Zambian Youths Invest In Environmentally Friendly Charcoal

Gilbert Tembo with Science and Technology Minister
Felix Mutati at the National Innovation Fair.

By Paul Shalala

As the energy crisis hits Zambia, adverts from the power utility Zesco keep being published in daily tabloids, guiding consumers on which towns and areas of the country are likely to be loadshedded.

This has forced Zambians to use charcoal as a back-up energy source.

Making charcoal means cutting down of trees in the wild and almost all charcoal burners do not take part in afforestation programs.

To make matters worse, there is no law or policy in Zambia which compels people to replant trees after felling trees.

This situation has led to the wanton destruction of the forests and protected areas.

The price of charcoal has even reached an all-time high, fetching three times what it was five years ago.

A 50 kilogram bag of charcoal is now selling around K120 and this has become big business for some Zambians.

To mitigate the impact of deforestation, some youths in Zambia are now investing in clean energy sources such as charcoal briquettes which are environmentally friendly and do not emit smoke while burning.

One such youth is Gilbert Tembo aged 34 of Katete District in Eastern Province.

“I invented a coal briquette made from agricultural wastes such as maize combs, groundnut shells, rice husks, soya beans stalks, grass or leaves. It is an alternative energy for charcoal and firewood,” said Gilbert in an interview.

His invention has made him compete at various levels this year and he recently got funded to expand his business.

Some of the charcoal briquettes Gilbert makes

At a Provincial Innovation Fair held in Eastern Province earlier this year, Gilbert pitched his idea and he was selected among five innovators to represent Eastern Province at the National Innovation Fair which took place at Mulungushi International Conference in Lusaka from 4 to 5 November 2021.

“I participated in the National Innovation Initiative contest organized by UNDP, NTBC, PACRA and UNFP in Lusaka. Out of 3,100 applicants, 100 were shortlisted countrywide and I was one of them. 20 finalists are to undergo a business acceleration training. And I found myself amongst the finalists and got awarded a sum of K50,000, plus a breakfast with the Honorable Minister of Science and Technology Mr Felix Mutati at southern Sun Hotel.”

Gilbert’s innovation is smart energy and it fits in well with the resolutions of the recently held United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Glasgow, Scotland where deforestation was pointed out as a major threat to the environment.

Developed countries have pledged millions of dollars to third world countries to fight deforestation.

According to official government statistics, 79% of Zambians both in urban and rural areas use charcoal as fuel for cooking and heating.

To satisfy this huge appetite for charcoal consumption, about 300, 000 hectares of land is lost annually in the country.

To curb this, Gilbert thought of inventing an alternative energy source which is cheap, environmentally friendly and safe as it does not emit harmful gasses when burning.

He adds: “I plan to commercialize and pack in 5, 10 and 50kg bags. This project has the potential to create direct and indirect jobs and it will add value to people’s lives. Climate change is real as evidenced by extreme hotness, floods, poor rain pattern and we need to do something.”

Another youth who is investing in sustainable energy sources is Collins Simfukwe, a 34 year old inventor of Mufulira District on the Copperbelt.

Collins is a former miner who quit his job at Mufulira Mine in order to establish a business to supply smokeless charcoal to clients.

Collins Simfukwe showing one of the machines
he invented at his factory

“I worked in the mines soon after completing Grade 12 but later, I resigned and started working on my own. It was a risk but here iam, am selling these charcoal briquettes to various clients,” said Collins.

When this author visited Collins at his house where he manufactures the charcoal briquettes, he was shocked to see how the small house in Kantanshi Township has been turned into a fully-fledged factory.

All the machines being used there were invented and made by Collins.

He says he started inventing things when he was a member of Junior Engineers, Technicians and Scientists (JETS) in Grade five at Mufulira Basic School.

“JETS took me to South Africa, Namibia and all over Zambia where we attended fairs and showcased our inventions. It is this experience which led me to venture into smokeless charcoal briquettes,” he added.

When making the charcoal briquettes, Collins uses maize cobs, leaves, grass and anything that is thrown around.

In that way, he converts waste into an environmentally friendly energy source which does not release smoke into the atmosphere.

And most of his clients are poultry farmers both in Zambia and abroad.

“Ordinary charcoal emits a lot of smoke but charcoal briquettes do not emit smoke. One briquette burns between seven and 10 hours and poultry farmers in Mufulira, Kitwe, Lusaka and the Democratic Republic of Congo come here to order because they last long.”

With the creation of the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment, Collins is ready to work with government to promote clean energy sources.

He says with the experience he has in producing charcoal briquettes, he can advise the Ministry on better options for energy use.

Collins works with his wife and a relative at their factory which is just in the backyard of their house.

Due to lack of funding, they use domestic electricity for their production and lack of enough space at their house means they cannot expand production.

However, their actions have been noticed by the Mufulira Municipal Council.

Charcoal briquettes which Collins produces

“We will promote what this young inventor has done and we will give him enough land so that he can expand his business,” said Mufulira Mayor Tanaeli Kamanga in an interview.

Another official from the local authority Castro Chisanga, the Director of Public Health, toured the factory to see what Collins is doing

“We are impressed as a local authority, this inventor is using organic waste and he is playing a vital role in conserving the environment. There is rampant deforestation in Mufulira but if this business is promoted, our trees will be spared,” said Mr Chisanga.

A Copperbelt-based environmentalist Lovemore Muma says the two inventors, Gilbert of Katete and Collins of Mufulira, need to form cooperatives and source for funding to expand their businesses.

“These are important inventions which can change the lives of many youths in the country. Let these youths form cooperatives to access funding. That way, they will be able to expand and impact the nation by reducing deforestation which is driven mainly by charcoal production,” said Mr Muma who is also Executive Director of The Earth Organisation.

Mr Muma has urged the two young inventors to work with the Ministries of Small and Medium Enterprises, Green Economy and Environment and Science and Technology to commercialise their inventions.

Mopani Copper Mines Allegedly Polluting The Environment

Officials from Ministry of Mines inspecting the effluent 

By Paul Shalala

It was a struggle to open the huge pipe.

Two men had to help each other to release the effluent from this pipe.

The tailings flow on the ground, through a foot path into a dam.

This dam, which was built by Mopani Copper Mines, a subsidiary of Carlista Investments Corporation which is a joint venture between Glencore and First Quantum Minerals.

This dam also has an opening which later releases the effluent into the nearby bush.

Unfortunately, this tailings dam is illegal according to the Kitwe-based Mine Safety Department, a unit of Zambia's Ministry of Mines which oversees safety issues in the mining industry.

“There is no indication from the Mine Safety Department that this paddock was approved. Mopani Copper Mines did not apply for it to be set up here. This is not good for the environment, there is a nearby stream and am sure it is being polluted,” said Gideon Ndalama, the National Coordinator of the Zambia Mining Environmental Remediation and Improvement Project.

The illegal tailing dam which Mopani Copper Mines made

As this effluent continues to flow into the bush, the fear is that it will contaminate the environment.

Authorities are not happy that Mopani Copper Mines is discharging the waste without notifying relevant authorities.

“This is very bad and dangerous. You cannot be harming the environment like this. I will talk to management, they need to stop this. There could be acid and uranium here being discharded into the environment,” said Paul Chanda, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Mines.

Mr Chanda, who made an unannounced trip to the Nkana Tailings Complex, was shocked to find workers from Mopani Copper Mines opening one of the pipes to discharge the tailings.

He threatened that Mopani Copper Mines risks being penalized for deliberately harming the environment.

The workers on site could however not talk to this blogger as to why they were discharging the effluent.

Efforts to get a comment from Mopani Copper Mines proved futile as a press query sent to the firm’s Public Relations Unit was not responded two for a week.

Grass drying up in the Nkana Tailings Complex

However, inspectors from the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) have visited the area and collected samples to ascertain the contents of the effluent.

ZEMA Corporate Affairs Manager Irene Chipili says the samples have been taken to a laboratory and they will be tested soon.

And a check at the nearby tailings found some trees and grass drying up due to lack of maintenance.

The tailings, whose licenses have been given to private firms, have developed craters and holes, leading to the leakage of red oxide to the environment.

The Ministry of Mines has since asked the license holders to fence off the tailings to stop the leakage of red oxide which is harming the environment.

Zambia Implements Ban On Plastic Carrier Bags

A customer collecting a recyclable plastic bag
at Pick N Pay Mukuba Mall store in Kitwe

By Paul Shalala

Several multi-national chain stores countrywide have started implementing government's ban on the sale and distribution of carrier plastics bags to customers.

So far, Shoprite, Pick and Pay and Game Stores have started providing alternative plastics to their customers.

Shoprite, which is one of the largest retailers in the country, has supplied recyclable plastic carrier bags to all it's 35 stores countrywide.

The recyclable plastics are still yellow but clearly labelled for customers to distinguish them.

The chain store has even placed huge sign posts at the entrance and exits of its stores to sensitise its customers on the use of recyclable plastic carrier bags.

Shoprite Zambia General Manager Charles Botha has told this blogger that in line with the Ministry of Water Development and Environment, the chain store has started supplying recyclable plastics to it's customers.

Mr Botha says Shoprite is proud to be involved in creating a better environment for the country by sensitising consumers on the use of alternative plastics.

"My advise to the customers is that these recyclable plastics can be used up to four times. By reusing them, we will reduce the number of plastics in the environment," he said.

And a check at Shoprite stores at Mukuba Mall and Matuka Avenue in Kitwe, found the recyclable plastics being offered to consumers at a fee.

The small one is being sold at five ngwee while the big one is going at K1.

However, the old plastics are still being given for free as Shoprite still has old stock.

And at Game Stores and Pick And Pay branches at Mukuba Mall and in town center, management has placed notices on the use of recyclable plastics and alternatives.

Pick N Pay is giving out white plastic bags though for now they are not yet labelled.

Irene Lungu

The recyclable plastic bags are being sold at K1 and the chain store is not giving out the old stock.

Meanwhile, the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) says it is legal for supermarkets to charge customers for the recyclable plastic carrier bags.

ZEMA Corporate Affairs Manager Irene Chipili has told this blogger that the Extended Producer Responsibility Regulations allow chain stores to provide alternative plastics which are environmentally friendly at a fee or for free.

"Chain stores supplying plastics below 30 microns to customers are legally allowed to provide alternative carrier bags at a fee. So those who are selling are allowed, it is not illegal," she said.

 And an environmentalist says the Statutory instrument has brought some business to those who wish to invest in sustainable products.

"This also is a chance for local designers and tailors make cloth bags and let those dominate our market so that eventually we completely deal with Carrier Bags and begin to use and reuse cloth bags," says Geoffrey Daka.

He adds that plastic has not be banned but plastic below 30 microns is what has been banned through the SI.

 

Mr daka says: "The beauty with 30 microns thickness plastic is that it can be recycled. In an event that chain stores move a step further, they can have more alternative bags to plastic bags so that there is encouraged reuse of the alternative bags."

In December 2018, the Ministry of Water Development and Environment issued Statutory Instrument number 65 of 2018 which banned the use of plastic carrier bags.

The statutory Instrument outlined a number of alternatives and prescribed February 14, 2019  as the start of the implementation for the ban on plastics.

The Statutory Instrument (SI) on carrier plastic bags is aimed at discouraging the public from using plastics which are non biodegradable.

For companies that do not comply with the SI, they face a fine of K90,000 on three years imprisonment.

Copperbelt University Students Launch Green Ngwee Campaign

By Paul Shalala

Since 2013 when coins where re-introduced in Zambia, many have had mixed feelings about them.

Some have embraced them while others have not.

For example, all the coins below 50 ngwee are rarely used in transactions.

They are either kept in houses or thrown away by those who deem them to be of no value.

This is why some students at the Copperbelt University (CBU) in Kitwe have launched a campaign to raise money through the collection of these coins.

"We can use a container like this one. You open it in one area and keep dropping in coins, by the end of five years, i will accumulate a fortune which will spill over to my family," said Kasulubusa Mashonga, one of the co-founders of the Green Ngwee campaign.

The campaign is expected to encourage students to collect coins and raise funds for various purposes.

The collection of coins is also being done to conserve the environment.

"Eventually, this campaign should contribute to the Gross Domestic Product.

Economists argue that keeping coins as is the case with the Green Ngwee campaign can help students raise money for their day to day needs.

CBU Economics Lecturer Edna Litana, who also spoke during the launch of the Green Ngwee campaign held at the American Corner last week, feels the  will also help students reduce their dependency on guardians.

"By saving money, students can strengthen family relations. How can they do that? They can one day go to their parents and tell them they have saved enough to sustain them for a term or two," said Mrs Litana.

This is not the first time students at the Copperbelt University are collecting coins for a noble cause.

A few years ago, they launched a similar campaign and raised funds which they used to build a house for the vulnerable in society.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was originally aired on TV1's Newsline program on 5 May, 2017. You can watch the video here.

World Bank's US$65.6M Credit Targets Zambia's Polluted Towns

World Bank Team with Central Province Permanent Secretary

By Paul Shalala in Kabwe

The World Bank has kick-started a five year environmental program aimed at alleviating the suffering of the people in three Zambian towns which are heavily polluted and whose residents have been affected by pollution.

The Zambia Mining Environment Remediation and Improvement Project is funded through a US$ 65.6 million credit facilitated by the World Bank’s International Development Association.

The project aims at reduce environmental health risks for people residing in polluted mining areas in Kabwe, Kitwe and Chingola Districts.

For the past 52 years, mining has been Zambia’s biggest revenue earner.

The country has largely depended on minerals, especially copper, for its survival.

The country is the second largest producer of copper in Africa and the third in the world.

However, this natural resource has its own challenges.

With over decades of mining having been done in Zambia, the legacy of mineral extraction has not been good.

In mining towns like Chingola, rivers and streams have been contaminated by the mines.

This has led to people getting sick while a handful have died due to pollution.

At an Action Aid-organised forum for residents of Chingola to speak out about pollution last month, many residents could not hide their anger.

“We have seen people die, we have seen people getting sick, we have seen water polluted. But nothing is being done to stop this pollution,” said Bernadette Mulamba, a Chingola resident and an environmental activist with the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace.

A few days earlier, Chingola Mayor Titus Tembo had complained of Zambia’s largest mining firm Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) of having polluted the Mushishima stream leading to fish die and villagers picking and eating it.

“KCM has polluted the.Mushihsima stream killing fish. Because of poverty, our people are eating the dead fish and some have become sick, said Mr Tembo.

The story is the same in Kitwe which hosts major mines.

Here, both air and water pollution has been reported.

In December last year, the Kafue river which supplies water to the city of Kitwe was polluted with high levels of sulphate which forced the Nkana Water and Sewerage Company to switch off water supply to the city which has over 500,000 residents.

This was followed by the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) instituting investigations on seven mining firms which discharge water into the Mwambashi stream and the Kafue river.

ZEMA inspectors collecting samples at Muntimpa Dam

ZEMA inspectors took samples from the seven companies and tested them in three separate laboratories but to date, the results are still being awaited.

And in Kabwe, the legacy of lead and zinc mining is evident.

The town, which is infamously called a ghost town, is said to be the worst hit city in the world in terms of lead poisoning.

According to data from the World Bank Country Office in Zambia, studies done in 2003 – 2006 showed that the content of lead in soil in certain areas of Kabwe were as high as 26,000 mg/kg against the acceptable levels of about 10 to 50 mg/kg making the land unsuitable for residential and agricultural purposes.

With these case studies and accounts of real pollution in the three mining towns, the World Bank Board of Executive Directors on 20 December, 2016 approved the credit for the Zambia Mining Environment Remediation and Improvement project.

The project is expected to benefit 70,000 people who live in the areas heavily polluted by the mines.

On Saturday, a team of World Bank officials from the Zambian office and the bank’s international headquarters in Washington DC visited Kabwe to launch the project.

The team explained why the Zambia Mining Environment Remediation and Improvement Project is important to people in the three mining towns.

“Mining Environment Remediation and Improvement Project will be implemented for five years from 2016 to 2021. The project’s objective is to reduce environmental health risks on the local population which is associated with mining in criticall polluted areas of Kabwe and other Copperbelt towns,” said World Bank Country Manager Ina-Marlene Ruthenberg.

She revealed that the project will: “Clean up some parts of the old mining town of Kabwe which still has unacceptably high levels of lead in the soil and high Blood Lead level among children, resulting from the past lead mining in the area.”

And newly appointed Central Province Permanent Secretary Chanda Kabwe, who hosted the team in his office, pledged the Zambian government’s support for the project.

Mr Kabwe, who is just a few days in the office, spent the past three years as District Commissioner in the mining towns of Mufulira and Kitwe which are both polluted by mining.

“Having come from the Copperbelt where I saved in the mining towns, I pledge my support to ensure this project succeeds. Central Province is predominantly an agriculture area and pollution affects the crop. This could also affect food security. So we will ensure this project succeeds so we can fight poverty,” said Mr Kabwe.

The Project will work with the City Councils in Kabwe, Kitwe and Chingola to ensure that the impact in terms of implementation is owned by the respective local authorities.

The polluted Shimulala stream in Chingola

And leaders in the respective municipalities are happy that the project will alleviate some of the suffering their people go through.

Kabwe Municipal Council Director of Public Health Paul Mukuka had this to say: “In the past we have had JICA (Japan International Corporation Agency) and the Copperbelt Environment Project doing a number of studies in Kabwe. We hope the coming of the World Bank project will help save more lives from pollution.”

For Kitwe Mayor Christopher Kangombe, the project is more than welcome to the country's second largest city.

“We commend the World Bank for committing US$65.6 million to this project. We welcome this project and hope it will help us reduce the effects of pollution in Kitwe. We however wait to learn the scope of work,” said Mr Kangombe.

Kitwe-based Ministry of Mines Director of Mine Safety Gideon Ndalama will serve as the National Coordinator for the Zambia Mining Environment Remediation and Improvement Project.

In this role, Mr Ndalama will work with the World Bank, the three municipalities and the Zambia Environmental Management Agency.

“This is a locally entrenched project, we should all own it. This is the only way we will have sustainability,” said Ndalama.

In terms of benefits to the local people, this project targets to provide medical interventions to over 30,000 children.

The projects plans to reduce Blood Lead Level (BLL) by 50% among children under the age of 15.

Over 4,000 of these children are expected to be tested for BLL by 2022.

World Bank Environment Specialist Mwansa Lukwesa explains that the health component to the Zambia Mining Environment Remediation and Improvement project is important because pollution has effects on people’s health.

“The project will test and treat children under the age of five and giving them supplements. The issues of lead poisoning are linked with nutrition because most of the people affected are poor,” he said.

By the year 2021, the Zambia Mining Environment Remediation and Improvement Project is expected to reduce lead contamination in Kabwe by 70 percent.

Further, the project also aims to empower 500 women and unemployed youths with income generating activities which will keep them away from jobs that expose them to lead poisoning.

Due to lack of jobs, some Kabwe residents have broken locks to the tailing dams and opened them to have access to quarrying stones.

The Zambia Mining Environment Remediation and Improvement Project is the second environmental program the Bretton Woods institution has funded in Zambia to fight pollution in mine areas.

Between 2003 and 2011, the World Bank funded the Copperbelt Environment Project which produced some findings which the current project aims to build on.

Kabwe was at the center of lead mining from 1902 until the mine was closed in 1994.

Illegal stone quarrying in the former mine has continued and a recent tour by this blogger found some residents conducting driving lessons at the former mine site.

All these activities increase people's exposure to lead.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was also produced as a 7 minutes documentary which aired on TV2's Morning Live Program on 19 January 2017 and it was again broadcast on TV1's Newsline program on 20 January 2017. You can watch the documentary which aired on Newsline on this YouTube link: Zambia Mining Pollution Documentary