Deforestation in N W Province Zambia around Mwinilunga

Sorry not to have blogged during 2015. Will explain in a future blog.

This is a long one! The full set of LINKS are in a separate blog.

In early October 2015 Cynthia & I returned to Zambia after 43 years. Charlie Rea very kindly met us in Ndola and flew us up to Mwinilunga. We were surprised to see that much of the Mwinilunga Secondary school farm, that Steve Bodsworth & I ran and developed, has been built on, the fish ponds are still there, but not being used. Mwinilunga is hardly recognisable with a new concrete bridge replacing the narrow open wooden one and a broad tar road replacing the red mud cart track of the 1970’s. The 1 bar and 2 shops have grown into a large town with serious markets, many shops and a bank. The township has enlarged significantly and many new communities with well built houses have sprung up alongside the new road. Much of the available land is cultivated where before it was bush or forest. The extent of the de-forestation visible from the air is significant. I was upset at how few trees there are where once I remember forest. No trees, no rain, no water, no rivers, no fish, no food.

Look at Nyangombe, using Google earth, and the tree cover around the Training Centre is clearly evident as an oasis of tree cover. The population has grown, Zambia is exporting maize, crops have to be grown. We saw a lorry loaded with pineapples bound for Lusaka, a store filled with maize ready to sell to the Gov’t, some excellent vegetable plots and a promising fish farm. Most villages had fruit trees, shelter trees and a church or chapel. A number of significant hydro-electric schemes provide their local areas with sustainable electricity. Some of the old PFAs Protected Forest Areas are still in place, but trees are chopped down for chitemene (slash & burn), to provide fire wood, to fire bricks, for building and furniture and to make charcoal (much of it for the towns and cities especially when the electricity is cut due to load shedding). Charles Sachikando who trains the carpenters talked about the increasing difficulty of getting hold of Mukwa timber but that Ikamba was readily available. His trainee carpenters are making quality doors and furniture.  He mentioned the old Lunda custom of planting a tree when a child is born and how that seems to have died out.

We were concerned to have found little or no sign of any tree planting schemes, tree nurseries or any initiatives to encourage agro-forestry in or around Mwinilunga. One or two people we spoke to are aware of the potential for NFT nitrogen fixing trees. No-one has heard of bio-char. We saw an abandoned Community Farming Project site near Mutanda Falls, outside Solwezi. Maybe they had tried forage plants, hedges and intercropping. We found a glimmer of hope meeting Anita, who works with Ross and Mel Ferguson at the newly formed, currently being built Orphanage, just above the river below Nyangombe. Anita has always been a keen gardener and has already started collecting seeds and planting them to produce saplings and grow fruit and vegetables. She knows about and understands the Miambo forest. Our hope is that with some help and encouragement she will be able to develop a local tree nursery in which the orphans can participate as they grow up.

Using the internet helped track down a few hopeful places in or around Lusaka. We had one day before our flight back. Sandy’s Creations Garden Centre sells good quality saplings and larger trees, mainly ornamental and fruit, for between K40 and K85. Casurina, the only NFT, had sold out this season and costs K45. After some serious phoning around and queries by our taxi driver we found the old Woodlands Nursery, the original Lusaka Forest Nursery from the 1950’s. The 1955 bulletins are available online for £30 - £50, so still in demand! David Masamo and his colleagues were very helpful, delighted to show us round and very knowledgeable about the numerous different saplings they had and their potential for agro-forestry, soil and crop improvement and re-forestation. Prices were K5 or K10. They were unable to give us any information about Tree Nurseries in either Solwezi or Mwinilunga. We didn’t get to meet anyone from CIFOR, but have since learnt of Davison Gumbo’s work at national and international level. Maybe we were looking in the wrong place and should have gone to the Ministry of Lands, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection.

Sadly we didn’t have time to visit the following Zambian initiatives:

KATC,  Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre, 30km from Lusaka where Canadian Jesuits have been running farming and agro-forestry courses since 1974, started by Br Paul Desmarais. Interestingly they changed to organic farming methods in 1990’s and have an excellent collection of guides and manuals. Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre
An excellent source of KATC training manuals in pdf format. 
Also a recent 30min video, worth a look. Kasisi 2015: "The Art of Mimicking Nature" - YouTube
30 Apr 2015. How Kasisi Agricultural Training College is promoting organic farming in Zambia."

Trees for Zambia founded and still run by Adam and Claire Pope. About Us | Trees 4 Zambia
Based in East Lusaka. Indigenous tree nursery.

Conservation Farming Unit, now on Leopards Hill Rd, with influential director Peter Aagaard who has done much research and development, with some very interesting work on bio-char and information packs for Zambian farmers.          CFU Research   Important research articles about bio-char and other subjects.

"Our CFU Zambia web site  is for anybody interested in the promotion of Conservation Farming and Climate Smart Agriculture and we hope you will find it useful. In many parts of Africa, stagnant productivity, population pressure, environmental degradation and the threat of climate change suggest an increasingly bleak future for millions of African families whose livelihoods depend on farming."

We feel this statement summarises both the problem and potential solutions. It suggests that farmers will need to adapt and mitigate the effects of climate change, make best use of existing forests and cultivated land, take control of their own seeds and saplings, and reduce their reliance on fossil fuels for fertilizer, farm work and transport.         
 This can be achieved by:

·         rolling back the effects of deforestation with extensive localised tree planting schemes,

·         continuing to develop small scale sustainable agriculture,

·         using local affordable resources to improve the soil, improve diversity and yields using techniques from:

·         agro-forestry (forest products such as timber, charcoal, bio-char, honey, fruit, jam, oil, soap, medicines..)

·         permaculture (planning for a particular terrain, minimum or no till, forest gardens..)     

·         organic farming, seed collection and distribution, natural pesticides, companion planting, intercropping

·         bio-char from hulled corn cobs, and                  

·         careful use of NFT nitrogen fixing trees for soil improvement, forage, food, shade and timber/firewood.  

This is a big ask for Mwinilunga District; can more of it be done?

A Peace Corps couple in Solwezi: annieandandrew | Andrew and The Wife in Zambia
This blog from Dec 2011 - April 2014 from a Peace Corps couple living and working in Solwezi Zambia helping the locals with agricultural projects, provides many examples of the work that can be done.

At the National and international level, there is a legacy of work from R K Hart (1955 Lusaka Nursery Bulletins), D B Fanshawe, (1971 Vegetation of Zambia), to Emmanuel Chidumayo (1995 handbook on miambo ecology and management) and Davison Gumbo, KATC’s Br Paul Desmarais, Peter Aagaard at CFU.... current initiatives include REDD+   (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation),   FAO Agroforestry, ......

Futher afield there is extensive quality information and help. Agroforestry.net, Tropical forages, Orton.catie.ac.cr, Trees for the Future » Resource Center , Why trees mean life - TREE AID , PLANT A TREE IN AFRICA .

Basically we feel that there have been promising initiatives and research by different groups and individuals, but little evidence of the theories, plans and promises being put into practice especially in the NW Province. This presents an enormous challenge, but we wondered if the information presented in this briefing paper might help to inspire the formation of tree nurseries in the NW Province alongside promised Gov’t initiatives. Do you know of any local tree planting initiatives or tree nurseries? Do you know of interested individuals who might be able to help in some way, or who might make a small start armed with some of this information? What might they need? A small patch of land, a supply of good quality seed &/or saplings, a handbook, some labour, plastic sleeves, compost, soil and water! As a family we are happy to try to make small initial contributions to help get individuals or groups started.

We will be very happy to receive any response to this briefing paper. hlieblng@gmail.com

Cynthia and Henry Liebling have just returned from a three week  trip to Nyangombe Training Centre near Mwinlunga in the NW Province of Zambia staying with their old friends Les & Jean White. Cynthia & Henry went to teach at Mwinilunga Secondary school in Dec 1969, after completing a secondary PGCE at the University of Zambia in Lusaka. In September 1972 they left Mwinilunga with a toddler and a baby to return to UK. Henry was head of Science and together with Steve Bodsworth ran and developed the school farm. Cynthia taught English.