Lusaka – Zambia has been hailed in malaria control during a meeting of health experts drawn accross Africa,held (March 10-12)in the Ghanaian capital Accra.
The United Against Malaria (UAM) conference heard that Zambia as become a global leader in malaria control.
Pauline Wamulume,principal information officer of the National Malaria Control,however cautioned that the mineral rich southern African nation would not become complacent in its efforts.
“Now is not the time to back down but to keep the pressure on. By doing so we are confident that we will win the fight against malaria,” said Ms Wamulume, who outlined the National Malaria Control Centre’s plans to raise awareness surrounding World Malaria Day in April.
She joined professionals from eleven African countries, who met to discuss progress and strategy for the United Against Malaria campaign.
In Zambia, work is progressing on a television public service announcement, while corporate partner Manzi Valley is soon to publish the latest in a series of children’s colouring books, featuring the campaign.
There are events planned for World Malaria Day on April 25, and a number of other initiatives are in the pipeline.
United Against Malaria leverages the energy and passion of football to communicate important messages about the treatment and prevention of malaria, driving Zambia’s goal of reaching the 2010 target of universal access to treated bednets and malaria medicine, a crucial first step to reaching the international target of reducing deaths to near zero by 2015.
Among those backing the campaign are Zambia national soccer team players,international footballing legend David Beckham and some local companies.
United Against Malaria’s pioneering approach has drawn from football for its inspiration, believing that teamwork is the key to success.Zambia's health minister Kapembwa Simbao launched the campaign last year.
United Against Malaria is being launched in countries across Africa in the run-up to next year’s World Cup in South Africa. Global partners include the Gates Foundation with support from the United Nations Foundation, Roll Back Malaria Partnership, the One Campaign, Malaria No More, PATH, PSI, John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Comic Relief.
Malaria is endemic in all nine provinces of Zambia, accounting for around a third of all hospital visits and having a major impact on families, the economy and the health system.
The government has made malaria prevention and control a national priority and has intensified its scale-up of interventions in recent years.
Over seven million insecticide-treated bednets (ITN), one of the best methods to prevent malaria, have been distributed nationwide. Indoor residual spraying (IRS) is now conducted in half of Zambia’s 72 districts.
Through these interventions, as well as nationwide access to testing and treatment, Zambia has recorded remarkable progress reducing the burden of malaria.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Application to CITES to down list elephants ready
By MARTIN NKOLOMBA
GOVERNMENT says it is ready to apply to the parties of the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species in Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to downlist the country’s elephant population from Appendix 1 to 2 to enable Zambia use benefits accruing from the sale of elephants for national development.
Minister of Tourism and Natural Resources Catherine Namugala said the country’s application to downlist its elephant population will have no negative impact on elephants.
She said her statement is supported by a comprehensive assessment of the proposal to downlist the elephant population.
“Zambia’s proposal to down list the elephant population is based on findings of a comprehensive assessment that showed that commercial trade would not be detrimental to the survival of the elephant,” Ms Namugala said.
She said this yesterday at a media breakfast in Lusaka at which she discussed the country’s readiness to apply for the downlisting as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is taking place in Qatar, United Arab Emirates.
Ms Namugala said the application is timely, as elephants are no longer threatened with extinction like they used to be during the early 1980s when their population was 27,000.
She said the sale of elephants and elephant products will benefit both Government and communities living alongside the animals.
Ms Namugala said if the country is allowed to start selling elephants and their products, the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) will be able to carry out its conservation functions more efficiently.
She said ZAWA needs about US$20 million annually to effectively function but that it only receives about US$12 million from Government.
Ms Namugala said Government cannot bridge the gap between the amounts owing to competing national developmental needs.
She said the sale of elephants will also improve the flow of economic resources in areas where elephants are killed.
Ms Namugala said ZAWA gives back 50 percent of all sales it makes from animals killed to respective communities.
She said such communities should expect a marked increase in financial allocations from the authority if Zambia is allowed to downlist the elephant population.
Ms Namugala said this would compensate communities that are adversely affected by human-elephant conflicts.
She said due to the increase in their population, elephants are causing damage to people’s crops and endangering their lives.
She said the proposal to downlist is aimed at facilitating trade in live elephants to acceptable destinations and trade in raw skins from controlled elephants.
She said the proposal will facilitate hunting trophies for non-commercial purposes.
Ms Namugala said apart from that, the proposal will facilitate the sale of 21.6 tonnes of stockpile of raw ivory currently in custody at ZAWA offices.
And Chieftainess Chiyawa supports the country’s proposal to downlist, reiterating that such a development would provide compensation for her subjects whose crops and property are destroyed by elephants.
Chieftainess Chiyawa said her people are experiencing food insecurity due to human-elephant conflicts.
She said the people are afraid to go fishing and to cultivate their fields because of the conflict.
GOVERNMENT says it is ready to apply to the parties of the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species in Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to downlist the country’s elephant population from Appendix 1 to 2 to enable Zambia use benefits accruing from the sale of elephants for national development.
Minister of Tourism and Natural Resources Catherine Namugala said the country’s application to downlist its elephant population will have no negative impact on elephants.
She said her statement is supported by a comprehensive assessment of the proposal to downlist the elephant population.
“Zambia’s proposal to down list the elephant population is based on findings of a comprehensive assessment that showed that commercial trade would not be detrimental to the survival of the elephant,” Ms Namugala said.
She said this yesterday at a media breakfast in Lusaka at which she discussed the country’s readiness to apply for the downlisting as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is taking place in Qatar, United Arab Emirates.
Ms Namugala said the application is timely, as elephants are no longer threatened with extinction like they used to be during the early 1980s when their population was 27,000.
She said the sale of elephants and elephant products will benefit both Government and communities living alongside the animals.
Ms Namugala said if the country is allowed to start selling elephants and their products, the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) will be able to carry out its conservation functions more efficiently.
She said ZAWA needs about US$20 million annually to effectively function but that it only receives about US$12 million from Government.
Ms Namugala said Government cannot bridge the gap between the amounts owing to competing national developmental needs.
She said the sale of elephants will also improve the flow of economic resources in areas where elephants are killed.
Ms Namugala said ZAWA gives back 50 percent of all sales it makes from animals killed to respective communities.
She said such communities should expect a marked increase in financial allocations from the authority if Zambia is allowed to downlist the elephant population.
Ms Namugala said this would compensate communities that are adversely affected by human-elephant conflicts.
She said due to the increase in their population, elephants are causing damage to people’s crops and endangering their lives.
She said the proposal to downlist is aimed at facilitating trade in live elephants to acceptable destinations and trade in raw skins from controlled elephants.
She said the proposal will facilitate hunting trophies for non-commercial purposes.
Ms Namugala said apart from that, the proposal will facilitate the sale of 21.6 tonnes of stockpile of raw ivory currently in custody at ZAWA offices.
And Chieftainess Chiyawa supports the country’s proposal to downlist, reiterating that such a development would provide compensation for her subjects whose crops and property are destroyed by elephants.
Chieftainess Chiyawa said her people are experiencing food insecurity due to human-elephant conflicts.
She said the people are afraid to go fishing and to cultivate their fields because of the conflict.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Zambia: ECZ to use Biometric technology in Voter registration for Decision 2011
The Electoral Commision of Zambia (ECZ), with the assiatnce of the United Nations (UN), will this year use Biometric technology to conduct voter registration. Biometric technology is used to measure and analyze human body characteristics, such as fingerprints, for for either identification or verification purposes.
The UN, through its Development Programme (UNDP), has already selected a company called Smartmatic to provide the new technologies for the improvement of the electoral register for ECZ.
For the first stage of the project, Smartmatic will supply ECZ with 1,000 mobile electronic biometric registry units, known as PARkits. This kit will include all hardware and software components, with their respective protective cases, training services, technical assistance and a one-year warranty.
Smartmatic, a leading provider of technological solutions for governments, was selected after the UN conducted a rigorous testing of numerous identity and registry technologies.
“We are very excited to be selected by the UNDP for this important project and to have the opportunity to provide the Republic of Zambia with our advanced technology to enhance their electoral register”, said Antonio Mugica, Smartmatic’s CEO. The PARkit units that will be used in Zambia are all equipped with Smartmatic’s registration application and with electrical backup components that ensure its autonomy for 8 straight hours.
The UNDP expects recruiting of operators to start on the second week of April and the electoral registration operations to begin in May 2010.The voter registration project in Zambia is part of the UNDP’s ongoing commitment to improve the performance of democratic governments. The UNDP invests 34% of its resources each year in projects in support of democratic governments and provides on-the-ground services in 166 countries.
Smartmatic specialises in fully-automated, electronic voting systems which they claim are completely secure, reliable and auditable. In January this year, their electronic voting system was successfully used in a parliamentary elections in ,Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the
PARMobile Kit used for Identity Registration
Venezuelan coast. The big test for the company’s voting system will be in Phillipines, where that country’s Electoral Commission has deployed an automated electronic system by Smartmatic for use in this year’s May elections.
It is however not clear weather the ECZ will use Smartmatic’s automated electoral systems or just use their voter registration component. While automated voting system are claimed to deliver results timely and with confidence, many people are still sceptical of the successful deployment of such an operation in Zambia at the moment because of infrastructure challenges.
Timely release of results has been at the centre of frustration that many a Zambian voters and Political parties have had to endure in the last couple of elections. Any solution to address this problem will roundly be welcomed by all parties involved.
The UN, through its Development Programme (UNDP), has already selected a company called Smartmatic to provide the new technologies for the improvement of the electoral register for ECZ.
For the first stage of the project, Smartmatic will supply ECZ with 1,000 mobile electronic biometric registry units, known as PARkits. This kit will include all hardware and software components, with their respective protective cases, training services, technical assistance and a one-year warranty.
Smartmatic, a leading provider of technological solutions for governments, was selected after the UN conducted a rigorous testing of numerous identity and registry technologies.
“We are very excited to be selected by the UNDP for this important project and to have the opportunity to provide the Republic of Zambia with our advanced technology to enhance their electoral register”, said Antonio Mugica, Smartmatic’s CEO. The PARkit units that will be used in Zambia are all equipped with Smartmatic’s registration application and with electrical backup components that ensure its autonomy for 8 straight hours.
The UNDP expects recruiting of operators to start on the second week of April and the electoral registration operations to begin in May 2010.The voter registration project in Zambia is part of the UNDP’s ongoing commitment to improve the performance of democratic governments. The UNDP invests 34% of its resources each year in projects in support of democratic governments and provides on-the-ground services in 166 countries.
Smartmatic specialises in fully-automated, electronic voting systems which they claim are completely secure, reliable and auditable. In January this year, their electronic voting system was successfully used in a parliamentary elections in ,Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the
PARMobile Kit used for Identity Registration
Venezuelan coast. The big test for the company’s voting system will be in Phillipines, where that country’s Electoral Commission has deployed an automated electronic system by Smartmatic for use in this year’s May elections.
It is however not clear weather the ECZ will use Smartmatic’s automated electoral systems or just use their voter registration component. While automated voting system are claimed to deliver results timely and with confidence, many people are still sceptical of the successful deployment of such an operation in Zambia at the moment because of infrastructure challenges.
Timely release of results has been at the centre of frustration that many a Zambian voters and Political parties have had to endure in the last couple of elections. Any solution to address this problem will roundly be welcomed by all parties involved.
Conservation: Practical solution for farmers
Threats posed by climate change, environmental degradation and food insecurity in Africa have assumed top position on the development agenda. This is because it has become essential that rural families are offered practical solutions that address these challenges through the adoption of simple aproven farming systems. Our staffer KAPALA CHISUNKA reports on how farmers who practise conservation farming in Shimabala area in Kafue have adapted to the new farming method and have eliminated their dependency on food aid and produce excellent crops despite droughts.
BEFORE Elleman Mumba was encouraged to practise conservation farming by his wife, he was frustrated by his methods because of the erratic rain patterns and continuous droughts that had adversely affected his yield.
The poor crop produce also affected his family income because there was no money for his household needs. For most of the time, Mr Mumba relied on his produce for cash while he had to feed his family from the same.
“As a farmer, regardless of which scale I fell on, it didn’t make sense that I, the producer of food, should be wallowing in poverty and fail to sustain and feed my family from the same crops that I ably grow on my farm,” Mr Mumba observed.
He said his family was so financially incapacitated that he even failed to send his children to school because every planting season brought with it more disasters which adversely affected his yield.
Mr Mumba, however, said everything changed for the better for his family when his wife, who was then employed by Programme Against Malnutrition (PAM), informed him about conservation farming and its benefits.
He fell for it and now he is a happier farmer.
Since he adopted conservation farming and crop rotation, Mr Mumba no longer worries about poor rainfall or late delivery of farming inputs such as fertiliser because by planting early, he is able to harvest enough maize, legumes, groundnuts, cow peas and pigeon peas which he sells for a profit.
His life has totally been transformed and he has been able to buy farming equipment which he hires to other farmers in his locality.
“That was a couple of years ago. Now I can manage to send all my children to school. I own a large piece of land and I have 10 cattle out of the initial four. Not only that, with the new technologies that we employ in conservation farming, we are able to harvest more than enough food to eat and sell,” he said proudly.
Mr Mumba is one of the 150 farmers practising conservation farming in Shimabala area who are benefiting from the Royal Norwegian Government-sponsored programme on conservation farming.
Through the programme, which has been going on since 1996, Mr Mumba has been trained and he has in turn trained fellow small-scale farmers in his area on the use of conservation farming technologies to minimise their reliance on the increasingly expensive fertiliser as well as regenerate rather than exploit the environment in which they live.
Norway supports the development of conservation farming in Zambia through the conservation farming unit of Zambia under the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) and the Zambian government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives.
Recently, the Norwegian state secretary for development co-operation, Ingrid Fiskaa, was in the country and she visited some of the farmers who practise conservation farming in the Shimabala area.
During her visit, Ms Fiskaa was informed by the farmers of the successes and challenges of conservation farming and how they expect donors to continue assisting them so that poverty is completely eliminated from their communities.
After the tour, Ms Fiskaa said she was impressed with the accomplishments of the farmers and urged other farmers who were still skeptical to join their friends for the improvement of their lives.
“I am impressed with what is happening here in terms of the new farming techniques which farmers are using because it is a sustainable way of doing agriculture and it does not necessarily require expensive equipment,” she said.
Ms Fiskaa said with the emergence of climate change whose effects are being felt globally, food insecurity will be more prominent in the near future if the agricultural sector is not fully supported.
Ms Fiskaa said as long as governments do not sustain better and improved agricultural methods, it will be difficult to address the food crisis, especially in terms of sharing food being produced globally.
Ms Fiskaa said the farming techniques which farmers are using will help empower them and put them in control as opposed to having farmers who cannot afford to store food for themselves due to poverty.
She called for increased support towards the agricultural sector if levels of food insecurity and poverty are to be reduced.
Earlier, CFU director Peter Aagaard commended the Norwegian and Zambian governments for their commitment towards the agricultural sector.
Mr Aagaard said because of Government’s deliberate national policy on agriculture, many small-scale farmers have been able to develop through the promotion and adoption of conservation farming.
He said conservation farming is beneficial to both the farmers and the environment.
Mr Aagaard said farmers who adopt conservation farming reduce their costs, increase yields, improve nutrition, minimise chances of crop failure in drought years, increase profits and help improve land fertility.
“Under conservation farming, farmers use conservation tillage methods to establish their crops as well as grow legumes in rotation with other crops. Legumes, depending on the varieties grown, fix nitrogen, improve soil fertility, break soil pans and are an excellent source of protein for the family,” Mr Aagaard said.
Story:courtesy of the Zambia Daily Mail Newspaper
BEFORE Elleman Mumba was encouraged to practise conservation farming by his wife, he was frustrated by his methods because of the erratic rain patterns and continuous droughts that had adversely affected his yield.
The poor crop produce also affected his family income because there was no money for his household needs. For most of the time, Mr Mumba relied on his produce for cash while he had to feed his family from the same.
“As a farmer, regardless of which scale I fell on, it didn’t make sense that I, the producer of food, should be wallowing in poverty and fail to sustain and feed my family from the same crops that I ably grow on my farm,” Mr Mumba observed.
He said his family was so financially incapacitated that he even failed to send his children to school because every planting season brought with it more disasters which adversely affected his yield.
Mr Mumba, however, said everything changed for the better for his family when his wife, who was then employed by Programme Against Malnutrition (PAM), informed him about conservation farming and its benefits.
He fell for it and now he is a happier farmer.
Since he adopted conservation farming and crop rotation, Mr Mumba no longer worries about poor rainfall or late delivery of farming inputs such as fertiliser because by planting early, he is able to harvest enough maize, legumes, groundnuts, cow peas and pigeon peas which he sells for a profit.
His life has totally been transformed and he has been able to buy farming equipment which he hires to other farmers in his locality.
“That was a couple of years ago. Now I can manage to send all my children to school. I own a large piece of land and I have 10 cattle out of the initial four. Not only that, with the new technologies that we employ in conservation farming, we are able to harvest more than enough food to eat and sell,” he said proudly.
Mr Mumba is one of the 150 farmers practising conservation farming in Shimabala area who are benefiting from the Royal Norwegian Government-sponsored programme on conservation farming.
Through the programme, which has been going on since 1996, Mr Mumba has been trained and he has in turn trained fellow small-scale farmers in his area on the use of conservation farming technologies to minimise their reliance on the increasingly expensive fertiliser as well as regenerate rather than exploit the environment in which they live.
Norway supports the development of conservation farming in Zambia through the conservation farming unit of Zambia under the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) and the Zambian government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives.
Recently, the Norwegian state secretary for development co-operation, Ingrid Fiskaa, was in the country and she visited some of the farmers who practise conservation farming in the Shimabala area.
During her visit, Ms Fiskaa was informed by the farmers of the successes and challenges of conservation farming and how they expect donors to continue assisting them so that poverty is completely eliminated from their communities.
After the tour, Ms Fiskaa said she was impressed with the accomplishments of the farmers and urged other farmers who were still skeptical to join their friends for the improvement of their lives.
“I am impressed with what is happening here in terms of the new farming techniques which farmers are using because it is a sustainable way of doing agriculture and it does not necessarily require expensive equipment,” she said.
Ms Fiskaa said with the emergence of climate change whose effects are being felt globally, food insecurity will be more prominent in the near future if the agricultural sector is not fully supported.
Ms Fiskaa said as long as governments do not sustain better and improved agricultural methods, it will be difficult to address the food crisis, especially in terms of sharing food being produced globally.
Ms Fiskaa said the farming techniques which farmers are using will help empower them and put them in control as opposed to having farmers who cannot afford to store food for themselves due to poverty.
She called for increased support towards the agricultural sector if levels of food insecurity and poverty are to be reduced.
Earlier, CFU director Peter Aagaard commended the Norwegian and Zambian governments for their commitment towards the agricultural sector.
Mr Aagaard said because of Government’s deliberate national policy on agriculture, many small-scale farmers have been able to develop through the promotion and adoption of conservation farming.
He said conservation farming is beneficial to both the farmers and the environment.
Mr Aagaard said farmers who adopt conservation farming reduce their costs, increase yields, improve nutrition, minimise chances of crop failure in drought years, increase profits and help improve land fertility.
“Under conservation farming, farmers use conservation tillage methods to establish their crops as well as grow legumes in rotation with other crops. Legumes, depending on the varieties grown, fix nitrogen, improve soil fertility, break soil pans and are an excellent source of protein for the family,” Mr Aagaard said.
Story:courtesy of the Zambia Daily Mail Newspaper
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)