Stephen Martin: Writing from Livingstone, Zambia

SCIAF's Africa Project Officer writes from Livingstone, Zambia

I left Sesheke on Saturday the 10th of March, and drove back to Livingstone to meet with the Bishop of Livingstone to discuss SCIAF’s continued support of the Diocese’s agricultural development activities.

I consider myself pretty hardened to the statistics that so often highlight the plight of so many in Africa, but I was shocked at the statistics surrounding Zambia.

Since the mid-1980s the poverty in Zambia has been compounded by one of the world's most devastating HIV and AIDS epidemics.

The statistics are terrifying: one in every six adults is living with the HIV infection; 98,000 people died of AIDS in 2005, life expectancy at birth has fallen to 37.5 years and 710,000 children are AIDS orphans. 1 in 5 homes cares for a chronically ill relative and 1 in 2 are hosting orphans.

19% of homes seldom or never have enough food, which leaves Zambia with the world’s highest percentage of children whose growth is stunted. Sadly this means that 47% of children do not reach their growth potential. A person born in Zambia has a higher chance of being poor than almost any other country in the world. Zambia is often described as the poorest-peaceful country in the world.

Economic growth is modest at 5% and Zambia is blessed with 16% of the world’s reserves of copper. Potentially it is a wealthy country but colonialism, mismanagement and the AIDS pandemic have played their part in keeping Zambia poor.

On the plus side, Zambian tourism is growing, with many people visiting the incredible Mosi-oa-Tunya which translates as “The smoke that thunders” and is the local name for the Victoria Falls. Classified as a World Heritage Site and one of the seven Natural Wonders of the World, the Mosi-oa-Tunya is the largest curtain of falling water on the planet. It is hard to imagine but up to 13,000 tones of water or 13,000,000 litres fall over the 106m waterfall every second.

While the views are spectacular, it is disappointing that so much of the tourist infrastructure is owned by non-Zambians, thereby limiting the benefit Zambia draws from this wonderful resource.

Stephen Martin,
Africa Project Officer,
March 2007

(all photographs by Stephen Martin)