This Year We Are All Going to Die

A 4-part blog series about the drought in Zambia, by John T. Njovu
Also read: Part 1

Part 2. Broken down family ties

​The extended family system has broken down. Everyone was for themselves and the micro-family. The extended family was a social media one of mere observers. No longer was it offering the needed social security to the poor, widows, orphans, physically and mentally challenged people and childless people. Very few of the elite and high net worth descendants in the urban areas and diaspora have close bonds to their ancestral rural land. They are very much aware of the underdevelopment of their Nyalugwe chiefdom. However, like many people whose parents long left the ancestral homes, they have no close bonds to their land. They talk more about helping ending poverty there, but lack action. Even those that act, their contributions are very negligible in ending poverty in their chiefdom. For example, Mrs. Leke Mwale, a widow of the Nyalugwe HQ village, narrated to me how she was struggling alone to look for food and firewood.

​The Nyalugwe chiefdom is in the Nyimba district of the Eastern province of Zambia. It is about 300 Km from Lusaka, the capital. It has the usual characteristics of underdevelopment. Bad road networks, low calibre public education system, high unemployment, inadequate health facilities, no electricity grid, early age marriages and lack of telecommunication infrastructures. It is partly located in the Luangwa basin. The Muchinga escarpment is running beside the Luangwa River. It is rich in flora and fauna, mineral and precious stones’ deposits. If the leaders were patriotic and practiced the spirit of Ubuntu, the chiefdom would be very much economically developed. Intermarriages during the precolonial, colonial and post-colonial eras made the chiefdom a tapestry of ethnic groups. The original inhabitants were bush men. The Bantu ethnic groups migrated from West-Central Africa some 4–5000 years ago and filled Sub-Saharan Africa. The Chewa and Bisa displaced the bushmen in the current chiefdom. The current rulers have less than 200 years in the Luangwa basin.

​Mrs. Leke Mwale’s mentally ill son was not receiving any medical care. Her home was once the marvel of the village during colonial time. It was the first palace built by the British administration for the chief. The plaster of cement was peeling off to leave the reddish clay bricks. The streams of reddish sand starting from the wall near the house and its rusty metal sheets showed that nature was gaining lost ground. Her remaining family members were surviving on throw aways of the maize grinding mill in Nyalugwe Hq village. She had to go to the mill and gather gaga (by product of maize milling that is used for stock feed) to cook nshima for her family. Relatives and neighbours were unable to assist them as they had no food. Most of the villagers had a poor harvest during the 2023/24 farming season. The effect of Al Nino was very visible. Southern Africa has been ravaged by a severe drought. Most of the people I met lamented that they are going to die this year if they do not receive food assistance. The required help is for this year up to the end of the 2024/25 farming season. God willing there shall be good rains in the 2024/25 farming season and better harvests.

Other urgent challenges that need attention

​Reeling from the adverse effects of the Corona pandemic, the drought has thrust itself to become the newest major factor in the devastation of the social and economic sectors of Southern African countries. Many people in the region depend on subsistence farming. Many of their crops failed to grow and not just maize. Exposed is bad economic planning and management on the individual and national level. Exposed is the folly of ignoring Indigenous knowledge. Drought is not a new phenomenal.

​The ancestral farming and food preservations methods enabled Indigenous communities to withstand the impacts of climate change. However, modern agriculture with its dependency on rain fed farming and daily shopping of food has failed to respond to need of people during current droughts. The agriculture extension services offered by the government have been exposed as weak. The donor funded agriculture projects and programmes evaluations have also been found wanting.

A close observation of climate change’s effects on the village of Nyalugwe showed that apart from obtaining urgent supplies of food, there are other developmental challenges that have been exposed by the drought and corona pandemic that the local population, businesses, government and non-governmental organisations with interests in the area need to urgently tackle. The corona virus pandemic had forced the shutdown of the foreign tourist dependent tourism industry in the chiefdom. Climate change has knocked out the remaining livelihood of farming and fishing.

​Most villagers have no alternative source of income. The women have stopped making clay cooking utensils. They also abandoned their bead making and clay pot making industries. The men also no longer engage in iron foundry and making of spears, knives, hoes and other household items, and reed baskets and mats. They no longer make reed mats for sale. There are cheaper and better imports.

​Fishing and hunting were the ancestral livelihood. However, they now need licenses. Not many can afford them. Due to overfishing, the fish catch is also low. They are no longer able to freely gather forest products for sale. Most of the virgin forest land with abundant forest products around the village is currently owned by foreigners.

Stealthy grabbers of Indigenous land

​Climate change has seen the mushrooming of enterprises that pitch helping Indigenous people to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. In Nyimba district, there is the Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO). It initially organised villagers into cooperatives to sell agro-products for its factory. It pitched elevating the standard of living for cooperative members and helping them with modern farming methods to beat climate change. However, that did not happen. Members still use traditional methods and inefficient tools to farm. They are now 

​Community game ranches are being introduced. A neo-biocolonialism is emerging in the climate change mitigation ventures. Unknowledgeable communities in modern business are being preyed on by sophisticated enterprises and non-governmental organisations. This goes on despite government institutions and local chambers of agriculture, commerce and industries that should protect them being aware.

A poster of the Nyalugwe Community Game Ranch Photo by John T. Njovu @JTN 2024

​I have been helping the villagers in the area of COMACO’s activities to evaluate their partnerships with such development intervenors. As a member of EvalIndigenous and a member of the Nyalugwe community, it is my obligation to help my community to be not taken advantage of by exploitative businesses and their local partners.

The Nyalugwe villagers show that they are not being well informed on what partnering with COMACO in conservation entails and how much of the sale of bio-carbon is given to the community and the traditional ruler, and to have access to agreements and financial records to be able to audit the transactions between COMACO and the buyers of bi-carbon.

​Most of the members of these communities are not aware of hectares declared and the amount of money that COMACO is realising from their land. COMACO has not been conducting the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) process well. It has purportedly been just promising nice things to signatories of its beneficiaries’ agreements without specifying what these nice things are. ' REDD+ (Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) schemes are all legally based on proper FPIC of participating communities being carried out.

​This is contrary to their presentation of their REDD+ approach and United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Due to weaknesses of royal establishments, COMACO is able to get away with excessive exploitation of Indigenous peoples. Traditions of not asking royal establishments to be transparent and account for moneys realised from dealings with investors on behalf of the people have also not helped commoners benefit from their ancestral lands. The names of communities keep on being used in transactions that only benefit a few. National commerce, industry, forest, and fisheries policies are not helpful to most Indigenous people. There are mostly poor. Therefore, they help perpetuate the colonial and neocolonial exploitation of locals by external investors.

​COMACO is acquiring large areas of land in contrast to what chiefs are giving to locals. This will in the end reduce the amount of land for residences, farming, and developments of the locals in future. For example, the upgrading of a rural health centre in the Mvuwa – Chamilala area into a hospital will lead to major social and economic developments in the area. The 7 to 10 Km behind the hospital to the border will be needed by the community and newcomers in the area for residences, shops, offices and entertainment. However, it won’t be available if it is held by COMACO. The royal establishment and civic managers should be able to see this as a seed for future civil conflicts between the community and company. The youth may begin to resent what their royal establishments, elders and civic managers are doing. Giving away land in return for menial jobs, small amounts of cash, cell phones, motor bikes and used vehicles.

​COMACO’s virtual board shows how huge the Indigenous land being used without Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of local inhabitants to sell carbon credits to polluters abroad is. They openly describe their carbon strategy. However, it is also not explaining to communities or communities do not understand the restrictions on future usage by local people that is intrinsic to the REDD. If it is difficult for most literate people with even access to internet to understand what REDD and climate change issues are about, what about Indigenous communities that have challenges in general education and having access to information?

​The local politicians and traditional leaders, and top government official are aware of the concerns of the villagers on COMACO’s purported purchase of a large tract of land from the Luangwa bridge to Kacholola. COMACO’s activities in the area disregard the objections of the local community and their chant of COMACO NO! COMACO is making efforts to even expand its presences in the area. It is disregarding this communal objection and approaching individuals to sell land to it. This is starting conflicts between family members fearing a loss of their heritage and those that want easy money.

​The Catholic church's Commission for Justice, Peace and Development, a much powerful ally of the poor, had during a meeting with the Headmen and journalists in December 2022 at the St. Joseph Mission volunteered to investigate, remedy these shortcomings, and sensitise people on FPIC. However, later the Lay Priest in Charge, Mr Lungu, had revealed that the matter was an important issue requiring national and not village organs to investigate and facilitate change.

Challenges of village youths

​Unemployed young men beg for alms or money for a drink. There is a high rate of alcohol abuse among the youth. Unemployment is very high. Oddly, though some villagers were lamenting expressing fear that they shall die if relief food is not sent there, maize grain is still being used by some to brew illicit gin in 200 litre metal drums. The concentration by mainly males in the high consumption of alcohol retards their villages’ developmental progress. It also exacerbates their personal social, health and financial challenges. The habitual abuse of alcohol among Indigenous communities is a global challenge that is usually ignored.

Brewing kachasu, a popular illicit gin Photo by Ngosa Banda @JTN 2024

There are a lot of early marriages and divorces. The teenage girls are physically, educationally, financially, and socially disadvantaged as they have to cope with motherhood at a very early age. The youths need a lot of sensitising and mentoring to turn their lives around.

These are some of the reasons driving me to open a cultural and community centre in my village.

Crossing the crocodile infested Luangwa in a sinking boat

​Guided by Aliyele Daka the Coxswain, we first crossed the Luangwa River by a leaking banana boat to Nyamwalika village on the west side of Nyalugwe Hq village. Aliyele informed us that the boat is owned by the Nyimba District Council. The council has been notified that the fibre is cracking but has not repaired it or bought a new one. It is meant to help mainly school children and pregnant mothers to easily cross the river. During the rainy season when the Luangwa bursts its banks, it is very difficult for the children and those seeking to access the clinic to be rowed across it. As we scoop out the water from the boat, we notice that the sand that settles at its bottom is glittery. Aliyele, caution us to beware of the vicious crocodiles larking in the murky brown water of the river. They are the protectors of the river and the reason none of the villagers try to pan for gold and other minerals in the river.

Crossing the crocodiles’ infested Luangwa River Photo by Ngosa Banda @JTN 2024

​We did not see crocodiles or other animals or any tourists around the river. Though we had heard two small planes flying east of the river. We assumed tourism was still to recover from the effects of the corona pandemic and that crocodiles were hiding in the coffee-coloured river. The safari camps on the Luangwa River are mostly owned by foreigners.

​Women in villages near the murky and crocodile infested Luangwa River fetch water from it. Interventions by the government and non-governmental organisations that sink boreholes in the villages have failed to help them get safe clean water. In Tiopa and Nyalugwe HQ villages we saw that the water pumps had broken down. Broken down Indian hand pumps for water are a common sight in rural areas. There are no local mechanics to repair them. After sinking the boreholes, the donors do not help maintain them. The village development committees have no budgets to repair them.

Medical challenges

​Specialist medical treatment is not accessible to villagers. A father showed us in Nyamwalika his son of about 6-8 years whose body had swelled up massively. He was having a liver problem. The Nyalugwe HQ’s village clinic was not able to help. He needed to be evacuated to a bigger medical facility. The father lamented that he could not afford transport and medical expenses.

​I observed that in the Nyalugwe HQ and at Tiopa Mukamwa village, they had mental health patients. There could be more cases as I have not visited a large number of villages in the chiefdom. The ones noted are younger men and seemingly their illness and plight were either underestimated or ignored. The man called Chimwene (thought to have come from Malawi) walks between Nyalugwe HQ to St Joseph Mission (24 km) preaching to no one in particular. There is a mental health hospital in Lusaka, Chainama Hospital.

Challenging terrain for vehicles

​The terrains are harsh, and our vehicle suffered the loss of the spider bearing of the left CV joint during the drive to Tiopa village from Nyalugwe HQ. The vehicle limped to the nearest mechanic about a 100 Kms from Nyalugwe Hq in Nyimba.

​We also had to walk sometimes long distances in hilly terrains in the Luangwa basin where my Toyota Regius could not manage. There were no roads to some of the settlements. Being habitually desk bound and from an urban area, it was physically very challenging. Those that want to walk along the Luangwa River to be in sync with nature or reduce weigh would have found the walks very beneficial. Why don’t the villagers not think of coming up with local village tourism and walks along the river and hills?

​Read Part 3. The shadow economy

Author - John T. Njovu, Zambia

John T. Njovu is a renowned Zambian Economist, Indigenous Evaluator, Author, Film Producer, and Civic Activist. He has been for the past three decades an active member of the development evaluation community. He has served in both the public and private sector. His civic involvement in non-profits has enhanced those he has been involved in locally and abroad.
     He is a founding member of the EvalIndigenous Global Network. He is the Co-convenor of the African chapter of EvalIndigenous. He is a collector of indigenous knowledge mainly related to evaluation, governance, male hood and education. His stories, therefore, focus on the history, socio-economic developments and future of indigenous communities, knowledge and evaluation. His documentary contributions to the enhancement and sharing of indigenous evaluation knowledge can be mainly found on the EvalIndigenous’ and JTN Arts’ YouTube channels as well as the EvalIndigenous’ website. His writing on various social and economic issues has been published in his country and abroad in various media.

Gratitude on data collection assistance on climate change in the Luangwa valley
There is not much data on the effects of climate change and economics of climate change in Zambia or the rest of Africa. I have been using my own resources to start studying and filming the effects of climate change in the Luangwa basin. I am grateful to receive a pledge of support from EvalIndigenous to support my efforts. This has been made possible through its receipt of a 2024 grant from the Ford Foundation.