PROGRESS REPORT FOR ZAMBIA

PEOPLE’S PROCESS

ON HOUSING AND

POVERTY IN ZAMBIA

Report compiled for SDI by Nelson Ncube

C/NELSON NCUBE

Mutendere Evangelical Church

P.O.BOX 30590

LUSAKA

Macro-Socio-economic Overview

Zambia has had its independence for the past 41 years but it is still grappling with the widespread effects of a rapid urbanization process. Zambia like its close neighbor Zimbabwe is estimated to have a housing backlog of more 1.5 million units and the gap between the rich and the poor is said to be increasing. Zambia is one of the most urbanized countries in Africa, with over 40%living in urban areas and eight cities of over 150,000 people, most in the Copperbelt region (World bank, 2002a). Lusaka, the capital, is the largest city, with an estimated 2.5 million people according to unofficial estimates. 70% of these people live in slum areas, known as per-urban areas or compounds, which cover just 20% of the residential land. According to the latest available figures since 1998,the majority of Zambians live below the national poverty line. It has also been noted that poverty has also drastically increased in the urban areas as compared with the rural areas. The Zambian human development indicators seem to be some of the worst in Africa, with life expectancy having dropped to 39 years from 54 years in 1991 and the mortality rate also increasing from 108 to 12 as according to the UN within the same period.

GENERAL ISSUES AFFECTING FEDERATION COMMUNITIES

Just like in Zimbabwe,there seems to a be a lack of an integrated strategy to tackle issues associated with rapid urbanization in Zambia. Much of the efforts that have so far been implemented to tackle urban poverty have been haphazard and triggered by disasters. There are no coordinated and long term strategies to deal with the housing shortages, provision and improvement of the existing infrastructure and improving access to water and sanitation amongst the poorest urban areas in Zambia. This section discusses water and sanitation and security of tenure within the federation communities.

Security of Tenure

According to the Housing (statutory and Improvement Areas) Act of 1975 the informal peri-urban settlements in Zambia are recognized as legal. Under this act Local authorities are tasked to identify and submit documentation about those settlements that should be legalized to the Ministry of Local government. Those settlements that are too close to either roads or are in danger of any kind will not be legalized. Evictions on these environmentally unsafe areas is non negotiable and thus evictions in Zambia are still a possible threat to the federation. If a settlement has been legalized and declared an ‘improvement area’, residents are then granted 30-year occupancy certificates but the land remains the property of the Local authority. It is also worth noting that land is only legalized at communal level and thus individuals do not have title deeds to those pieces of land. The major of federation members live in these illegal and legalized informal settlements and thus security of tenure remains a major challenge for them.

After legalisation of a settlement, the City Council is then expected to provide the infrastructural needs, water and sanitation needs but however this does not happen in practice. The Local authorities and the government of Zambia seem to have relegated the provision of water, sanitation and infrastructure to the organizations and bilateral agencies. It is only in extreme cases such as an outbreak of a disease that the government is forced to act. George Compound got water through an outbreak of cholera in their compound in 1991.

Water and Sanitation

Water and sanitation is theoretically the responsibility of the City council but however with Zambia this is bit different. Water and sanitation has been given to local and private companies with the Local authorities being shareholders in these companies. The primary role of these companies is to supply water to existing customers on commercial basis, they also have a social role in financing expansion of water network to these peri-urban areas of the city. The cost of providing these services is recovered from user charges. Due to the fact that these companies are run on commercial terms, this has created a situation where the rich get proper service while communities have either no access to clean water or are crowding on single source of water. Garbage collection seems to be a reserve of the rich. In most compounds garbage is not collected because the poor cannot afford the service. Of importance however, is that this an opportunity for the federation to demonstrate how organized they are, to deal with these purely community challenges. For water, there are two main systems that are used, communal taps and individual connections. Communal taps are generally used in most compounds while individual taps are common in the affluent suburbs. Individual connections in the compounds will require massive demolitions in order to install underground pipes. Just like water, there are no individual connections for sewerage in peri-urban areas. Installing underground sewerage connections is a nightmare both in terms of cost and demolitions that will have to be done. Pit latrines and septic tanks are the only facilities the peri-urban communities can use.

THE ZAMBIAN FEDERATION.

The federation in Zambia has grown from strength to strength. Starting with one savings in a resort town of Livingstone, the Federation now boasts of not less than 81 savings schemes across the country. The federation process in Zambia was started in 2001 by the Vicfalls federation in Zimbabwe and since then the federation has grown steadfastly despite challenges and constraints associated with the absence of a supporting N.GO. These difficulties have also been doubled as result of operating without registration. Their main focus since their establishment has been to expand and nationalize their process in Zambia but however this expansion programme has been pathetically slow until recently. Their main challenge has been the absence of Locally registered supporting technical partner and the absence of selfless federation leadership. The leadership problem has manifested itself through the emergence of opportunists who have torn the federation apart and forming a dissident federation.

Since its establishment, the federation in Zambia has been doing savings and loans, saliswano, mobilization of new schemes and exchanges. This report will cover all these dimensions and include some of the challenges that they have grappled with or are still facing. In a nutshell however, this report notes that the federation in Zambia has evolved rather slowly as compared to other federation within the S.D.I network. The absence of a strong leadership and a supporting arm for the federation has really slowed the federation process.

This report covers the work that has been done and the work that needs to be done in Zambia. My role in Zambia has been to coordinate and work with the Zambian federation in their mobilization process and registering a local supporting partner.

FEDERATION ACTIVITIES

Savings and Loans

Savings and loans have proved to be and continue to be the backbone of the federation process.

The Zambia federation has been assisting its members to access credit and meet basic and emergence needs of their membership. Savings have also ensured people know each other and by so doing creating a community bond and trust. Daily collections on the other hand have ensured that members assist each other in dealing with problems and challenges they face on daily basis. When collectors move around collecting money, they also collect information on the well being of its saving scheme members. This has ensured that members are assisted in various ways. In the event of sickness or death, the federation has agreed that members will assist with food, moral support and financial support if a member needs a loan.

Through giving one another small loans, the federation has not only managed to create a sense of belonging amongst its membership but also creating and developing credit history amongst its membership. By practicing loans in saving schemes, groups get experience in managing and controlling financial resources at community level. This then means that communities get empowered through learning financial management skills and on the other hand creating a database about its membership. Some form of collateral is also created since the Saliswano revolving fund that will be launched will only give loans to those members that have proved to be genuine and serious federation members.

The Zambia federation has so far developed two types of savings, viz. non-specific daily savings and Swalisano savings.

General Daily Savings

The federation has been doing savings since its inception in 2001 even though the process has been weak as a result of many challenges they have been facing in their process. These challenges have been mainly associated with banks requiring to many documents if they want to open savings account. Negotiations have since been done and the federation is now encouraging all the groups to open savings accounts with the banks. By saving on daily basis, no matter how small the amount, the poor are able to build strong communities and also use their savings to negotiate with local authorities to acquire affordable land in the future. The federation has also been using savings as a tool to mobilize communities into saving schemes. Savings creates a sense of belonging, unity of thought, and purpose amongst the poor. Groups mainly use these savings for daily crises within the community that might require small amounts. This range from paying for a visit to the hospital, funeral and supporting small businesses. The groups decide on interest rates to charge for these crises loans, however generally interest is not charged for social loans such as money taken for hospital fees or food. The loans are small and are normally repayable within one calendar month.

Saliswano Fund Savings

The Zambia federation started to contribute Swalisano Urban poor fund since October last year and the aim of this contribution has been to create an urban pool fund in which all the groups will benefit for their infrastructure, housing and income generating purposes. These savings shall therefore be used to augment the capital base of the fund. The federation has so far been contributing K2 000 every month and this figure will either be confirmed or increased by the end of year when the federation will hold its annual Saliswano national meeting. The overall aim of this fund is to create a revolving fund that will be augmented by external financial resources from the funders and the government. The federation hopes to negotiate with its government to get financial assistance for its housing needs and infrastructure development.

Whilst Saliswano savings has been introduced in the federation, the monthly savings are not yet ritualized in the federation. Some groups have not yet started contributing and there is some confusion over the management of the fund. Through exchanges with their Zimbabwean counterparts, Saliswano will be managed from saving scheme level to regional level. A regional Saliswano account at city level will be opened and savings schemes will be expected to bank the funds into this account. As banking regulations in Zambia are stringent and difficult, the federation is being assisted to ensure that all the paper work needed is submitted. Negotiations with local banks have also ensured that some of the local banks are flexible in terms of their requirements for opening accounts. The national savings and Credit bank is one of the banks that have indicated that the federation can open savings account without the need of a registration certificate.

Savings expansion program

The savings schemes in Zambia have continued to expand throughout Zambia. Since 2001 the federation has been operating in Livingstone and in George compound in Lusaka, the capital city of Lusaka. Since May this year, the federation has now managed to mobilize all the compounds in Lusaka where poor people are staying. About 30 new savings schemes in Lusaka have been opened in Lusaka bring about a total of 58 savings schemes in Lusaka only. The Livinstone federation on the other hand has also continued to expand their process in Livingstone and outside Livingstone. Despite the absence of a supporting N.G.O the Livingstone federation remained resilient and focusssed. By May when I started my new role in Zambia, the Livingstone federation had opened saving schemes in almost all the poorest areas in Livingstone. They have since opened 5 more saving schemes in their town bringing about a total of 19 saving schemes in Livingstone. Through the financial support from SDI the Livingstone has managed to spread beyond their town. They have opened saving schemes in neighboring towns like, Choma, Zimba, Monze and Mazabuka. This brings about a total of 81 saving schemes with a total membership of not less than 5 000 families in the whole of Zambia.

The overall aim is to open saving schemes in all the urban areas in Zambia and this has to happen before October as accordance with our work plan . The federation has also made contacts in the Copperbelt and savings schemes will soon be opened in Ndola, Kitwe and Chipata. It is interesting to note that the federation is highly energized and is determined for their process to grow.

SAVING SCHEMES UPDATES

Town	No of saving Schemes.	Savings	Members	Loans	Saliswano
LUSAKA	58	K 14 500 000	2773	K5 500 000	K5 800 000
LIVINGSTONE	19	K 6 650 000	1900	K 3 250 000	K3 800 000
CHOMA	1	K 75 000	77	-	-
ZIMBA	1	K 95 000	103	-	-
MONZE	1	K 150 000	92	-	-
MAZABUKA	1	K 155 000	57	-	-
TOTAL	81	K 21 625 000	5002	K8 750 000	K 9 600 000

Mobilisation.

Since its establishment, the Zambian federation has continued to mobilize poor and homeless communities in Zambia. The process has been slow due to the lack of financial resources and leadership resources. Since the commitment of funds by S DI in May, the mobilization process has accelerated rapidly with the Lusaka federation managing to mobilize the “whole” of Lusaka and Livingstone in less than a month. A mobilization team of women volunteers in Lusaka has also emerged while in Livingstone a team of both men and women from their regional structure has been spearheading the process. The Livingstone federation has on the other hand expanded their process to cover four adjacent towns.

Various mobilisation tools have been used to mobilise poor and homeless communities in Zambia. These strategies have included

Door to door campaigns

Door to door campaigns are a strategy devised by the federation to spread the federation gospel. Each federation member has been tasked to mobilize ten poor and homeless people close to him or her. This strategy has been very effective in George compound and has already been applied in other compounds.

Water distribution points talks.

In George compound, the Japan technical partnership has supplied water in the compound. Water is distributed at gazetted points at specific times agreed by communities. The federation mobilization team has been visiting all the water distribution points to meet the residents so to publicize the federation process. This strategy has been very useful as a mobilizing tool and also as a reviving strategy. Many savings schemes have been dormant as a result of no exchanges between groups but through this strategy some have been revived.

Awareness marches.

Awareness matches have been planned in both Lusaka and Livingstone. In Lusaka an awareness match was held on the 30^th of July and an awareness match for Livingstone is planned for the end of this month on the 26^th of August. The main aim of marches is to raise awareness and consciousness amongst the most vulnerable and poorest members of the society. The awareness match in George compound has shown that awareness matches are a very powerful way l of passing information to the poor and other stakeholders. The federation invites the Local authorities through their mayors to participate in the marches and this gives them the opportunity to understand and appreciate the federation process. In George compound the Mayor could not come as the match coincided with the official opening of the Lusaka Agricultural Show. He however sent his representative to attend the match. According to our estimates more than 700 people attended the march and since then people have been joining the federation at an increased pace.

EXCHANGES

Through community to community exchanges, savings schemess are able to learn form one another. Whilst many N.G.Os believe in learning through workshops the federation has invested time and resources in exchanges, as they are the best way of community empowerment and a learning strategy. Exchanges in Zambia have been between community-to-community, regional and international exchanges. Exchanges amongst communities have happened in Livingstone and Lusaka. Regional exchanges have been between Lusaka and Livingstone and with federation have been started in other towns, these exchanges will have to be widened to cover these new towns. The Zambian federation has so far been benefiting from their Zimbabwean counterparts. Zimbabweans have continued to assist the Zambian federation and these exchanges have really boosted and strengthened the Zambian process. A recent exhange between the Gungano national Committee and a team of Zambians has really energized the Zambia process. More and more international exchanges are needed for Zambia. An exchange for Malawi and Zambia has been planned for the 18 – 22 of August.

REGISTRATION

The federation process has encountered numerous challenges as a result of operating without registration. Their problems have also been compounded by the fact that there was no technical partner to support them. As agreed by SDI, local N.GO has been established and has already started supporting the federation eventhough its not yet registered. Already, an application has been lodged with the Registrar of Societies in Zambia and indications are that a registration certificate might be granted at the end of August. The registration has been delayed by the bureautic demands of the Zambian government that has put many requirements for registration purposes. The government of Zambia has become paranoid and suspicious of N.G.Os. There is a feeling that n.g.o s are against the government and are working with the opposition. After a thorough vetting exercise by the police and Local authorities, we have since lodged our application with Registrar of societies. A board of 12 reputable professionals has been set and will assist in the running and operations of the N.G.O as required by law and for transparency and accountability purposes. If registered the organization will be known as

PEOPLE’S PROCESS ON HOUSING AND POVERTY IN ZAMBIA (PPHPZ).

People’s Process on Housing and Poverty has already started working with federation in Zambia to try and find lasting solutions to poverty and homelessness through working in partnership with them. Future assistance will be through technical and logistical support, advocacy and lobbying in Zambia.

Lobbying and advocacy

The federation and People’s Process on Housing and poverty have started to initiate negotiations with local authorities. The relationship between the Zambian local authorities and the federation in Zambian has so far been cordial and very promising. To some extent, the absence of a local partner has been delaying striking partnerships between the federation and the Local authorities. The local authorities in Zambia seem to be very sensitive to the plight of the poor. Both the Lusaka and Livingstone Mayors have shown keen interest in working with the federation. The Livingstone Mayor has already indicated that the city authorities are ready to give land to the federation any time as long as they demonstrate that they have the funds and capacity. The onus is within the partnership to try and ensure that the Council gives affordable land to the federation. The Lusaka City Council on the other hand has also indicated to us that we should make a proposal to the City council for any developmental projects that could be a joint venture between the council and the federation. The partnership is still considering which project to embark after considering the federation capacity and its needs. Efforts are also being done to forge partnerships with other organization interested in urban development in Zambia. Already, the Water aid has indicated that they will be interested in supporting the federation if they get registered.

IMMEDIATE AND FUTURE PLANS

IMMEDIATE PLANS

Buiding a national movement of the poor before the end of year.

Mobilisation teams and the supporting partner will continue mobilizing the poor residing in the urban areas. Moe and more exchanges will take place to improve the capacity of savings schemes to address their needs and their challenges.

There is need and there are plans to set up offices in Lusaka for strategic purposes.
Assist saving schemes in opening savings schemes accounts in Zambia.
Support and facilitate exchanges at community level, regional and international level.
Forge partnership with local stakeholders addressing poverty and homelessness in Zambia.
Embark on awareness campaigns about the federation process.

This will happen through awareness matches to raise awareness in the cities.

LONGTERM PLANS.

Mobilize funds for a revolving urban poor fund in Zambia after registration.
Launch the federation process in Zambia after mobilizing all the cities in Zambia.
Forge lifetime partnership with local authorities and the government.
Build strong and powerful communities that can address homelessness and poverty
Negotiate for land and other resources from both the government and the Local authorities.
Establish federation resource centres in all the cities the federation will be operating.
Do an enumeration and House- model exercise in Livingstone in November.

CONCLUSSION

The Zambian federation and its partner People’s Process on Housing and Poverty are working flat out in improving their capacity and also addressing the needs of the poor and the homeless in Zambia. With support we are getting from our counterparts from Zimbabwe and S.DI this partnership is geared towards creating a national movement of the poor in Zambia where poor people are at the forefront of the process. Despite the 5% economic growth that has been achieved in Zambia, the poor are poorer than before and the majority of Zambians live in compounds where life is rough and short. There is therefore an urgent need to address the institutional capacity of both People’s Process on Housing and Poverty and the Federation. The main focus of this partnership at the moment is building a national movement and strengthening the existing groups that have been formed and those that will be formed. There is also a need to start mobilizing funds for capital needs of the federation. With the Local authorities being very supportive, there is need to start mobilizing long term funding for the Zambian process.