Nothing
is more basic to life than having sustainable access to food, clean air and
water, and other resources that ecosystems provide. Surely a clean and healthy
environment upon which life itself depends should be recognized as a
fundamental human right.
A
clean environment that includes clean air, water, land and energy, is essential
for human existence, conducting business and creating wealth. These components
must be sustained through conservation and proper management.
Additionally, by-products of human activity should be separated from man at the sanitary level the cleaning process provides. From the start of civilization, man has been the only species that cleans its environment, albeit for the sake of survival.
Additionally, by-products of human activity should be separated from man at the sanitary level the cleaning process provides. From the start of civilization, man has been the only species that cleans its environment, albeit for the sake of survival.
Despite
Government having launched the keep Zambia clean campaign in 2007, the momentum
of the programme has slowed down and most market environments are dirty.
'The environment' actually means soil - to grow food; water - to drink, wash and irrigate crops; air - to breathe; and a host of food and medicinal products (e.g. fruit, fish, wood, edible roots). Preserving 'the environment' therefore means safeguarding food production, protecting air and water from contamination, sustaining livelihoods, and preserving health.
A degraded environment in countries that rely heavily on natural resources for their economic prosperity (i.e. most developing countries) actually exacerbates poverty conditions.
Conventional
economic wisdom, in a theory first propounded by Nobel laureate Paul Samuelson,
holds that the unregulated market cannot be expected to protect the
environment. In this theory, clean air and water are 'public goods' whose value is not well reflected by market processes.
The
environment, whether natural or built is a unique form of capital. Capital that
produces income and wealth takes on four forms: financial, human, technological
and environmental. Each of these is essential to business and human existence.
All goods, services and human health conditions connect with the environment and its quality. Wealth is not readily created in clean space, especially in today’s age of high-tech information.
All goods, services and human health conditions connect with the environment and its quality. Wealth is not readily created in clean space, especially in today’s age of high-tech information.
Nature
has provided people with a safe operating space to create wealth and grow the
economy to improve the wellbeing of people without causing long-term damage,
but people themselves are rapidly exceeding these limits.
Stakeholders
involved present a very different vision for Zambia, a practical
forward-looking vision, a vision that embraces a productive economy in a
healthy environment.
As
a consequence, the scientific evidence is that while much of Zambia’s
environment is in good shape or improving, other parts of the country are in a
poor condition or are deteriorating. Market places in this case.
It’s
quite ill-fated that the strong stench of the effluent in the drainage
unbearable to human nostrils, the music sound blaring from the speakers in bars
and taverns is what greets consumers as they approach some markets such as Lusaka’s
Munyaule Market.
According
to a report by Jowit Saluseki of Times of Zambia, “Munyaule market has a high
traffic of people flocking to its makeshifts restaurants either to sample the
meals that are on sale or to patronize the shebeens that stock different kinds
of alcoholic drinks which are relatively cheap.”
In
the same report, Saluseki points that “the non-existence of lavatories has led
some traders at the market to use empty packets of opaque beer to answer the
call of nature and throw them on heaps of garbage that remain uncollected for a
long time.”
Munyaule
market in Lusaka is not the only market in Zambia with an un-conducive
environment, Kamwala, Old Soweto among other planned and unplanned for markets
in Lusaka are also in bad state. Masala main market in Ndola; Chisokone market
in Kitwe and Maramba market in Livingstone also do not fall short on the list
of dirty markets in Zambia.
Not
long ago, in October last year Kitwe District Commissioner Chanda Kabwe
bemoaned the dilapidated state of Chisokone Market and the poor sanitation
conditions.
Mr
Kabwe said it was sad that marketeers and other traders were conducting their
businesses in a very un-conducive environment as a result of the broken down
sewer lines with the effluent flowing under the makeshift stalls which the
marketeers had put up.
Mr
Kabwe pointed that Chisokone market being the pride of Kitwe should not operate
under poor sanitation conditions because conducting business under such
conditions is detrimental to the well-being of the traders and the public.
On
several occasions in the past, government, businesses, communities and
individuals have responded creatively and energetically to environmental
challenges, with positive outcomes for the health of the environment and
economic productivity. It is time for another such occasion. What is needed is
a national commitment to long-term reforms that build a productive economy that
conserves natural capital rather than degrading it.
Marketeers
have a right to a clean and healthy environment and this right can be conceived
in essentially three different ways: firstly, as an entitlement derived from other
recognized rights (such as the right to life, to health, and to respect for
private and family life); secondly, as a legal entitlement autonomous unto itself; and/or thirdly, as a cluster of procedural entitlements (such as the right to
environmental information and participation in administrative hearings and
decisions).
But
however, construed, the right has limited official recognition and
jurisdictional reach.
It
is important to recognize, however, that creating wealth and protecting the
environment coexist. The environment cannot be protected by conservation alone.
Wealth and surplus must provide the resources mainly energy to maintain order
and keep objects and places clean. Maintaining the diseconomies that supply and
demand causes keep the biosphere alive and the built environment functioning.
Sustaining a healthy economy also is critical to controlling pollution and
maintaining a clean and healthy environment. Without wealth there are no
resources to manage and control pollutants, especially through cleaning.
Additionally, the world’s natural resources must be used efficiently and the
environments that create wealth must be kept clean.
A World Health Organization
(WHO) ‘guide to healthy foods’ states that 'once
local authorities and the market community become committed to the concept of
‘healthy food markets’, the long-term prosperity and
growth of the market is strengthened.
The
guide further explains that the enormous benefits for vendors extend beyond the
market. In particular, consumers in the adjacent community benefit by having
access to safe and nutritious food.
Meanwhile,
the advantages of a clean market environments for primary food producers
include improved
production practices; improved product quality and price; greater market
access; and reduced costs due to
recall/wastage of food. For food market
vendors, clean market environments result in: improved business and sales;
improved product quality; reduced costs due to
recall/wastage of food; safer working environment; greater empowerment; increased
job satisfaction; and preserved customs and
traditions, in contrast to the increasing trend towards supermarkets.
Cleaning
market environment across Zambia would bring about improved source of safe
commodities; increased community health and safety; reduced community health
care costs; increased knowledge levels (mainly but not restricted to food
safety, general hygiene, health and management); and improved involvement of
women in community issues. And for consumers patronizing the food market would
result in: a safe and healthy shopping environment; access to adequate hygiene
facilities while shopping; exposure to other health promotion messages; and better
health and nutritional status for themselves and their families.
_________________
About the Author
Winston
Muleba Junior is a Digital Journalist, Aquaculturist, Blogger, Researcher, Writer and
Disaster Management Practitioner who uses media and ICT to promote
environmental conservation; science, technology and innovation. He gravitates towards environment,
water, aquaculture and agriculture as he is skilled at juxtaposing the latest
research and expert opinion with the everyday lives and struggles of people on
the ground.
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