5 pressing environmental issues that get little attention in Zambia | WestMac Media

By Winston Muleba JR 

Zambia is endowed with considerable environmental assets, including 50 million hectares of forest and a rich wildlife estate and protected area system covering some 36% of the total land according to United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 

Read also: Impact of anthills depletion on Zambia's key sectors.

In a quest to protect these environmental assets, the country has ratified international environmental agreements concerning biodiversity, climate change, endangered species, hazardous wastes, the ozone layer, and wetlands. However, most concerned stakeholders do little to advance the success of objectives contained in the agreements. 

And according to World Wide Fund (WWF) Zambia’s environment in particular biodiversity faces a number of challenges and threats. Wildlife faces the challenge of illegal wildlife trade and poaching. 

The forests face a challenge of deforestation as a result of land use such as agriculture and human settlements. Forests are also threatened by charcoal burning (by rural people) which is a source of energy for the poor people in urban areas who cannot afford electricity. 

A study by WWF Zambia further indicates that the country is highly endowed with abundant water resources from rivers, lakes and wetlands. Biodiversity in freshwater bodies face threats such as pollution, poor fishing methods and overfishing. The Zambezi river basin, which covers eight (8) riparian states in Southern Africa (Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Tanzania), is a major source of freshwater for the entire region. 

The greatest challenges are the various competing demands for water usage ranging from energy generation, abstraction for crop irrigation purposes as well as domestic and industrial uses. 

The 5 pressing environmental issues that get little attention in Zambia include but not limited to:- 

1. Loss of Biodiversity: 

Zambia falls within the subtropical region of southern Africa and is rich in flora and fauna. Nevertheless, biodiversity loss is one of the huge environmental problems faced in the country. 

The increasing human encroachment on wildlife habitats is causing a rapid loss of biodiversity that threatens food security, population health and world stability. Climate change is also a major contributor to biodiversity loss, as some species aren’t able to adapt to changing temperatures. 

2. Climate Change: 

A study on 'Climate Change in Zambia: Opportunities for Adaptation and Mitigation through Africa Bio-Carbon Initiative,' shows that Zambia is vulnerable to current and future climate change and variability. 

The country has already recorded increases in temperature and reduced rainfall in the last few decades, with temperatures estimated to increase at 0.6oC every ten years. The frequency of occurrence of extreme events (drought, seasonal floods and flush floods, extreme temperatures and dry spells) along with their intensity and magnitude has also increased, and future scenarios for the period 2010-2070 indicate that temperature will increase further by 2 oC and rainfall is projected to decrease by 8-10 percent. 

The effects and magnitude of the climatic hazards so far experienced indicate that the county will need to put in place adequate adaptation and mitigation measures to safeguard public in infrastructure, secure livelihoods and fight poverty induced by climatic hazards such as floods and droughts. These adverse effects have immensely impacted on the country’s development programs by diverting much needed fiscal resources towards mitigating the effects of climate change. These mitigation programs have ranged from rehabilitation of destroyed physical infrastructure and providing shorting humanitarian assistance to those affected by floods and droughts. Additional public resources are be allocated towards adaptation programs aimed at strengthen the country’s resilience, thereby reducing the funds available to finance core-development and poverty reduction programmes. In this context, climate change has emerged to be another development challenges that the country has to deal with in order to ensure that the recent positive growth trends are sustaina ble. 

Since climate change disproportionately affects the poor who have experience increased incidences of hunger, health epidemics and loss of shelter and livestock, the country will have to refocus its development programs in order to make growth pro-poor. Increasing public investment in adaptation and mitigation and projects enhance the Zambia’s rich environmental and natural resource assets will help to put the economy on sustainable development path in this era of climate change. 

The evidence documented in this report suggest that the government has adequately embraced climate change issues in its development plans, but more is needed in terms of resource allocation and program development and implementation. Its sad that while over 70% percent of climate scientists agree that climate change is occurring and greenhouse gas emissions are the main cause, political will has not been strong enough so far. Perhaps more extreme weather events such as droughts, wildfires, heat waves and flooding will convince the public to put more pressure on policymakers to act urgently to curb carbon emissions and address this issue before it’s too late. 

3. Deforestation: 

A study by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) indicates that over 60% of the land is under forest cover and the forest provides a wide range of both wood and non-wood forest products utilized by the local and urban communities. Current unsustainable levels of utilization have led to great losses of forest cover, which rose to as high as 850 000 ha/annum between the years 1990 to 2000. 

Despite some initiatives being put in place to check the long term cover losses and degradation, so much has been lost. It is suffice to say that forests are important to mitigating climate change because they serve as 'carbon sinks', meaning that they absorb CO2 that would otherwise escape into the atmosphere and worsen global warming. 

It is estimated that over 15 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation. Cutting down trees also threatens animals and humans who rely on healthy forests to sustain themselves, and the loss of tropical rainforests is particularly concerning because around 80 percent of the world’s species reside in these areas. 

In addition, forests in Zambia are important in supporting life especially in low-income communities both in urban and rural areas. A variety of wood and non-wood forest products are utilised by industries, rural households and urban households in various parts of the country. However, today the forests in the country have been made vulnerable to both man and natural induced disasters. The rate at which forest cover is being lost has increasingly become high such that if this trend is left unchecked time may trigger the complete loss of biodiversity embodied in the Zambian forests. 

4. Pollution: 

Zambia is one of the most industrialized countries in Africa, and air pollution and the resulting acid rain are growing problems. The lack of adequate water- treatment facilities presents substantial health risks to the population. Wetlands, including floodplains, swamps, and mudflats, make up about 6 percent of Zambia’s area, although none are adequately protected from degradation. 

Air pollution and climate change are closely linked, as the same greenhouse gas emissions that are warming the planet are also creating smoggy conditions in major cities that endanger public health. Water and soil pollution might not get the media attention that air pollution does, but they are still important public health concerns. Dirty water is the world’s biggest health risk. 

Soil contamination is a major issue across the world. In China, nearly 20 percent of arable land has been contaminated by toxic heavy metals. Soil pollution in Zambia threatens food security and poses health risks to the local population. The use of pesticides and fertilizers are also major factors in soil pollution. 

5. Water Scarcity: 

Water Aid Zambia report indicates that people's life expectancy, education level and income are improving. And with more than half of the country under 25 years old, there's a lot of energy and optimism for the future. However, this progress has not been shared equally among Zambians. People also need to be aware of their rights and have the knowledge and confidence to call for them where they are missing. 6.3 million people don't have clean water and worse still don't have available water. 

A UNDP report shows that water scarcity affects more than 40 percent of people around the world, an alarming figure that is projected to increase with the rise of global temperatures as a result of climate change. Although 2.1 billion people have gained access to improved water sanitation since 1990, dwindling supplies of safe drinking water is a major problem impacting every continent. In 2011, 41 countries experienced water stress – 10 of which are close to depleting their supply of renewable freshwater and must now rely on alternative sources. Increasing drought and desertification is already worsening these trends. By 2050, it is projected that at least one in four people will be affected by recurring water shortages. 

It is worth to note that as the population increases and climate change causes more droughts, water scarcity is becoming more of an issue. Only three percent of the world’s water is fresh water and 1.1 billion people lack access to clean, safe drinking water. 6. Soil Erosion and Degradation: Unsustainable industrial agriculture practices have resulted in soil erosion and degradation that leads to less arable land, clogged and polluted waterways, increased flooding and desertification. 

A study on 'farming and environmental degradation in Zambia: the human dimension', indicates that there are important implications for the environment through indirect effects on plant cover, cultivation methods and systems of bush fallowing. In many respects subsistence cultivation is probably the safest. 

And a case study from Mkushi District, Central Province exemplifies the influence of external factors on environmental degradation in general, and soil erosion in particular. In the survey, traditional practices show fewer signs of soil erosion than commercial farming because of rational decisions taken by each group of farmers. The implication for conservation strategies is briefly reviewed. 

In conclusion, 5 pressing country challenges among other environmental issues constrain poor households income opportunities through lowering agricultural productivity and access to different non-timber forest products. Water-and air-pollution (indoor and outdoor) as well as the low access to clean water and sanitation have serious negative health implications for poor households in general and for children in particular. 

A 'Zambia environmental and climate change policy' brief adds that environmental health factors play a very significant role for the low life expectancy and high child mortality and morbidity in Zambia. Poor households also have the least capacity to cope with food insecurity or economic shocks following natural disasters, which are likely to become more frequent with climate change. Environmental degradation poses significant constraints to key growth sectors such as agriculture and tourism. 

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About the Author: 

Winston Muleba Junior is a Researcher, Blogger, Citizen Journalist, Aquaculturist, Writer and Disaster Management Practitioner who uses media and ICT to promote environmental conservation; science, technology and innovation. He gravitates towards environment: water, aquaculture, land, climate change 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. Email:  mwenyamuleba@gmail.com