Northwestern Zambia Research Articles

Selected indicators and determinants of women\u2019s health in the vicinity of a copper mine development in northwestern Zambia

BackgroundLarge projects in the extractive industry sector can affect people’s health and wellbeing. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), women’s health is of particular concern in such contexts due to potential educational and economic disadvantages, vulnerability to transactional sex and unsafe sex practices. At the same time, community health interventions and development initiatives present opportunities for women's and maternal health.MethodsWithin the frame of the health impact assessment (HIA) of the Trident copper mining project in Zambia, two health surveys were conducted (baseline in 2011 and follow-up in 2015) in order to monitor health and health-related indicators. Emphasis was placed on women residing in the mining area and, for comparison, in settings not impacted by the project.ResultsAll measured indicators improved over time, regardless of whether communities were affected by the project or not. Additionally, the percentage of mothers giving birth in a health facility, the percentage of women who acknowledge that HIV cannot be transmitted by witchcraft or other supernatural means and the percentage of women having ever tested for HIV showed a significant increase in the impacted sites but not in the comparison communities. In 2015, better health, behavioural and knowledge outcomes in women were associated with employment by the project (or a sub-contractor thereof), migration background, increased wealth and higher educational attainment.ConclusionsOur study reveals that natural resource development projects can positively impact women’s health, particularly if health risks are adequately anticipated and managed. Hence, the conduct of a comprehensive HIA should be a requirement at the feasibility stage of any large infrastructure project, particularly in LMICs. Continued monitoring of health outcomes and wider determinants of health after the initial assessment is crucial to judge the project’s influence on health and for reducing inequalities over time.

Socio Demographic Determinants of Maternal Health Service Utilization among Women 15 to 49 Years in Zambezi District in Northwestern Zambia

Background: Maternal mortality recorded in Zambia is one of the highest in the world. According to the 2013-14 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey1 , the mortality ratio was 398/100,000.This ratio is unacceptably high. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of sociodemographic factors on utilization of maternal health care services.Methods: Across sectional study of the utilization of maternal health services was carried out among 400 women of child bearing age from 15 to 49 years in Zambezi district in north-west Zambia after having received ethical approval from the Eres Converge research ethics committee. Multistage systematic sampling was done from the 12 clinics' catchment areas in the district. To estimate the effect of the socio-demographic variables on maternal health service utilization three outcome variables were used, which were; use of antenatal care services, assisted (facility) delivery and postnatal care services. Logistic regression was used to estimate models of the outcome variables.Result: The results showed that 38.5 percent (154) of the women received antenatal care, 32.3 percent (129) of the women received delivery services while 48.3 percent (193) received postnatal care services. In the logistic regression model, reduced income level was associated with decreased use of antenatal care (OR=0.1, P<0.05). In assisted delivery, increased distance to the health facility was associated with reduced use (OR=0.1, P <0.05). In postnatal care, reduced education level of the respondent was found to be associated to decreased use of postnatal services (OR=0.51, P<0.05). Increased maternal age was associated with increased utilization of maternal health services (OR=2.1, P<0.05). On the other hand, decision making roles by the male spouse alone or both partners was associated with increased use of postnatal services (OR=4.5,P<0.05).Conclusion: To increase women's utilization of health care services and improve maternal health in Zambia, some crucial steps should be taken on educating women such as integrating of reproductive health programs in the school curriculum. Attention should be given to scaling up male involvement in order to ensure there is understanding of the importance of maternal health services. There is need to strengthen the linkage of postnatal services to under-five services to improve coverage of postnatal services.

Socio Demographic Determinants of Maternal Health Service Utilization among Women 15 to 49 Years in Zambezi District in Northwestern Zambia

Maternal mortality recorded in Zambia is one of the highest in the world.According to the 2013-14 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey1, the mortality ratio was 398/100,000.This ratio is unacceptably high. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of socio-demographic factors on utilization of maternal health care services.
 Methods: A cross sectional study of the utilization of maternal health services was carried out among 400 women of child bearing age from 15 to 49 years in Zambezi district in north-west Zambia after having received ethical approval from the Eres Converge research ethics committee. Multistage systematic sampling was done from the 12 clinics’ catchment areas in the district. To estimate the effect of the socio-demographic variables on maternal health service utilization three outcome variables were used, which were; use of antenatal care services, assisted (facility) delivery and postnatal care services. Logistic regression was used to estimate models of the outcome variables.
 Results: The results showed that 38.5 percent (154) of the women received antenatal care, 32.3 percent (129) of the women received delivery services while 48.3 percent (193) received postnatal care services. In the logistic regression model, reduced income level was associated with decreased use of antenatal care (OR=0.1, P<0.05). In assisted delivery, increased distance to the health facility was associated with reduced use (OR=0.1, P <0.05). In postnatal care, reduced education level of the respondent was found to be associated to decreased use of postnatal services (OR=0.51, P<0.05). Increased maternal age was associated with increased utilization of maternal health services (OR=2.1, P<0.05). On the other hand, decision making roles by the male spouse alone or both partners was associated with increased use of postnatal services (OR=4.5,P<0.05)
 Conclusion: To increase women’s utilization of health care services and improve maternal health in Zambia, some crucial steps should be taken on educating women such as integrating of reproductive health programs in the school curriculum. Attention should be given to scaling up male involvement in order to ensure there is understanding of the importance of maternal health services. There is need to strengthen the linkage of postnatal services to under-five services to improve coverage of postnatal services.

Farmers’ Awareness of Cassava Green Mite and Preferred Traits of Cassava Cultivars in NorthWestern Zambia

Farmers’ Awareness of Cassava Green Mite and Preferred Traits of Cassava Cultivars in NorthWestern Zambia

Experience and lessons from health impact assessment guiding prevention and control of HIV/AIDS in a copper mine project, northwestern Zambia

BackgroundTo avoid or mitigate potential project-related adverse health effects, the Trident copper project in Kalumbila, northwestern Zambia, commissioned a health impact assessment. HIV was identified a priority health issue based on the local vulnerability to HIV transmission and experience from other mining projects in Africa. Hence, an HIV/AIDS management plan was developed, including community and workplace interventions, with HIV testing and counselling (HTC) being one of the key components. We present trends in HTC data over a 4-year period.MethodsIn 13 communities affected by the Trident project, HTC was implemented from 2012 onwards, using rapid diagnostic tests, accompanied by pre- and post-test counselling through trained personnel. In addition, HTC was initiated in the project workforce in 2013, coinciding with the launch of the mine development. HTC uptake and HIV positivity rates were assessed in the study population and linked to demographic factors using regression analysis.ResultsIn total, 11,638 community members and 5564 workers have taken up HTC with an increase over time. The HIV positivity rate in the community was 3.0% in 2012 and 3.4% in 2015, while positivity rate in the workforce was 5.2% in 2013 and 4.3% in 2015. Females showed a significantly higher odds of having a positive test result than males (odds ratio (OR) = 1.96, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.55–2.50 among women in the community and OR = 2.90, 95% CI: 1.74–4.84 among women in the workforce). HTC users in the 35–49 years age group were most affected by HIV, with an average positivity rate of 6.6% in the community sample and 7.9% in the workforce sample. These study groups had 4.50 and 4.95 higher odds of being positive, respectively, compared to their younger counterparts (15–24 years).ConclusionsWhile HTC uptake increased five-fold in the community and almost three-fold in the workplace, the HIV positivity rates were insignificantly higher in 2015 compared to 2012. Our data can be used alongside other surveillance data to track HIV transmission in this specific context. Guided by the health impact assessment, the HIV prevention and control programme was readily adapted to the current setting through the identification of socioeconomic and environmental determinants of health.

Monitoring of Selected Health Indicators in Children Living in a Copper Mine Development Area in Northwestern Zambia.

The epidemiology of malaria, anaemia and malnutrition in children is potentially altered in mining development areas. In a copper extraction project in northwestern Zambia, a health impact assessment (HIA) was commissioned to predict, manage and monitor health impacts. Two cross-sectional surveys were conducted: at baseline prior to project development (2011) and at four years into development (2015). Prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum, anaemia and stunting were assessed in under-five-year-old children, while hookworm infection was assessed in children aged 9–14 years in communities impacted and comparison communities not impacted by the project. P. falciparum prevalence was significantly higher in 2015 compared to 2011 in both impacted and comparison communities (odds ratio (OR) = 2.51 and OR = 6.97, respectively). Stunting was significantly lower in 2015 in impacted communities only (OR = 0.63). Anaemia was slightly lower in 2015 compared to baseline in both impacted and comparison communities. Resettlement due to the project and migration background (i.e., moving into the area within the past five years) were generally associated with better health outcomes in 2015. We conclude that repeated cross-sectional surveys to monitor health in communities impacted by projects should become an integral part of HIA to deepen the understanding of changing patterns of health and support implementation of setting-specific public health measures.

Luvale Personal Names and Naming Practices: A Socio-Cultural Analysis

It is widely accepted that, in all societies, personal naming practices and culture are intertwined (Ngubane & Thabethe 2013). However, this reality is more pronounced in African society in that personal names are not just labels or appellations put on individuals to identify them in the community but rather words that reflect the world-view of people. This is also applicable to the Luvale people of Zambia. Indeed, among the Luvale, when a name is bestowed upon a child, the name-giver chooses a name that truly not only identifies the child as a person, but reflects the socio-cultural context or environment where the child is born. Using onomastics as its main theoretical base, this paper discusses the use of personal names and naming practices among the Luvale people of Northwestern Zambia. Data for analysis were mainly collected from native speakers in Zambezi District of Northwestern Zambia namely Kasoka Samusuwa, Kapindula Sayini, and Kutemba Samafu, to whom I am so grateful. I also used the available written literature on Luvale people as well as electronic sources.

ザンビア北西部における農業政策の転換と地域の食料安全保障

This paper examines the strategies of small-scale farmers that enable them cope with fluctuations in food production according to changes in national agricultural policy in north-western Zambia. Maize is the most important staple food in Zambia. The maize cultivation started when the colonial government set up food supply systems for urban workers. In Zambia, small-scale farmers earn a cash income through selling maize and its cultivation relies on subsidised fertiliser provided by the government. Changes in the national agricultural policy are affected by the political situation. Maize yields are fluctuated by delivery delays of the fertilisers. In north-western Zambia, the indigenous Kaonde concentrate on growing maize and sorghum, whereas the Lunda, Luvale, Chokwe, and Luchazi immigrants from other areas mostly grow cassava. The indigenous Kaonde experience hunger during the off-crop season for grains and sustain their self-sufficient lifestyle by obtaining cassava grown by the immigrants. Small-scale farmers do not depend on maize cultivation. The Kaonde are able to obtain cassava from the immigrants during the hunger period, therefore they have realised regional food security in the local community.

アフリカ農村における移入者のライフヒストリーからみる移住過程―ザンビア北西部の多民族農村における保証人に着目して―

本稿では現代のアフリカ農村において，移住を仲介する保証人という存在に着目し，人びとが移住して生活基盤を確立していく過程を明らかにする．ザンビア北西部州ムフンブウェ県にはカオンデという民族が居住するが，ルンダ，ルバレ，チョークウェ，ルチャジという異なる民族の移入者を受け入れたことで，複数の民族が混住する．移入者の移住形態は農村を転々とした「農村→農村型」，都市で働いたのちに農村へ移住した「都市経由型」，都市生まれで農村へ移った「都市→農村型」の三つに分けられた．カオンデ以外の移入者は，親族間のもめごとや親族からの都市生活に対する妬みを避けるため，カオンデ農村へ移住した．彼らは親族ではなく，ルンダ語でチンサフという保証人を頼っている．移入者が信頼を寄せる人物であれば，だれもが保証人になりうる．アフリカ農村では人間関係を礎とした保証人によって，人びとの移住と平穏な暮らしが実現されている．

Application of Biohydrometallurgy to Copper Mining in Zambia: Prospects and Opportunities

The consumption of copper worldwide has grown fast since 2000; the mining industry is increasingly faced with the necessity to process low grade ores and waste tailings, from current mining operations. The economic extraction of copper from low-grade ores requires low-cost processing methods such as biohydrometallurgy. This study looks at a general panorama of copper mining in Zambia and discusses biohydrometallurgy as a novel and economically viable process for copper extraction. It also presents future prospects of this technology in Zambia. Since early 1930s, the copper mining industry has been the economic and social pillar of Zambia with about 80% contribution to the total export earnings and about 13% Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Mineralisation in the Zambian Copperbelt is dominantly sulphide, comprising of chalcopyrite, bornite and chalcocite among others with grades of the ore deposits generally in the range of 3 - 4% copper and 0.1 - 0.2% cobalt. Huge low grade copper deposits (~0.67% Cu) which are dominantly sulphides (chalcopyrite) were recently discovered in Lumwana area in the North-western Zambia and are currently being exploited. Reports show that more than one billion tons of ore (c.2.7% Cu) has so far been mined from the mines on the Copperbelt Province of Zambia and conservative estimates suggest that a further two billion tons await exploitation. This provides considerable opportunities for further exploration and mining in Zambia. However, there is currently no commercial copper processing plants in operation on a large-scale in Zambia via biohydrometallurgical process. In order for Zambian mining industry to considerably improve recoveries at inherently lower capital cost, there is need to focus effort on research in this innovative technology and its application.

Adoption of Cassava by Immigrants and Regional Livelihood Stability in Northwestern Zambia

Adoption of Cassava by Immigrants and Regional Livelihood Stability in Northwestern Zambia

Two Ages of Copper Mineralization in the Mwombezhi Dome, Northwestern Zambia: Metallogenic Implications for the Central African Copperbelt

Approximately 10% of copper resources in the Central African Copperbelt, the world’s largest, sediment-hosted stratiform copper province, occur in the Domes region of northwestern Zambia. The copper deposits and prospects are commonly hosted by amphibolite-facies metamorphic rocks and lie within or adjacent to several basement inliers. Minor molybdenite accompanies the copper-iron sulfide minerals in two deposits and four prospects within the Mwombezhi dome as well as in deposits elsewhere in the Domes region. The results of Re-Os dating of 11 molybdenite samples reveal the existence of two discrete copper-mineralizing epochs, separated by >500 m.y. Most of the mineralization, including that in the Chimiwungu orebody at Lumwana, the largest deposit in the Mwombezhi dome, formed within a maximum interval of ~42 m.y. (538.9–497.1 Ma), which spans the peak of the Lufilian collisional orogeny. In contrast, three samples (four determinations) from the Nyungu prospect returned Mesoproterozoic ages of 1084 to 1059 ± 5 Ma, coincident with the Irumide collisional orogeny. Although several investigators have speculated that the copper in the Central African Copperbelt deposits was extracted from the basement, this is the first unambiguous evidence for an appreciable copper concentration of pre-Katangan (pre-Neoproterozoic) age. Based on this evidence, additional Mesoproterozoic and possibly even older copper concentrations seem likely to exist elsewhere beneath and/or alongside the Copperbelt in both Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Such preenrichment of the basement in copper may have contributed to the enormous metal endowment of the Central African Copperbelt.

Differences of Agriculture Form and Land Use among Ethnic Groups in Northwestern Zambia

Differences of Agriculture Form and Land Use among Ethnic Groups in Northwestern Zambia

The private sector in climate governance: opportunities for climate compatible development through multilevel industry-government engagement

Globally, the sustainable development agenda is undergoing a process of climatisation. This means that climate change mitigation and adaptation are influencing the design and delivery of development initiatives. This paper explores the extent to which climate governance influences the role and practice of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in development. We draw on case study evidence from copper mining concessions in Northwestern Zambia in order to examine how CSR activities are adopting norms of climatised development. Our results show that the extractive industries are increasingly initiating CSR activities to align with local livelihoods, and therefore play a key role in climate compatible development (CCD). In addition, they act as context changers through for example, in-migration, which increases pressure on local forest resources. However, these roles go unacknowledged by both industry and government as CSR activities are disconnected from broader CCD priorities. We discuss the positive and negative implications of drawing the extractive industries into the CCD arena. We link to critiques of politicized CSR and consider practical implications, both for the sector and the achievement of climate development goals. We conclude that CSR activities should be seen as a local manifestation of multilevel engagement between the extractive industries and broader development sectors.

Emiliella luwiikae (Compositae: Senecioneae: Senecioninae), a new species from northwestern Zambia

Emiliella luwiikae (Compositae: Senecioneae: Senecioninae), from northwestern Zambia, is described and illustrated; it is compared with E. drummondii. Seven species, one with two varieties, are now recognised in the genus; four species are now recorded from the Flora Zambesiaca area. A key and a table of distribution of all the taxa are provided. The presence of a single collection of Emiliella exigua from northwestern Zambia extends the range of this diminutive species and shows some variation in leaf size between the protologue and material from Congo (Kinshasa); this species is illustrated for the first time.

The P and S wave velocity structure of the mantle beneath eastern Africa and the African superplume anomaly

P and S relative arrival time residuals from teleseismic earthquakes recorded on over 60 temporary AfricaArray broadband seismic stations deployed in Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia between 2007 and 2011 have been inverted, together with relative arrival time residuals from earthquakes recorded by previous deployments, for a tomographic image of mantle wave speed variations extending to a depth of 1200 km beneath eastern Africa. The image shows a low‐wave speed anomaly (LWA) well developed at shallow depths (100–200 km) beneath the Eastern and Western branches of the Cenozoic East African rift system and northwestern Zambia, and a fast wave speed anomaly at depths ≤ 350 km beneath the central and northern parts of the East African Plateau and the eastern and central parts of Zambia. At depths ≥350 km the LWA is most prominent under the central and southern parts of the East African Plateau and dips to the southwest beneath northern Zambia, extending to a depth of at least 900 km. The amplitude of the LWA is consistent with a ∼150–300 K thermal perturbation, and its depth extent indicates that the African superplume, originally identified as a lower mantle anomaly, is likely a whole mantle structure. A superplume extending from the core‐mantle boundary to the surface implies an origin for the Cenozoic extension, volcanism, and plateau uplift in eastern Africa rooted in the dynamics of the lower mantle.

REASSESSING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF FIREARMS IN CENTRAL AFRICA: THE CASE OF NORTH-WESTERN ZAMBIA TO THE 1920S

ABSTRACTBased on a close examination of European travelogues and the evidence produced in the wake of the formulation of colonial gun policies, this article contends that the significance of firearms in Central Africa in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has been unduly played down in the existing literature. The first substantive section of the article charts the movement of the gun frontier in nineteenth-century north-western Zambia. It foregrounds the new technology's economic and military applications, the means through which north-western Zambians overcame some at least of its limitations, and the plurality of innovative social roles that they attributed to it. Successive sections centre on the pervasiveness of gun-running in the early twentieth century and the implementation and profound social consequences of gun control laws.

FORESKIN IS A FEMINIST ISSUE

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1. he authors would like to thank Richard Collier, Samantha Murray, Carolyn Pedwell, Nikki Sullivan, and the journal referees for their helpful comments on earlier drafts and for reading suggestions. The authors also gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the AHRC Centre for Law, Gender and Sexuality. 1 Whilst it is questionable to ‘pick and choose’ across the vast anthropological data that are available, it is interesting to note the practice of the Ndemu of north-western Zambia. Here the glans of the uncircumcised penis is understood as ‘wet’ and filthy whilst the circumcised is ‘dry’ and desirable (Miller 2002, 535). 2. This argument is given greater currency when we explore historical understandings of the physiologies of the sexes (Laqueur 1990 Laqueur , Thomas . 1990 . Making sex: Body and gender from the Greeks to Freud . Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press . [Google Scholar]). 3. Boddy notes the prevalence across cultures of the belief that ‘humans are born unfinished’ (2007, 58). As Zabus observes, however, opposition to various forms of circumcision has been grounded in religious notions of the ‘Perfection of Creation’, which have been invoked by Islamic and Christian scholars to support bodily intactness (Zabus 2007 Zabus, C. 2007. Between rites and rights: Excision in women's experiential texts and human contexts, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 97–101). 4. Although Gilman does point to sub-cultural variations within this preference, arguing (seemingly anecdotally) that ‘circumcision defines the “exotic” male body, at least in gay culture. Whereas it is “in” to be “cut” among gay circles in Germany, it is “in” to be “uncut” in gay circles in New York City’ (Gilman 1999, 288). 5. Gilman criticises this study for perpetuating stereotypes about the hypersexuality of Jews and argues that it ‘places the circumcised male in an anomalous position’ (1999, 290). 6. It is worth noting the racial differences in US rates for circumcision: 96 per cent Jewish men, 81 per cent of non-Hispanic white men, 65 per cent of black men, 54 per cent of Hispanic men (Gilbert 1997 Gilbert , S 1997 . Study is adding to doubts about circumcision . New York Times , 2 April : 8 . [Google Scholar]). 7. Of course, such accounts have rightly been criticised for this focus on gender and sexuality, at the expense of other axes of difference such as race and ethnicity; however, our point is that this contrasts sharply with analyses of male genital cutting.

Sorghum Cultivation and Soil Fertility Preservation Under Bujimi Slash-and-Burn Cultivation in Northwestern Zambia

Sorghum Cultivation and Soil Fertility Preservation Under Bujimi Slash-and-Burn Cultivation in Northwestern Zambia

A multi-element baseline geochemical database from the western extension of the Central Africa Copperbelt in northwestern Zambia

A stream sediment geochemical survey was undertaken in the extreme north-west of Zambia with three primary objectives: (i) to provide a baseline environmental database for an area uncontaminated by heavy industry, mining and intensive farming; (ii) to detect metal anomalies that may indicate potentially economic mineral deposits; and (iii) to provide a tightly controlled geochemical database that can be used as a standard for future mineral exploration programmes throughout central Africa. Three major geological domains underlie the studied area. These are crystalline Neoarchaean to Palaeoproterozoic basement, an overlying sequence of Neoproterozoic Katanga strata within the western part of the Lufilian Arc (a Pan African orogenic belt that hosts major copper–cobalt deposits in the Central African Copperbelt of northern Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC]), and extensive Caenozoic Kalahari Group sediments. Stream sediments collected from each of the three geological domains have distinctive geochemical signatures. Relatively high values for a range of elements including uranium, thorium and yttrium were found in stream sediments within the pre-Katanga basement domain. Enhanced values of a larger number of elements are present in the stream sediments underlain by Katanga strata including significant, previously unknown, copper anomalies that warrant detailed follow-up work. The high metal values in sediments derived from Katanga strata contrasts sharply with sediment samples collected from drainage channels in areas of thick Kalahari sand, which mostly have very low values of all analysed elements. Our results suggest that it will be difficult to detect contamination of streams in the Copperbelt areas of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo due to their naturally high metal concentrations. By contrast, it will be relatively easy to monitor pollution of areas underlain by Kalahari sands as these have naturally very low values of all elements.