What young Zambians have to say about making farming more attractive

Young people view agriculture more positively than often assumed. Shutterstock

Thomas Daum, University of Hohenheim

Africa has the youngest population of any continent – 60% are under age 25. While this has evoked both hope and fear, it is clear that jobs are needed for the 12 million people entering the workforce every year.

Agriculture is best suited to provide a great many jobs as it can absorb much labour, and because prospering farms trigger employment opportunities in the rest of the economy. But agriculture is often unattractive for the youth.

To lure young people into farming, policymakers and development actors emphasise the need for modern technology, including agricultural mechanisation. But surprisingly little is known about the opinion of young people in rural areas. Few have asked them what farming and rural areas need to look like to be more attractive.

I conducted a study in Zambia and asked people in rural areas aged between 12 and 20 what would make farming attractive for them. I used two research methods to explore their aspirations and perceptions: interviews as well as drawing exercises.

The results show that young people find more positive aspects in agriculture than often assumed and that the attractiveness of farming doesn’t only hinge on modern technologies. While some technologies are needed, having diverse and sustainable farms, a healthy environment and an attractive rural life is equally important.

The ideal farm. Provided by author

The findings

Most of the people interviewed for the study were proud of the fact that they came from farming families that owned land and worked close to the nature. Ruth (15) expanded on this and said:

We do not pay for maize, land, water and fruits such as mangoes. We have nutritious food.

The respondents also commented on the attractiveness of the rural space. Asked where they want to live in the future, rural or urban, 53% preferred rural areas, because of their freedom and social networks.

In contrast, urban life was often perceived as bad, characterised by road accidents, pollution, Satanism, thieves and drunkards. According to Talunsa (15) people are “poisoned by alcohol and fight”.

Many also found farming unattractive, citing drudgery and weather dependence as reasons. They said they would rather aim for jobs with a regular salary such as teachers. Lozi (16) said:

I want to work with the government. Then I’ll get paid monthly.

Around half of the respondents preferred a future in urban areas rather than in rural areas. These respondents were “pulled” away from rural areas because they were attracted by the perceived positive sides of urban areas. But they were also “pushed” away from rural areas which they associate with a lot of challenges. These included the high labour burden and risks associated with farming. This is what some of the respondents said about these “push” factors:

In the village, we always eat the same, beans and nshima, and we need to work hard.“ (Elina, 16)

In the village, you can be bewitched over small disputes and the fields are very small. I prefer to live in town.” (Jakob, 15).

It’s important to note that the decision to reside either in a rural or urban area was rarely perceived as a lifetime decision. Respondents highlighted that one could work in town after harvest or for some years after school to save some money before returning to the village.

Some of my friends want to go to town but others want to stay. Of the ones who went, many came back after some years. (Alik, 14)

I want to raise some money in town but then I want to move back to my village. I will bring a tractor with me and cultivate a lot of land. (Raimond, 17)

Making farming attractive

So what does farming need to look like to be attractive?

The young people provided some direction on what they thought would make rural spaces more attractive.

The most important factors were:

• Modern technologies such as tractors and digital tools. But these shouldn’t be over emphasised. Low-tech solutions shouldn’t be neglected.

• Non-material factors. Making agriculture attractive requires de-risking agriculture and promoting sustainable and diverse farms. These were clearly depicted in the drawings I’d asked the respondents to sketch of their ideal farm. The drawings typically showed highly diverse farms with trees, vegetables, fruits and animals.

• Ensure healthy landscapes. Having a sustainable, pollution free environment was commonly mentioned as a key advantage of rural over urban life.

• Rural areas must be developed in ways that go beyond just infrastructure. Social life and networks, which are still an asset in villages compared to cities, were also cited as important. This included networks of neighbours, relatives and friend and the communal celebration of traditions.

What next

Policymakers often highlight the need for modern technologies – including information, communication and technology – when discussing rural development.

But the young respondents I spoke to emphasised more low-tech solutions such as increasing farm diversity, having water wells and using draught animals, which is already an advantage over manual labour.

This suggests that policymakers and development practitioners need to pay more attention to the actual aspirations of young people in rural areas to avoid well-intended but misguided policies. In addition, the findings suggest that there is a need for several policies to reflect several types of young people in rural areas.

Thomas Daum, Agricultural Economist, University of Hohenheim

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Trophy hunter slaughters second rare large-tusked elephant in Zimbabwe

Same man reportedly killed record-breaking elephant ‘in its prime’ in 2015

Story by Harry Cockburn / www.independent.co.uk

The elephant was shot dead in the Gonarezhou Safari area of Zimbabwe ( JWK Safaris/Facebook )

A trophy hunter has reportedly shot dead a rare large-tusked elephant in Zimbabwe, four years after killing the largest elephant hunted in Africa in three decades.

Photographs of the huge elephant show it on its side on the ground after it was killed in Gonarezhou National Park.

The hunt was apparently organized by JWK Safaris who posted the image to their Facebook page. In the photos two men can be seen with their faces blurred.

The post, which was subsequently deleted, appeared to name a “professional hunter” as the man who killed the elephant.

The post reads: “Morning Hunters. Here are two photos of a trophy elephant bull that was hunted yesterday in the Gonarezhou Safari areas of Zimbabwe.”

“These tusks have not been weighed yet.”

“This is an exceptional Gonarezhou trophy bull with long, thick and symmetrical tusks that are typical of the Gonarezhou and Kruger gene.”

According to AfricaGeographic.com the hunter is the same person who shot dead a bull elephant in 2015 estimated to be the largest killed since 1986.

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At the time, the hunters reportedly claimed the hunt was ethical as the elephant was past his breeding years. However, elephant experts later said the bull was 35-40 years old and was of prime breeding age.

There is concern regarding the loss of the genes that such a large tusker carries.

Elephants are now believed to be growing smaller tusks because poaching and hunting has removed so many big-tusked elephants from the gene pool, the National Geographic said in 2015.

The elephants apparently targeted by JWK Safaris roam between national parks and the adjacent hunting areas, the organisation says on their website: “All of the Zimbabwean hunting concessions that JWK Safaris have on offer are open to the adjoined National Parks that serve as feeder parks to the hunting areas.”

The website adds: “These are serious hunter hunts in big game country. We book on average 60 big game hunters a year in Zimbabwe and have done so for some years now.”

JWK Safaris have been contacted for comment.

KAZA adopts Botswana’s scientific management plan for transfrontier area

12 APR, 2019

Story by: Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls ReportER /somervillesustainableconservation

Minister Priscah Mupfumira

KAVANGO-ZAMBEZI Trans-Frontier Conservation Area (KAZA-TFCA) countries have resolved to adopt a scientific wildlife management system in national parks, a development which will enable the bloc to harvest or move wildlife without hindrance.

The decision was made at the close of the Joint Management Committee and Committee of Senior Officials meeting in Victoria Falls yesterday.

It comes on the backdrop of a ban on hunting of specific animals such as elephants and sale of ivory, which the KAZA-TFCA bloc feels is unfair.

The KAZA-TFCA has arguably the biggest wildlife population especially for elephants in Africa but cannot cull or freely move them because of restrictions imposed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

This has escalated human-wildlife conflict thereby causing death of humans and illegal hunting as communities feel they are not benefiting from the natural resources.

KAZA-TFCA member states namely Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe wanted a common position on the matter ahead of the Conference of the Parties (CoP18) next month in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

They feel scientific management of wildlife will minimise human-wildlife conflict as communities will start benefiting.

The position will be ratified by Heads of State at the KAZA-TFCA Heads of State Elephant Summit set for May 7 in Kasane, Botswana.

The KAZA Bloc resuscitated the Ministerial Committee after the return of Botswana that had not been cooperating with the other four countries in the last few years.

Botswana, which has the largest population of elephants in KAZA with 150 000 jumbos, prepared the position paper and the other four member states adopted it as a KAZA statement.

“We note with concern debate and criticism on elephant population. KAZA-TFCA is a conservation and development partnership of the five governments and the key objective is to join fragmented wildlife heritage into interconnected areas and wildlife corridors with free movement of wildlife.

“It’s imperative that any programme that promotes conservation must sustain livelihoods of rural communities. We therefore call upon critics on elephant management to stop and allow the Republic of Botswana and KAZA-TFCA in general to implement policies and programmes on elephant management in a systematic management to improve species management and community livelihoods.

“We further call upon the critics to provide support to sound elephant management practices in particular problems such as human wildlife conflict,” read the statement by Botswana.

Botswana Minister of Environment, Natural Resource Conservation and Tourism, Onkokame Kitso Mokaila, assumed KAZA chairmanship for the next two years.

Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Prisca Mupfumira who co-chaired the meeting with her Botswana counterpart said while Botswana prepared the statement, it should be adopted as a KAZA position.

“As Zimbabwe we also support the statement and scientific management of wildlife. We think that we should support KAZA as a grouping and that statement should be a KAZA statement because we all believe in the same. What we have all said makes it a KAZA statement so that it’s not looked at as a Botswana position,” she said.

Zambia Tourism and Arts Minister Charles Banda said scientific management of animals is the only remedy to human-wildlife conflict.

“I want to believe that the critics have disadvantaged us the people who own this wildlife by way of curtailing us from the use of the same natural resources. We’ve been told that we should not hunt elephants or sell ivory but if you look at what is happening today elephant numbers are growing exponentially causing a threat to human population.

“The only way out is to adopt systematic and scientific control of these ever-growing numbers for purposes of reducing on human wildlife conflict and also raising finances for conservation and developing the livelihoods of the people that live within and around areas where these animals live,” he said.

Namibia Minister of Environment and Tourism Bernadette Maria Jagger said scientific management is one of the best approaches to manage thousands of elephants and for communities to benefit.

“Wildlife should contribute to wildlife management hence as Namibia we fully support new policies and programmes of elephant population management of Botswana to minimise human wildlife conflict. People should be allowed to go into trophy hunting and sell locally and internationally and as KAZA we should support one another when we go out,” she said.

The meeting started on Monday and ended yesterday. — @ncubeleon

Zambian villagers cleared to sue copper mine in London!

by Staff Writers
Lusaka (AFP) April 10, 2019

Some 2,000 villagers in Zambia were Wednesday granted permission by the British Supreme Court to sue in Britain over pollution by Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), a unit of London-listed Vedanta Resources, their representatives said.

The villagers filed a claim in London in 2015 against KCM, Zambia's largest mining company and its London-based parent company, for toxic pollution caused by water discharged from its unit Nchanga Copper Mines, situated in the central copperbelt region.

They claimed to have suffered health problems and loss of income through damage to the land KCM and Vedanta then challenged the decision by the Zambian villagers to sue in Britain and the jurisdiction of the English courts to hear their complaint.

The appeal was heard in January this year and on Wednesday the Supreme Court ruled that the claim by the villagers could be heard in London.

"It seems to me that the parent (company) may incur the relevant responsibility to third parties if, in published materials, it holds itself out as exercising that degree of supervision and control of its subsidiaries," read the judgement.

"In such circumstances its very omission may constitute the abdication of a responsibility which it has publicly undertaken."

With Wednesday's verdict, claimants from the village, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, can now be heard in the London High Court.

"This is a very perfect judgement because multinational companies in Africa manipulate everyone starting from the government to the courts," said Robert Chimambo, a Zambian independent environment campaigner.

"They are very powerful here and we can only be assured of a fair judgement in their countries of origin. We need more of such judgements," Chimambo told AFP.

os/sn/ri

VEDANTA RESOURCES

Botswana’s Plan To Cull Elephants And Sell Them As PET FOOD Wins Ministerial Approval

Botswana is moving towards culling elephants by lifting its wildlife hunting ban after a group of the country’s ministers endorsed the idea, but the proposal has drawn heavy criticism. Botswana’ is planning to cull elephants and sell them as pet food wins ministerial approval.

The southern African country’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi had previously tasked a government subcommittee with reviewing the hunting ban – which had been put in place by his predecessor Ian Khama in 2014.

The committee decided to recommend lifting the ban last Thursday, and the country’s minister of local government and rural development Frans Solomon van der Westhuizen advocated ‘regular but limited elephant culling’, NPR reports.  Story by Door Webmaster / greenworldwarriors.com.

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