environment.

Countries with governance institutions that are attractive to international investors tend to perform badly at converting material resources into human development

Governments that are financially dependent on their own citizens tend to treat them relatively well.

Development of a society is dependant mostly on what the society wants. Take rural Zambia for instance. During the tribal festivals, people gather together and build thatched enclosures for the ceremonies. They are low budget but what is important is that the community takes part and the work is done. We would, for many past years, never hear that a particular ceremony was cancelled for lack of funds.

More so, people in the villages have no housing problems for one reason, they manage to build their own houses according to their own standards. They survive years with minimum income and minimum expenditure.

If we are to develop our society, the main question is: what can the local people do? What can they build? If they need help; what kind? In the past, how has over 80% of the population managed to survive in the rural areas without direct government help? If the government gets involved in the affairs of rural communities, the difference would be phenomenal.

Tourism

Zambia is blessed to have wildlife. However, it is a pity that a large percent of Zambia’s population have never seen a live lion. Tourism at the local level is dead. The government does not provide affordable facilities for people to enjoy the true Zambian life. Local people need to enjoy the facilities their country provides. The wildlife and the vast splendour of historical and natural sites along with many other places of interest are for the Zambia heritage.

Social development is the foundation of economic development. The two cannot be divorced one from another or the latter to precede the former. Social development is an initiative of the people but the environment and conditions for the development stem from the government’s effort.

Sports

Sport is at the heart of many Zambian young people. But many end up living in the same cross-country paths they raced at secondary school level. Some have even come close to setting a world record but no government eye is there to promote them.

Through the Ministry of Youth Sport and Child Development, sports development should be facilitated to encourage economic development through the promotion of events involving amateur, collegiate and professional sports organizations.

The government should work tirelessly in bringing events such as Africa club championships, African games and university games to Zambia and continue to work with allies to ensure continued progress. Among others the government should first promote the recognition that sport is an enjoyable, health giving activity and can be a beneficial part of life for all. Second, encourage development within one's chosen sport and to help to recognise achievement by promoting the use of award schemes that accommodate all levels of ability, from those with learning difficulties and the very young through to experienced and advanced performers. Third, encourage accomplished performers to share their knowledge and develop teaching skills. Fourth, provide schools and clubs with all the necessary information and tools to develop more sports. Last, encourage the pursuit of excellence within one's level of ability by encouraging and promoting the staging of competitions.

The Role of the Royal Establishments

As much as we refuse to admit it, African rulers play a vital role in the development of any given African society. During the days when the traditional rulers had power, people only needed to survive in order to earn money, now they need money in order to survive. The difference is, they have given up their skills of how to survive in a deprived condition and started looking forward handouts for survival.

According to our tradition, a subject is expected to work for the king (colonial powers call them Chief) as a symbol of allegiance. In those days, communities would farm and pay tax to the king. The king would in turn support and judge over them. The communities were close knit and very self-sufficient. Today, many people have left the royal establishments for a “better life” in the cities. The establishments along with their kings have been impoverished and the kings’ grip for their subjects lost.

Reconstructing our lost civilization

For many centuries, the African peoples lived in closed self-reliant communities. According to our ancient tradition, people concentrated on building substantial food and water reserves. These are still paramount for the survival of the communities. Today, the umbrella of modernization, Zambian people have, to the contrary, lost the spirit and knowledge of food and water reservation. Droughts are not an occurrence of the twenty-first century; they have been there for ages. We survived to analyse the situation today but too stubborn to learn from it.

Days have gone when we would travel in the villages and people did not want. A stranger was treated to a good meal before he would continue his journey. Traditional animal husbandry saw a lot of peasant farmers breeding tens to hundreds herds of cattle per household. Traditional medicine protected and reduced infant mortality to lowest levels. Curable diseases did not pose unnecessary threat to the community.

Our total reliance on western medicines, animal husbandry techniques, food reserve programmes have seen our people die of curable diseases, and increased numbers of the starving. This however is not to rule out the great many help western civilization has wrought our lives today. What one would desire is to see our civilization contributing to a highest degree in our livelihood with western civilization as an added advantage.

Africans, history tells us, have survived well in close-knit communities. The role of the leader at each level was well understood and respected. Each person knew his position in the circle of life. The African people knew their rightful position even in the food chain. Today, the only tangible recognition of the positions is when the oldest serves himself first at the table. Alas to say that the initial role of self-sufficiency, each person having a responsibility of providing and producing goods, is lost. We have moved from a producing community to a consuming community, all in the name of white-collar positions. We never wonder why our African designed clothes have no collars. The more African people wear collars the more they become unproductive and treacherous. Somehow we tend to associate collars with easy money, short cut to wealth, corruption, nepotism and power conflicts. We consider the very work that primarily is responsible for bringing food to the table as belonging to the lower class. Thus our society decays as we bleach our blue collars white.

The heady days are gone. Elders talk about them as golden days. They watch the fruit of their labours plundered by the modern “developers”. We have indeed lost the trail our forefathers blazed. We might blame the imperialists as much as we can but the truth is our forefathers blazed a trail and our modern minds refuse to scrutinize the developmental essence the trail holds for our society.

One element still stands though; the royal establishments. In Europe they have the United Kingdom, today’s monument to remind us that after our tribal wars, we were supposed to name our land thus, but the imperialist Britain took the name for itself. Today, over a hundred years later they are still fighting to unite with Ireland. Back in Africa, all tribes live in perfect harmony, blessed with massive intertribal marriages. When we magnify this issue, we come to realise that peace and harmony, a prerequisite for sustainable development is readily available. More so, realise that all conflicts pertaining to power and politics have little or nothing to do with royal establishments. Therefore, we would conclude that the adopted leadership system without the direct involvement of traditional systems is poison to Africa. In Europe and the west, these systems are their tradition that is why they thrive. This is one of the reasons why western politics can never work well in the Zambian setting.

What shall we say then? Shall we make our traditional leaders to take roles as presidents? No, all logic forbid. According to the statistics, about 60% of Zambia’s population live in the rural area. Still a much larger percentage of this population live far away from the royal establishments. The king does not know his subjects. People are alone and scattered. They don’t pay homage to anybody. They can decide on when to migrate and to where. They can decide to go to the cities at will and build a squatter house. Even the government has no means or policy to govern them. The royal establishments can be conduits with which people can regroup into large easily manageable communities.

Managing a country cannot be so much different from managing a family. After all a nation is just a big family. What a family needs, primarily, is food, water and shelter. Security is a by-product. There are certain times when as a nation we should feel embarrassed for failing to provide for ourselves. Zambia is proud of being one of the lightly populated countries in the world. The land to population ratio is very high. A billion dollar question is raised: how much money do we need to get people to work on the farms to cultivate food for the country? Is the government capable of constructing large state owned farms and hire labourers? What do Zambians want, a lot of money or food, water and shelter? From the natural resources in Zambia, are we able to construct comfortable yet cheap accommodation?

Farming Culture

Ndima farming

The Tonga people of southern province have an old tradition of helping out in the cultivation, planting and harvest of the yield. (They didn’t build combine harvesters because the system did not require them, I suppose.) In this culture, a family would prepare snacks and drinks and call upon scores of families to join in the farming. In this way, they managed to cultivate a large piece of land in a day. No payment was needed. All the family has to do is, be willing to take part in another ndima organised by another family. With such cheap labour, with only pounded maize meal and home brewed sweet beer, the food reserves for the year that followed were put in place. During the harvest, the harvesters would enjoy the watermelons, canes, cucumbers, gourds, etc, which they helped plant, as they gather the yield.

Kitemene/Chitemene

These are farming cultures of the Northwestern and the northern provinces of Zambia respectively. In the former, the Kaonde people of Kasempa leave their homes and go to settle on their farms during the farming season. Their farms might change every two to four years. This lack of permanent structures makes it hard to develop the land to high production levels. The latter is the practice of the Bemba people. The performance and aim is similar to the former in that they both aim at cultivating on virgin land in the pretext of using the natural fertility of the land.

Both practices are not favourable for development. However, the spirit behind the practices is very vital in the development of the farming culture in these areas. These practices could help the government to construct huge state owned permanent farms. The communities are ready to take part in the Kitemene/Chitemene farming systems which culminates in annual traditional harvest festivals.

SHELTER

Our ancestors lived in caves. What a brilliant idea. All they had to do is find a good cave, secure it and live happily ever after, of course having us in the process. What do we learn from them? Definitely it is not a lesson of cave habitation; we are well past that stage. One thing stands out though; they used the natural resources to the best of their advantage.

Many hundreds years later, we, the offspring, have developed much comfortable houses. In all villages around Zambia, people live in either a thatched house or one roofed by corrugated iron sheets. In the cities, we can hardly count the types. But in all this, what place does the early civilisation play in our lives? Have we dropped our past in favour of the hard to get western style? If yes, at what cost? How many Zambians today can afford houses made from concrete blocks, iron window frames, glass window panes, modern carpentry-fashioned doors, high quality locks, nice healthy environmentally friendly roofing? If they can’t, does the government have proper and reliable mortgage policies and facilities? If it does, has the Zambian education system or the social and civil society taught ordinary Zambians to serve money for mortgages or merely serve money in the banks? If the answer is no, then what are the alternatives? How do we house the people in our country? It is only prudent to swallow our pride and get back to our roots.

Thatched Mud Houses

Grass roofed houses are much cheaper to build. In most cases all what is needed is human energy. Uncles, brothers, sisters and friends work together to build a house for their relatives. The forest around provides all the necessary materials. The houses are cheap but they have sheltered most of today’s older generation in Zambia and account for over 60% of the country’s total housing units. From these houses our fathers they walked distances to school. They were healthy and happy.

If these houses would work so well then, why hasn’t the Zambian community developed them? The simple answer is: we as Zambians tend to consider Zambian things as backward. Development means improvement of the things that you have. We have mud houses; modern technology today provides us with an opportunity to build much better mud houses. They come in a form of wattle and daub mud houses, baked pan brick houses, etc. At least we are able to trace their origins but do we use them? All it takes is a detailed plan and willingness to do it. One thing for sure is the walls built of raw earth in China, Africa, India and even the cold wet climates of northern Europe continue to provide shelter after several hundred years of use. With the addition of concrete foundations, we can say in total confidence that the earth walls can last for centuries. And like all other masonry wall systems, whether they are brick, stone, or concrete, exterior maintenance is virtually eliminated.

Perhaps the best reason to build with earth is the boost it can give to the health of the planet. Earth is an unprocessed, widely available building material with virtually no side effects associated with its harvesting or use. Since an earth walled building saves construction and energy resources, doesn't pollute, and lasts practically forever it a wise investment in the future of the planet.

Mud Bricks

Let’s take a short survey on what is needed to build a modern mud house. The builder would need mud which is free of charge and readily available in Zambia. From mud, one can mould bricks of all shapes and sizes. If one is lazy or does not have time to do the labour, a well small scale or large scale Pan-Brick Company can help at a cost, of course with high demand, many would spring up. More companies more jobs. More companies producing the same commodity entail cheaper prices. As a matter of fact, the cost of living in Zambia is high mostly because of expensive accommodation.

The solid earth wall stores energy for long periods of time results in comfortable interior temperatures because of very little change from day to night. Mass walls absorb solar energy during winter days and they radiate that energy to offset night time heat losses within the building. In the summer months, the mass of the walls absorbs excess heat generated during the day, keeping the inside spaces surprisingly cool, then releases that stored heat to the clear night sky.

And because the energy that controls the temperature inside the building radiates directly from the mass of the walls, the quality of the comfort inside is noticeably different than in a space regulated through mechanically altered air.

Two important reasons for choosing to build with solid earth walls are that they are fireproof and resistant to damage from termites and other insects. Both these factors contribute to greater longevity, of course, but they can also mean an important increase in safety for owners.

Roofing

A large percent of Zambian houses today are either roofed by the deadly asbestos or iron sheets too hot for the tropical climate. In the sixties and seventies, most houses which were built used tiles as roofing. Did we loose the technology? Not at all! The roofing tiles are much cheaper and durable, let alone good for health and the environment. One of the reasons Zambians don’t like to use them, I suppose, is that they take a little bit longer to put as a roof. So Zambians prefer materials which cover a much larger area at one time.

Tiles are moulded from mud or clay. Just as the bricks they are cost efficient and durable. They do not require heavy industrial equipment to produce. In fact, it takes a very short training programme to learn how to produce them. Most of the people who make tiles learn to do that on the job. Taking a world survey, we discover that in this modern age, very few countries use asbestos and iron sheets as roofing. In China for instance, the world’s populous country, over 90% of the buildings use either tiles or concrete as roofing.

My favourite house is a thatched one. It offers good ventilation, warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Today, Zambia has done literary nothing to bring this technology to the cities. The thatched houses come in different styles and designs. At the hand of the master, the roof of a thatched use remains a wonder the world has never appreciated. One can thatch any size of a house from a one room round hut to a mansion. Exploring this technology is vital. In Zambia, some of the most beautiful thatches are found in the western and north western provinces.

It goes without saying that it is practically possible to incorporate modern technology in house thatching. Today the skills are dying out and the only ones who learn are those who drop out of school and settle in the villages. This is a skill which would not only beautify our cities in a traditional Zambian style while providing affordable means of owning houses but also preserve our Zambian heritage. Bizarre it might seem for the “modern” age but why should we associate African traditional housing with poverty and backwardness?

Rafters

The beams for construction should not be an issue. As much as Zambia uses both metal and wooden beams, the question is about the percentage of people who can afford a given type. In Zambia most of the saw mill industries survive on supplying timber or wood to furniture construction and paper mills. The house construction industry lags far behind in the use of wood. Wood is supposed to be cheaper in Zambia for diverse reasons. One obvious one is that we have plenty of it.

Ventilation

Earth walls improve the quality of the indoor environment. Unlike wood-frame buildings, packed full of potentially harmful manufactured materials which can outgas hazardous fumes for months, an earth walled building with a natural finish emits no toxins whatsoever.

In the ancient Zambian society, some houses had only openings for ventilation, some in rectangular form others in triangular form. We could say those were innocent days where house breaking was unheard of. Today, these types of ventilation are still common in the rural Zambia. Are they shameful? No! Not to the slightest detail. In the cities it would be weird to have such kinds of ventilation in place of windows, not only for deco reasons but also for security.

However, we learn from these that a lot of our brothers and sisters survive in such conditions. To someone who grew up in a house with glass panes it is drastic, but to the owner of the house, nothing is wrong. Where is the dividing line then? In Lusaka, not long ago, in Chilenge, there were houses with such conditions. Others had planks in place of glass. I don’t mean for us to go back to those days, but my point exactly is development takes stages and if we have to build house units in counties with planks for glass let us give it a try. Today we have a lot of people who live in shanty compounds who have bricks in place of glass. Nonetheless let us work hard to develop Kapiri Glass factory and establish many others like it.

Modern Real Estate

This is one of the forgotten industries in Zambia. Though the demand of housing is rising each day, the government and its people have literary no deliberate project for housing. The ministry of local government and housing is as good as not there. The local municipalities think that slashing grass in the rainy season is the main task they have. The shanty townships are growing in and around the cities. When did the government last plan to house its people?

We need lots and lots of money for such kind of project one would say. I can’t agree more. But as a government we are obliged to provide shelter for our citizens. They can walk to work if they have to, but they need to come from a descent house. Today, government ministries have more vehicles than houses for their heavily taxed employees. The most important question one would ever ask is: the government doesn’t provide its people with accommodation, it doesn’t pay them enough to buy food, and the water is too expensive to afford, why is it there then?

We have millions of people who can work for minimum wages. Under the international level they call this exploitation and against human rights. As good and articulate as they might be, they never provide the necessary means or conditions to avoid the situation. If one 25kg bag of mealie-meal, a packet of salt, sugar, beans, kapenta, an overalls and K50, 000 would employ a massive number of willing labourers to build a city then why not do it. If we don’t have money for trucks and other heavy equipment, oxen, donkeys, dogs or horses can haul materials to the construction sites. At least we can get the things done. We could be slow but we shall be making progress. Most of the ancient cities like London were constructed in the same way. If we are backward, so be it. Let us be backward and proud of it. But people should be empowered with shelter and good infrastructure.

The materials for the construction of any type of infrastructure are readily available. We have a well developed cement industry, good metal processing industry, good timber processing plants, good glass manufacturing industry. What then? Do we surely need donor aid to use our materials? God forbid. We are lazy workers and so even a little that we have is taken away from us. However we are not doomed to remain in this state for ever.

WATER

It is amazing how much we plan. Over ninety percent of Zambia’s cities are far way from rivers and lakes. Everybody acknowledges that for human survival we need water. Zambia spends millions of dollars to tap water from diverse rivers to cities. The underground water is underdeveloped and reserved for the unknown.

We have a capacity of reserving water and even using it for irrigation but no deliberate initiation on the part of the government. Traditional methods of water conservation are lost. Droughts make our population suffer even when they are not supposed to.

In the western province for instance, we have a flood plain with lots of water one period of the year and a desert the next. Why can’t we conserve the water by building a dam to create a reservoir?

What is needed then is proper planning.

Consumptive use of water is broadly defined as any use of water which reduces the supply from which it is withdrawn or diverted. The consumptive use of water throughout the country should be regulated by the state governed water departments, and should be prescribed in the Zambian constitution. This authority should apply to public water supplies, agricultural and landscape irrigation, contamination clean-up, commercial/industrial uses, and dewatering/mining activities. Water uses which are exempt from the permitting process would include domestic uses for potable and home irrigation and water used for fire fighting. In addition to consumptive use permits, the district water works could be responsible to permit water well construction activities.

The water supply planning process can occur in four overlapping phases: the preparation and distribution of background information; the identification of potential issues; the development of solutions to potential problems, and implementation. An advisory committee must be proposed to assist in the information gathering, issue identification, goal formulation, evaluation of analytical tools model results, identification of possible solutions, strategy development, and draft plan document review. This approach emphasizes the development of solutions and the building of partnerships for future implementation efforts. Additionally, this approach will facilitate better synchronization with the schedule to be followed by all concerned bodies in their water supply planning efforts.

Each region is expected to experience substantial growth between now and a given date. Population is expected to increase by a certain percent from given year levels, with expansion occurring in some areas. Likewise, agriculture is expected to remain a cornerstone of over 90 percent of the regions of the economy. Meeting water demands while addressing the water needs of the environment makes development of proactive water supply strategies imperative to the economic and environmental sustainability of the areas. It must be the intent of the legislature to promote the availability of sufficient water for all existing and future reasonable-beneficial uses and natural systems. Implementation of the countries water supply plan should avert potential problems if the water resources are managed properly.

Surface water availability is essentially a function of climate and storage; there are excess amounts during the summer wet season, and insufficient supplies during dry winter months. There is need to develop a number of water reservoirs for both treated and untreated water by providing a storage option during periods of water availability. Other strategies, such as targeting particularly vulnerable areas for conservation programs and greater development of reclaimed water use, are important water source options.

Local governments and users will play a key role in making these strategies a success, through adoption of conservation ordinances, homeowner awareness programs, land use decisions, and development of water source options by local utilities and users. Basing on the above, we can rightly say that water supply issues in the planning area can also be addressed at the local level with appropriate diversification and management.

The water supply plan should:

document existing as well as future agricultural and urban water demands;

develop strategies to meet these needs, while providing adequate water to support the needs of the environment;

identify specific geographical areas that have water resource problems that are critical or are anticipated to become critical by a given future date. For these critical areas, remedial or preventative measures needs be identified, including water resource development projects, water supply development projects, and operational and regulatory strategies;

establish a framework around which future water use decisions in the planning region can take place;

identify areas where collection of resource data and technical studies are necessary; and

implement the plan recommendations through regulatory, research, planning, construction, operational, land management and acquisition actions.

Indicators and the Power of Domestic Consumption

Household final consumption expenditure

Household final consumption expenditure measures current expenditure by households and producers of private non-profit services for households, such as charities, clubs, trade unions and private schools. The items covered include expenditure on consumer durables such as cars, furniture and long-lasting household appliances; consumer semi-durables such as clothing and other appliances; single use goods such as food; and services of all kinds, for example, hairdressing and public transport.

Household final consumption expenditure in most cases accounts for over half of expenditure on GDP and could be the largest component of aggregate demand. We should realise however, that changes in household final consumption expenditure from one period to another have a significant impact on movements in GDP.

The level of household final consumption expenditure is dependent on a number of factors including: present and anticipated future levels of income, expenditure and saving habits, relative price levels and the rate of inflation.

Economic policy makers may attempt to influence the level of household final consumption expenditure to either dampen or stimulate the economy by altering interest rates or through taxation or wages policy.

Retail Turnover

The retail trade series presents monthly estimates of turnover for retail businesses (such as grocers, clothing stores, department stores, etc.) and hospitality and selected service businesses (such as cafes and restaurants, hotels and licensed clubs, etc.) for each district and province.

The principal objective of the retail trade series is to show month to month movements of retail turnover. Turnover includes retail sales; wholesale sales; takings from repairs, meals and hiring of goods (except for rent, leasing and hiring of land and buildings); commissions from agency activity (e.g. commissions received from collecting dry cleaning); and net takings from gaming machines.

Estimates are compiled monthly in current price terms and quarterly in chain volume terms.

The retail trade series should be one of the main economic indicator series of the Bank of Zambia. Retailers, industry associations, economists, government and media should use the statistics obtained in conjunction with other economic indicators to help assess current Zambian economic performance. Quarterly retail trade estimates, along with other data, are to be used in the calculation of household final consumption expenditure in the Zambian national accounts.

The monthly and quarterly series must be supplemented by more detailed but irregular financial year surveys.

Private farm inventories

Encourage the domestic consumption of such commodities or products by diverting them, by the payment of benefits or indemnities or by other means, from the normal channels of trade and commerce or by increasing their utilization through benefits, indemnities, donations or by other means, among persons in low income groups as determined by the Secretary of Agriculture

Private non-farm inventories

Private non-farm inventories include goods intended for sale (either of own production or purchased for resale), work in progress, raw materials and stores of all private non-farm businesses. All private non-farm industries are covered, with the major inventory-holding industries being manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail trade and mining.

Private non-farm inventory levels may fluctuate significantly with changes in economic activity. The periodic fluctuations in the level of non-farm inventories are here referred to as the 'inventories cycle'.

The private non-farm inventories to total sales ratio compares the value of inventories held by private sector businesses, other than those engaged in agriculture, with the value of total sales of goods in a given period of time. Sales are defined as household final consumption expenditure on goods plus private and public gross fixed capital formation on dwellings, other buildings and structures, and machinery and equipment plus exports of goods.

The private non-farm inventories to total sales ratio can be an important indicator of future business intentions. An increase in the ratio may indicate that businesses have decided to build up inventories in anticipation of increased sales. On the other hand, the ratio may fall as businesses decide to run down their inventories if sales are expected to weaken.

Of course, at times there will also be some unplanned inventory build-ups or run-downs. If sales are higher than expected, inventory levels will be less than planned. Conversely, if sales are lower than anticipated, there will be an increase in inventory holdings in the short term. In this way, inventories act as the buffer between changes in demand and the supply of goods available to meet that demand.

Private new capital expenditure

The private new capital expenditure series relates to new capital expenditure by private non-farm businesses in Zambia.

Capital expenditure may be for assets which will increase production, increase efficiency or replace old equipment. New capital expenditure refers to the acquisition of new tangible assets either on own account or under a finance lease and includes major improvements, alterations and additions. In general, expenditure on second-hand assets is excluded unless these are imported for the first time.

The estimates are broken down by asset type (buildings and structures; equipment, plant and machinery), by industry (mining; manufacturing; and other selected industries), and by region/province.

The estimates of private new capital expenditure are an important component in the compilation of the country’s national accounts. They can be used, along with other data, in measuring private gross fixed capital formation, which forms part of the expenditure based measure of gross domestic product (GDP) and is also shown in the capital account. In compiling the national accounts estimates, acquisitions of second-hand assets are added and disposals of second-hand assets are subtracted.

As well as estimates of actual expenditure, estimates of expected private new capital expenditure for periods up to 18 months in advance are also compiled. Once actual expenditure for a financial year is known, it is useful to compare the expected expenditure with the actual expenditure. The resultant realisation ratios (actual expenditure divided by expected expenditure for the same period) assist in interpreting expectation statistics for future periods and can be applied to make predictions of actual expenditure for a future period.

Private new capital expenditure estimates provide one of the key measures of the performance of the Zambian economy. The level of investment in private new capital expenditure has a major impact on the future productive capacity of the economy. It can also have a significant affect on GDP.

Residential building activity

A residential building is a building which is predominantly used for long-term residential purposes, and can contain one dwelling unit (e.g. house) or more than one dwelling unit (e.g. flats).

Residential building construction depends on the demand that exists for new places of residence. When the population is expanding rapidly the level of residential construction tends to increase in order to meet higher demand for new homes.

The willingness of individuals and investors to undertake residential building construction is affected by the interest rate and the economic climate. During times of economic expansion and/or low interest rates, individuals and investors are more willing to invest in new residential buildings than in periods of economic decline or high interest rates. Other factors which affect investment are the cost of land, labour and building materials. All of these are affected by the prevailing economic climate.

Residential construction statistics are used by government and private organisations. The housing industry uses building statistics in forecasting the demand and supply of new housing. The government also uses forecasts of residential building activity as one input to determine future policy regarding residential construction in the overall economic context. The statistics are also used to compile the dwellings component of gross fixed capital formation in the national accounts, which forms part of the expenditure measure of gross domestic product (GDP) as well as being shown in the capital account.

A government appointed agency or institution should produce a range of statistics relating to residential building, including statistics on the number and value of approvals during a period, the number and value of commencements during a period, and the value of work done during the period. The series are closely related, with approvals tending to lead commencements and work done.

The housing sector is seen to be a leading indicator of the general state of the economy. Because housing is seen as a basic requirement for all Zambians, there has been a continuing demand for more houses as the population has grown. As economic conditions become more favourable, the housing sector is one of the first areas to strengthen as pent-up demand becomes realised.

Non-residential building

Non-residential buildings are buildings other than residential buildings and include hotels, shops, factories, offices, etc. Non-residential buildings are used by businesses (both private and public) to produce goods and services.

Construction of non-residential buildings depends on the demand for particular types of buildings as well as on the level of economic activity. While overall economic conditions have an influence on investment decisions, the demand for particular types of buildings can vary considerably, depending on expectations for future activity in the industry in which a particular type of building can be used. For example, the demand for construction of new hotels depends on expected future tourism activity [here, the most favourable is Domestic tourism - where residents of Zambia visit other parts of the country for tourism purposes. For example, when a lot of local people engage in activities such as travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for a consecutive number of days, for leisure, business and other purposes, a lot of revenue can be collected]; the demand for factories is based on the outlook of the manufacturing industry and the demand for shops and offices on the current (over or under) supply of these buildings and expectations of future demand. Construction of community and public service buildings (hospitals, schools, etc.) tends to be more constant and is more affected by government budget considerations than overall economic activity.

Estimates of non-residential building are used by public and private sector analysts as a measure of economic activity and an indicator of business confidence and growth. They are also used in the compilation of the "other building" component of gross fixed capital formation in the national accounts, which forms part of the expenditure measure of gross domestic product (GDP), as well as being shown in the capital account.

Engineering construction

Engineering construction is infrastructure construction, e.g. roads, bridges, railways, telecommunications, water and sewerage, electricity generation and distribution facilities.

The level of engineering construction gives an indication of the economy's capability to grow and expand in the future. A modern economy needs a highly efficient infrastructure to ensure that the economy can operate to its capacity and continue to grow and that the needs of the population are adequately serviced.

A significant proportion of engineering construction is funded by government although much of the work is contracted out to private sector firms.

Engineering construction is a component of gross fixed capital formation in the national accounts, which forms part of the expenditure measure of gross domestic product (GDP) as well as being shown in the capital account.

HIV/AIDS Pandemic

Ignorance

Ignorance is of one of the major causes for the spread of AIDS today. This ignorance is not the lack of knowledge of how the virus is spread or whether it exists or not. It is the ignorance of who has acquired it and how? Many African governments don’t know of the sufferers of AIDS or the carriers of HIV. They don’t know of the apparent vehicle through which HIV is spread. All take it for granted that it is mostly spread through sexual intercourse or passed on the children by infected parents. This, as much as I subscribe, is not enough. I should submit here that the fight against AIDS goes beyond acceptance of generalised research findings to the detailed understanding of the zones and types of human behaviour that fuels the spread of the disease. More so, it should go to the extent of passing by-laws which serves to prevent the escalation of such behaviour.

There are more people in Zambia who are not infected that those who carry the virus. What have we done to protect them from catching the virus? When the world was terrified about SARS, people worked hard to make sure people didn’t catch it. What worked most is that people know whether they had it or not. They took precaution tests. Schools and other institutions were on high alert. Those who did not have it (with adequate knowledge that they didn’t have it) worked hard not to go to places of high risk of contamination. If such kind of strategy would be applied in Zambia, where as many people as possible are aware that they don’t have the virus (through compulsory HIV testing), the precedence would surely change. Today a lot of people end up catching the disease because in the first place they are not sure whether they have it or not and this prompts some to reckless living. There are many people who have lived in indulgence of sex with multiple partners and yet have not come to get infected. Such people are so afraid to take tests for fear of being found HIV positive. With time, they come to accept their fears as true and end up loosening up their caution.

The media reports dos utterly nothing to report those who are not dying of HIV. Adverts and activists all talk about living positive. As much as we must be sympathetic to the people with HIV and AIDS, the majority of our countries are not, what are we doing to encourage them not to catch the virus?

Human Rights and the fight against HIV proliferation

The human rights activists are good at pointing out injustices. While this is good and they must receive credit for it, they do nothing to support those who are put at risk when moral dissidents go about contracting and spreading HIV. This is in light of HIV tests. People have a right to privacy in terms of health issues. As much as this is true, it is also true that this secretive has lead to a lot of preventable deaths. One might argue that they have a right to choose to be tested for HIV but we ask, at what expense? If one if infected, he/she poses a civil risk to others. Those others have a right to know if one is infected or not. They need to make an informed decision regards committing their body sexually. What does the government do to promote this?

Stiff polices have to be made at work places. For example, all employers are required by law to keep those who are infected in their employ. How convenient. I would submit that if we are at war with the deadly disease, a much workable compromise must be made. While employers would keep those infected, a line must be drawn. For instance, a compulsory HIV test must be conducted in schools, institutions, hospitals, companies and all governmental and non-governmental organisations to determine those who are HIV positive. Then a decree would be made to the effect that all those who acquire the virus due to reckless livelihood after a given date would be subject to stiffer penalties such as suspension, expulsion, or prosecution. If laws are there to deal with drunkenness, why are our societies reluctant with reckless sexual behaviour?

Of course we might argue that such laws would bring more pain and suffering to those who contract the disease at the hand of unfaithful spouses. Well, human rights must come in to do what they are good at – talking. They should talk to the unfaithful spouses before they infect their partners and children. Today, anybody can go about and contract the disease and will be protected more than if they were disabled by an accident. There are no steps taken to track the source of the disease. All carriers are at a loose, the government cannot even track them, and yet we say we are fighting against the epidemic. How? If the human rights activists tell us that we should consider HIV as any other disease, we should uphold that with both arms. That means not only keep them in jobs but also treat them normally. The normal way people with a common flu behave is that they mention to their friends or family that they have the flu. Then they usually, cautiously, make sure that they don’t spread it. As much as the people around them don’t reject or sideline them, they make sure they keep contact in such a way that they minimise catching the flu. This I believe is what is meant by mutual responsibility towards the eradication of the disease.

Sexual gadgets

Modern technology and the practices of sexual satisfaction have evolved to complex heights. While in our cultures it could be a taboo, extreme measures could be employed to help those infected not to get into desperation while in the sexual drought. Counselling toward the acceptance of change could be encouraged and much as possible.

In this respect, the sufferer would be encouraged to turn to unconventional sexual practices which would include the use of gadgets. This is so because the campaign to encourage sex abstinence has been met with radical opposition usually with people openly agreeing to it but doing otherwise behind closed curtains.

Poverty

Whilst poverty is rated as the main reason for the escalation of the virus, in real life very few people catch the virus due to the same. Among the unmarried and the married, a large percentage of those who contract the virus get it through mere indulgence and bad sexual behaviour. In Zambia, we can safely say that a very insignificant number of indigenous Zambian people sell their bodies to earn a living. We read reports such as; “Chola urged the Police Service to follow up some cases identified by MAPODE in their research findings. Given the rise of prostitution in Zambia, the laws are relaxed and the country makes a good haven for them and child traffickers. He said because of the high number of prostitutes that had migrated to Zambia from different countries, the country no longer had 73 tribes due to the influx of illegal foreigners. We have tolerated law breakers for a long time” (Zambia is a haven of prostitution – Chola. By Noel Sichalwe, The Post (Lusaka, Zambia), July 16, 2003). We understand the problem but we do nothing about it. When shall we do something to protect the security of our citizens? If we fight the pandemic using wrong reasons as the cause, we are fighting a losing battle. There is no direct connection between having sex and being poor. But there is a direct link between having sex and being idle. After all an idle mind is a workshop of the devil.

From the same report we read that “the research revealed that 60 per cent of the prostitutes in Zambia were grade 12 school leavers. Kiremire said the research also found that 89 percent of prostitutes were also involved in child trafficking of girls between the ages of 14 and 18” (Zambia is a haven of prostitution – Chola. By Noel Sichalwe, The Post (Lusaka, Zambia), July 16, 2003). The government can do more than just talk about the problem. Job creation is important. The school leavers don’t indulge in illegal sex practices because they are poor or poverty stricken, they do so mostly because they are loafing. Most of these were good sports persons in school who didn’t do well in academic circles. There are no Olympic teams they can join as professions. The youth sport and child development ministry is dead. Others were in the cultural and drama societies. The art industry in Zambia is as good as dead. Whilst in other countries art is a big industry, Zambia still fails to recognise it. Music, drama, theatre, painting, sculpture, crafts, and filming receive little support from the government. These are areas where many school leavers would find themselves. We don’t always have to look for white colour jobs and the grade twelve school leavers also don’t.

If we have to reduce the risk of the escalation of HIV/AIDS let us develop our social and cultural sectors. Poverty is the luck of these and HIV/AIDS escalation is the by-product.