Plan Zambia Annual Progress Report 2010

A YEAR IN

ZAMBIA

SUMMARY REPORT

2010

The Food Security project in Chadizi has seen families increase their food production

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OUR PRIORITIES

GOOD REASONS

in Zambia

why Plan works in Zambia

• Over a third of people do not have clean drinking water

• Improving children’s and mothers’ health and providing safe water and sanitation, and supporting those affected by HIV/AIDS

• Less than two-thirds of children go to primary school, and a third of adults cannot read or write

• Helping families to get enough to eat and to be economically secure

• 39 per cent of children under five suffer from stunted growth due to malnutrition

• Supporting children and families to make changes to their lives and their communities, and raising awareness of children’s rights • Improving the quality of primary education and helping more children to go to school Busira

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at about one-half their Lu levels at Cuanza independence and, ati US$395, place the country among the world’s poorest nations. Social official languages. English is indicators continue to decline, used in government particularly in measurements Climate: Zambia is tropical of life expectancy at birth modified by elevation. There (about 38.6 years) and are two main seasons, the rainy maternal mortality (830 per season (November to April) 100,000 pregnancies). The corresponding to summer, country’s rate of economic and the dry season (May/June growth cannot support rapid to October/November), population growth or the Cunene corresponding to winter. strain that HIV/AIDS related Economy: About 68 per cent issues (i.e. rising medical of Zambians live below the costs, decline in worker NAMIBIA national poverty line, with productivity) place on rural poverty rates standing at government resources. about 78 per cent and urban rates of 53 per cent. Per capita annual incomes are currently

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Capital: Lusaka Population: 11.8 million Languages: There are seven

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Mothers in this community monitor the health of children under five at regular meetings

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Country Office Program Units

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MADAGASCAR SOUTH AFRICA

Focus On:

food security and income generation Plan helps families produce a secure supply of food by getting them involved in vegetable growing, fish farming and rearing livestock. We help them learn how to process crops into products they can sell, and how to preserve food for long periods. We encourage farmers to introduce new crops, and new systems like conservation farming. We help

families increase their incomes by providing savings and loan schemes, and helping them market their produce.

Farming, Fishing and

Students learn about the legal issues around early marriage

Fostina is a 42-year-old married mother of seven. She’s also a farmer, and one who’s seen her fortunes boosted with Plan’s help.

of maize each weighing 50kg, two 50kg bags of potatoes, six bags of sunflowers, and two bags of groundnuts.

Fostina lives in the village of Phula in southeast Zambia. The family have always relied on farming for their income but previously, they struggled to survive. Now, things are different.

Thanks to a Plan vegetable growing project, Fostina can grow enough food to feed her family, and earn money by selling some of her produce.

New ways of working Fostina has also learned useful new farming techniques. For example, she practises crop rotation to improve the soil’s fertility. ‘I learned from Plan about pot-holing, a good conservation farming practice.’ In pot-holing, seed, fertiliser and water are placed into holes rather than spread over a wide area. ‘I now know it results in less soil erosion and improves crop yield,’ explains Fostina.

Plan is working with children, families and communities to find sustainable solutions to the challenges in Zambia. We have only given you a small insight into Plan’s work in Zambia with this report but over the past year we also:

a secure food supply

‘Before this project, my family could hardly afford two meals per day,’ she says. They were often hungry, and Fostina used to worry that she would not be able to afford to educate her children. She knew this was essential to give them the chance to break the cycle of poverty.

She often could not afford to buy things the children needed for school, like books and uniforms, making their education erratic.

Plan knew that many rural families, like Fostina’s, were finding it difficult to produce enough food. So we set up a project to help them make sure that they have enough to eat, and to develop ways of increasing their incomes.

Giving people the means to help themselves Fostina was one of a group of 64 from her village who got involved in the project. Plan trained them in vegetable growing and gave them seeds so they could grow maize, groundnuts, potatoes and sunflowers.

The group was also given a pump to irrigate their crops.

The project has changed Fostina and her family’s lives. They now own more land, as well as two oxen, three goats and six chickens. They use the oxen to cultivate their field, and make extra money from hiring them out to other farmers for ploughing, and as transportation.

Fostina grows different crops now. Before the project started, she relied entirely on maize.

Now, she grows sunflowers, groundnuts, potatoes, beans and vegetables. This means she depends less on one crop’s success, and has a wider variety of crops to sell. Fostina is delighted at her improved crop yields. During the last farming season, she harvested 20 bags

Produced for Zambia by Plan International Australia.

Fostina has also started a fish pond which she stocked with 150 fish. She either sells the fish for a profit or serves them to her family as a good source of protein.

Her children are involved, although not so heavily that the work will distract from their studies – in fact, quite the reverse. ‘My children manage the vegetable garden, and they buy school books from the money we earn,’ says Fostina. She now produces enough food to be able to sell her surplus, increasing the family’s income and covering her children’s school expenses. The family’s health is also better now they eat nutritious food. ‘My family can afford three meals per day, and the many types of crops we grow give us a wide choice of food,’ says Fostina.

Fostina is just one of many women in her village, and throughout Zambia, who have been able, with Plan’s help, to improve their children’s wellbeing. Her hard work also means they now have better opportunities for the future.

Some names have been changed for child protection and privacy reasons

‘Before this project, my family could hardly afford two meals per day’

The Bigger Picture

• Reduced maternal and newborn deaths by building two maternity units, helping women get antenatal care and give birth safely • Set up 150 children’s groups, which raise awareness of children’s rights, and trained 2500 people on child protection • Supported 85 villages to build latrines, and trained 48 water management committees to maintain water points, benefiting 18,550 families • Held a conference as part of Plan’s Learn Without Fear campaign against school violence on children’s rights where child delegates presented a statement to the government Your support as a sponsor is crucial to achieving these results. With the resources provided by sponsors, Plan expertise and the collaboration of communities and local partners we are making a big difference to the lives of people in Zambia.

Thank you for your involvement!

To learn more about Plan’s work in Zambia visit plan.org.au/ourwork/southernafrica/zambia

‘In a year of great global upheaval, Zambia has not been immune. Global events filter down to the community level, meaning Plan has had to work even harder to make sure the rights and wellbeing of children and communities are protected in rural Zambia’ – Tim Budge, Plan’s Country Director in Zambia