The Impact Of Multi-National Mining Investment On Food Security In Zambia

Paul Shalala interviewing displaced farmers in Solwezi

By Paul Shalala

As a finalist of the African Story Challenge in the Agriculture and Food Security category, I submitted a story captioned above for judging.

In gathering the story, I spent time in Mazabuka and Solwezi Districts where peasant farmers have been displaced by multi-national companies that have opened mines in the area.

In Mazabuka, over 600 hundred farmers have been displaced while in Solwezi, thousands have been displaced and affected.

Below is the full story.

Zambia has the potential to be the food basket of Central and Southern Africa being blessed with fertile soils, lots of flat tillable lands and lots of rivers and dambos which can be harnessed for irrigation to supplement the adequate rains.

Peasant and small scale farmers have always contributed greatly to food security in Zambia. Even though peasant farmers only produce food for consumption, their production ensures food security at the household level.

Small scale farmers, on the other hand, produce the bulk of the staple maize crop purchased by the Food Reserve Agency and consumed at national level.

Any disturbance in terms of settlement of peasant as well as small-scale farmers affects their production levels and so affects food security at both household and national levels.

Many peasant and small-scale farmers have been displaced by mines that have opened on their ancestral lands through the investments of multinational corporations. The displaced farmers have mostly been resettled.

These resettlements, in many cases, have not been successful and have affected the farmers’ livelihoods and production and in turn affected food security.

Apart from a beautiful brand of football which made the country African champions in 2012, Zambia is synonymous with friendly people, prestine, undisturbed wildernesses with wildlife and an impressive mining industry.

Zambia’s mines have an indelible mark on the world of mining. For example Chililabombwe town boasts what used to be the deepest mine in the world and also the wettest underground mine in the world in Konkola Deep Copper Mine. Chingola town boasts of Nchanga Open Pit which is the second largest open cast mine in the world, covering nearly 30 km² and up to 4km deep.

Zambia is the World’s No. 1 emerald producer and is the largest producer of copper in Africa.  The list goes on and on.

Zambia's open-door investment policy, meant to encourage foreign capital from Multinational Corporations – usually with a lot of local compromise – has always come under criticism from observers.

The government of Zambia has courted foreign investors, offering land and tax breaks as inducements.

Investment policies are criticised for passing on the real cost of development to the poor people, who are being evicted from their ancestral lands to make way for the new prestigiousmining projects.

The investment policies have been credited with helping fuel an annual growth rate of more than five percent over the past 4 to 5 years, cutting inflation to single digits, and appreciation of the kwacha against foreign currencies. 

Displaced farmers in Mazabuka

Displaced farmers in Mazabuka meeting Government officials

In early September this year, I travelled to Mugoto Village in Mazabuka and spent a day with Moshen Chilala, a 24-year-old married young man, and his family.

Moshen is one of the peasant farmers who have been affected by the opening of Munali Nickel Mine in his childhood village.

Family life, and especially agriculture, in Mugoto area has not been the same since Munali Nickel Mine, an underground mining operation, opened.

According to Moshen, the coming of the Munali Mine has had an adverse effect on the lives of the peasant and small-scale farmers of the area.

He tells me that before the opening of the mine, he used to produce 300 bags of 90kilograms of maize but now the yield is down to less than 100 bags.

His story is shared by many other displaced farmers in Mazabuka.

One of the problems the villagers face is the low water levels in the water wells as a result of watertable receding because of the mine abstracting water in the area through a number of boreholes.

The Munali nickel mine is located approximately 60km south of Lusaka in Southern Zambia. The mine is well served by road, rail and power infrastructure as well as water supplies.

Development of the nickel deposit commenced in September 2006 following a positive Bankable Feasibility Study and receipt of the necessary government permits and approvals.

Munali Mine started full operations in mid-2008. The mine was opened on land previously occupied by peasant and small-scale farmers and used for agriculture.

Munali Nickel Mine was initially developed on 3,000 hectares of land and the mine then acquired another 2,100 hectares of land for the mine extension. Many families were displaced and these needed resettlement. This has led to much disturbance in the agriculture of the area and affected food security at the household level for these residents.

The mine produced from the time it was commissioned to 2009 and was placed on Care and Maintenance in March 2009. In Dec 2009 it reopened and attained the design throughput of 7500tonnes per month which was achieved in Sept 2010. Currently, the mine is back on care and maintenance.

Munali was 100% owned by Albidonfrom the start up to the time Albidon sold out. It is now 100% owned by Jinchuan Group, China's largest producer of nickel, cobalt and platinum group metals and a major producer of copper.

The Albidon Mine in Mazabuka District is one of only a very few nickel sulphide developments worldwide and it became the first and to date remains the only nickel mine in Zambia.

But this mine development seems to have come at a cost to the livelihoods of the local residents and their agriculture.

When the mine displaced residents, one of those affected and relocated was Mr Alfred Mwiinga. Mr Mwiinga and about 125 other farmers where moved from Mugoto to a resettlement area named RAP.

Mr Mwiinga has now been resettled to an area where he cant plant maize and produce like earlier because the land is waterlogged and cracks.

In July 2012, after a failed resettlement scheme, the residents of Mugoto area in Mazabuka dragged Albidon Mining to court for breaching the compensation agreement entered between them and the mining firm.

This was after what the residents called the mine's failure to meet its obligations, which resulted in the residents living in hazardous conditions. About 38 houses in the resettlement scheme area had been flooded in water following heavy rains.

The houses were part of the 117 units built by the mine meant to relocate 125 families earmarked for displacement following the opening of the mine. The houses had also developed cracks on the floor and walls. The mine had agreed to construct modern dwelling houses for the head of each plaintiff and other additional reasonable dwelling houses for adults and dependents, water and other vital necessities.

The residents asked the court to compel the mining company to provide 25,000,000 hectares of land and damages for inconveniencing and exposing them to harmful mining activities and exemplary and punitive damages.

At the time of making this documentary, the mine had abandoned the contruction of the clinic and school they had planned to build for the resettled farmers. There had also been efforts to re-engineer the land through drainages but this was not yet complete.

I travelled to Munali Nickel Mine on several occasions to get an interview with the mine management on this issue of resettlement but the local managers refused to be filmed without express permission from Jinchuan offices in Hong Kong.

However, a local Mine General Manager, issued a statement in which he said the company abandoned the construction of a clinic and houses due to lack of funds.

The farmers of Mugoto are not the only people to be displaced by multinational corporation investments in Zambia. In the North-Western part of Zambia, a number of large mines have been opened in the last few years.

For instance, in Solwezi district alone, three huge mines have been opened in the last 5 years. One of those mines is Kansanshi Mine,which is Africa’s biggest copper mine.

Displaced farmers in Solwezi

In mid September this year, i travelled to Solwezi District to see how the development of Kansanshi Mine has affected local farmers.

The management at Kansanshi mine refused to give a comment on the plight of the displaced farmers despite acknowledging receipt of my press querry. My phone calls were answered but no appointment was confirmed. This unfriendliness towards the media is a common trend among the big multi-national investors in the mining sector of Zambia.

I travelled to the mine in Solwezi but had to return without any footage of management speaking on the issues raised in this documentary.

But I interviewed several farmers who complained of their displacements having affected their annual maize yields.

Their complaint is that their new fields became conditioned to feriliser which they used to receive from Kansanshi mine but with the company’s failure to continue giving them fertilizer, their yield has gone down.

According to the Jesuit Center for Theological Reflection, Solwezi is the second most expensive town in Zambia after the capital despite it being almost a rural town.

This could be because agriculture in the area has reduced and local farmers cannot supply enough food to meet the demand

And according to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) Executive Director Chola Kafwabulula, yields in Solwezi and Mazabuka have gone down from 2011 to 2014 due to the displacement of the farmers by the mines.

In an interview, Mr Kafwabulula told me that peasant farmers contribute more than 80 percent of Zambia’s food security. The FRA is a government agency that stocks food to maintain food security in Zambia.

Though many factors could have contributed to this drop in agricultural productivity over the relevant years including changes in rain and distribution of farm inputs by government, we cannot rule out the loss of contribution to production of the resettled farmers.

While in Solwezi, I interviewed Council of Elders Chairman Lucas Chikoti who complained that mines were not benefiting the locals. Mr Chikoti said roads, schools and hospitals were in dilapidated state and the mines were not giving back to the communities.

He wished the mines would also compensate the displaced farmers adequately to help them go back to the pre-displacement yields.

I shared my findings of the effects of the displacements of local farmers in Mazabuka and Solwezi with the Deputy Minister of Agriculture Rodgers Mwewa. The minister showed great surprise at the situation on the ground and said he would get to the bottom of the issues I raised.

As a result of my visit to the Minister, Zambia’s President Michael Sata sent Mr Mwewa to Mazabuka to asses the situation and see what government could do to help the farmers.

Mr Mwewa visited Mugoto village and saw for himself the suffering of the people and the waterlogged land. Farmers complained to him of government neglect.

In the wake of his visit, the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute sent four scientists to Mugoto village who collected samples of the vertisol soil which is now being examined in the laboratory. Results from these tests will advise government on what agricultural activities the farmers in Mugoto can embark on.

Further, the Ministry of Agriculture in its 2014 National Budget submission has included an amount of money for the displaced farmers in Mazabuka and Solwezi as a way of sorting out their problem.

In Lusaka, I also caught up with Zambia’s Vice President Dr Guy Scott who is a former Agriculture Minister. In an impromptu interview, he showed great surprise at the situation in Mazabuka and directed the Munali Nickel Mine management to compensate the farmers.

The Mugoto farmers’ fields need re-engineering to avoid flooding when rains return. However in the fields with vertisol soils that crack massively this may not improve matters. The farmers may need complete relocation. Their social lives need attention too. 

The construction of the clinic and school which has stalled for two years needs resumption as the displaced farmers ealk over 20 kilometers from their new places to their old land to access medical and education services..

Impact of my story

This story brought out the sufferings of the peasant farmers at the hands of the multinational mining companies in two provinces. As a result of my story, Zambia’s President Michael Sata sent his Deputy Minister of Agriculture Rodgers Mwewa to Mazabuka to asses the problem. Mr Mwewa reported back to the head of state and below are the actions that followed the publication of my story:

In January, 2014, engineers from the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit set camp in Mugoto were they have started constructing a huge dam for the displaced farmers. It will be used for irrigation and source of drinking water for both animals and the displaced farmers.

The Mazabuka District Council has allocated part of the 2013 Constituency Development Fund  to the displaced farmers of Mugoto to construct a breeding area for their animals. In my story, the farmers had complained of losing their animals due to lack of extension services, lack of good pasture and lack of a breeding center.

Government has now put a budgetary allocation to the displaced farmers in the 2014 National Budget to cater for the displaced farmers.

Another impact is the Zambia Agriculture Research Institute sending scientists to Mazabuka to collect samples of the vertisol soil and subjecting them to laboratory tests which will advise the farmers and government on what crops or agricultural activity they can employ in the waterlogged and cracked soils where they have been relocated.

This story was also aired simultaneously on TV2 and ZNBC TV on Morning Live program on 25 September, 2013. The Youtube link for the seven minutes in-depth video report is here

AWARDS WON BY THIS STORY:


This story helped me win Second Prize at the 2014 Africa Fact Checking Media Awards held in Nairobi, Kenya on 14 November, 2014. The official announcement is here: 

http://africacheck.org/how-to-fact-check/the-african-fact-checking-awards/

This story was nominated for the 2013 African Story Challenge Media Awards in the Agriculture and Food Security category and was produced with support from the African Media Initiative. I was a finalist for the awards held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in September, 2013.

http://africanstorychallenge.com/article/2013-07-24-twenty-finalists-emerge-in-1-million-story-challenge

The story also helped me win a scholarship to attend and cover the Second High Level Summit of the Africa-EU Energy Partnership held at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in February, 2014.

http://www.aeep-conference.org/en/press/young-journalists

My Nomination For The Africa Story Challenge Award And The Journey Ahead

By Paul Shalala

While attending Thomson Reuters Foundation sponsored training in Advanced Financial Reporting course at the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism in Johannesburg in June 2013, I came across a call for applications from the African Story Challenge for African journalists to submit their story ideas on Agriculture and receive funding to cover their respective stories.

Initially, when veteran Malawian journalist Collins Mtika showed me the link for the competition, I hesitated to apply. I had convinced myself that I wouldn’t make it. Two days after I was shown the link, Collins came back to my room at the Courtyard Hotel in  Rosebank, Johannesburg. He asked me if I had prepared my 500 word story proposal. I answered in the negative and assured him that I would apply later. After he left my room, I debated within myself whether to apply or not. Finally, i decided to give it a shot.

Seeing that my friend had already submitted his proposal, I spent four hours of that night typing the 500 word proposal and I made sure I sent it that very evening so as not to disappoint my good friend Collins who I first met in Berlin, Germany in 2011 and later met him again in Kampala, Uganda in 2012.

In my proposal, I had asked to do a story on the effects of the huge investments by multi-national mining firms in Zambia and their effects on peasant farmers who are usually displaced to pave way for mines. In those 500 words, i gave examples of displacements at Munali Nickel Mine in Mazabuka and at Kalumbila mine in Solwezi.

A few days after I submitted my write up, I received an email acknowdging receipt of my application. Immediately, I went to Facebook and “liked” the African Story Challenge page to keep track of the selection process.

In the following weeks, I kept checking the African Story Challenge website and facebook page for updates but nothing was forthcoming.

Finally, on 10 July, 2013, I received an email confirming that I had been shortlisted among the 20 finalists for the Agriculture and food security theme. I received that email while I was covering debates in parliament. And I remember after I read it, I couldn’t keep the joy to myself, I shared the email with two of my colleagues Bangwe Navilley from ZNBC and Steven Mvula of the Zambia Daily Mail who next to in the press gallery.

Now that I had been selected, it was time to switch from waiting for the selection process to preparing for the story Camp in Naivasha, Kenya.

I must say that from the start, management and editors at the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) had been very supportive of my application for the African story Challenge. ZNBC Director General Chibamba Kanyama and TV2 Assignments Editor Yvette Tembo made my work easier as they kept checking on me on how far I had gone with my application. I kept them informed from the very day I submitted my application until the day I was shortlisted. This made it easy for me to prepare for the story Camp and seek permission to travel.

I left Lusaka for Nairobi on 3^rd August at lunch time but I only arrived in Nairobi in the early hours of the following day due to my itinerary which took me to Zimbabwe and Ethiopia before I landed at East Africa’s regional aviation hub Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at around 01:00hrs.

Since the Story Camp was starting the same day I landed, I only had a few hours of sleep at Hotel Emerald before we embarked on an hour long road trip to the Kenyan resort town of Naivasha which is situated on the picturesque Lake Naivasha.

On our way, we witnessed the real Great Rift Valley and not the imaginary one I learnt at Primary school back in Zambia in the 1990s. It was shocking to note that within 30 minutes of leaving cosmopolitan Nairobi, the landscape had completely changed. This proved to me that Kenya is a country of different faces. On our way, we snaked through hills and made our way through the Great Rift Valley were millions of cattle, goats and sheep are reared for various purposes.

We arrived at our destination close to two hours after we left the bustling city of Nairobi. Enaisipai Resort andSspa was to be our home for the remaining part of our stay in Kenya. The resort is located on the shores of Lake Naivasha which is a tourist attraction hosting the iconic crescent island. On this lake, one can watch such animals as Wildebeasts, antelopes and several birds which live on the island which is completely surrounded by the inland lake.

Of particular interest to me was to learn that most of the tourists who visit Lake Naivasha are Chinese. And indeed on our second day at the resort, we went on a boat cruise on the lake and met more than a dozen boats laden with excited Chinese tourists who wasted no time in taking pictures with virtually everything they saw on the water and in the surrounding trees.

The four days spent at the secluded Enaisipai Resort and Spa were memorable. Meeting other 19 finalists from across Africa made me feel proud of myself and get motivated to aim even higher.

Meeting Africa Story Challenge organisers Joseph Warungu and Maimouna Jallow was a dream come true for me. As a small boy at my village in Mumbwa District, I grew up listening to these two people on BBC Focus on Africa and BBC Network Africa program. A few days ago, when I hinted to my father that I had met Joseph and Maimouna in Kenya, he kissed my hands in the traditional Lozi way and showered blessings on me for having met his heroes who he never thinks he will ever meet in his life.

The most humourous of all facilitators at the Story Camp was one i would call the “Mr Bean” of Nigeria, Declan Okpalaeke. This Knight International Health Journalism Fellow is one of the most jovial Nigerians I have ever met. In his presentations, he mixed journalism best practices with jokes to ensure that even dozing finalists are kept on their toes laughing, smiling and yearning for more.

As a TV finalist, I learnt a lot from Rob Finighan who took us through script writing, pitching a story and video editing. His emphasis on telling a story with a human face compelled me to re-look at the way I do stories for Zambia’s national broadcaster.

Of all the memories I have for Enaisipai, Wednesday night was the best. Joseph and Maimounna surprised us with a night time live band in a tent. Finalists danced the night away with various forms of music. Each journalist was given an opportunity to showcase their traditional dances and songs from their country.

Some of the best dances were the ‘violent’ Ugandan dance which most finalists enjoyed and was performed by three Ugandan finalists. Mustapha El Mehdi’s Arabic song also caught everyone by storm and we danced in an uncoordinated way.

Nana Boakye Yiadom of Ghana was the star choreographer for the night. He took us through the popular azonto dance and many danced to his tune. With the fact that am not a fan of night outs, I secretly and smoothly sneaked out of the event at 23:00hrs and went to have my well-deserved rest. Other finalists partied till 03:00hrs the following day.

When we arrived in Kenya a few days earlier, we thought it would all be smooth, we were wrong. What we didn’t know was that August is the worst month in Kenya in terms of deaths and bad incidents. While we were enjoying our stay in Naivasha, back in Nairobi, the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport was on fire. Authorities closed the airport forcing hundreds of flights to be cancelled and thousands of travellers stranded.

All finalists for the African Story Challenge who flew into Kenya were affected by this disaster when leaving Nairobi. My flight which was supposed to leave Nairobi at 05:00hrs on Friday was brought forward to midnight. Together with four other finalists from Malawi, Cameroon and Nigeria, we queued at the airport from 20:00hrs and only managed to check in at 23:00hrs. The plane which was supposed to fly us out at midnight only came in at 01:00hrs and we left Nairobi at 04:00hrs on Friday. All through that difficult time, none of us slept as we kept vigil to observe the whole episode unfold.

My arrival back in Zambia on that Thursday afternoon gave me another challenge: to start working on my final product for submission to the African Story Challenge. Management and editors at my office received my arrival with joy. For the first time ever, my employer gave me a slot on the main news. I was interviewed to give my views on the nomination and explain what it means for ZNBC and for the nation as a whole. ZNBC Director for News and Current Affairs Kenneth Maduma was also interviewed and his clip was aired on ZNBC TV and TV2 on successive news bulletins on 13 August.

With time ticking, I now need to head in the field to operationalize my story on the impact of investments of multi-national companies on local peasant farmers.

This story will not end here, it will continue till the eventual winner of the African Story Challenge Agriculture and Food Security theme is unveiled at the conference of African Media Leaders in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in November, 2013.  

Works On Stadia In Kafue Progressing

By Paul Shalala

The rehabilitation and construction of two stadia in Kafue District is progressing well.

The Kafue District Council has been spending its own money to rehabilitate the heavily dilapidated Khosa Stadium and construct the new Matanda stadium.

So far, over K300, 000 has been spent on rehabilitating Khosa stadium, which is was heavily vandalised by the residents.

So far, the stadium has been fenced, a new roof to the Grand stand has been erected and some works have been done on the changing rooms.

A borehole has been sunk within the stadium grounds to supply water to the changing rooms.

Only a few works like the sewer system are remaining to be completed.

Kafue District Council Director of Works Stanely Chanda says works at Khosa stadium have now reached 70%.

Meanwhile, works on the new Matanda stadium have started.

So far, a wall fence has been constructed around the site and a razor wire has also been put on top of the wall fence to protect the structure from vandals.

Meanwhile, the Council has also embarked on a street light project to light up the town.

So far, street lights have been erected on the main road in Kafue Estates area and along the Lusaka - Mazabuka road in town.

The Kafue District Council has so far spent K120, 000 on the street lights.