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THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA

SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

RESEARCH PAPER: CASE STUDY OF NG’OMBE

COURSE : DS 422

LECTURER : MRS. MUMBA, R.P.

SUPERVISOR : MR. MWIINGA B.

IDENTIFICATION OF THE DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS OF POVERTY IN NG’OMBE COMPOUND, LUSAKA

2013

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NG’OMBE TEAM MEMBERS-DS 422 FIELD RESEARCH

S/N NAME COMPUTER NUMBER

1 KANENGA HAGGAI (TL) 29012856

2 SICHIKOLO FRED 29001021

3 PHIRI EDITH 29099757

4 LWATULA KASHINGA 28033108

5 RHUDIA CHISENGA 29065275

6 CHISOMO MWANZA 29053609

7 KAMWI FAITH 29006546

8 CHIKUTA NATASHA 29005426

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Images captured from Ng’ombe compound, Lusaka-2013

Illustrating the situation using images….

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Table of contents

Introduction Page 1 Definition of poverty Page 1 Problem identification Page 2 Objectives Page 2 Findings and discussion What poverty means to Ng’ombe

residents Major problem (s) faced by people of

Ng’ombe

Page 2 Page 2 Page 4

Conclusion Page 5 Recommendations Page 5

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

Africa is home to some of the largest deposits of natural resources in the world-from oil and gas deposits to precious metals, but it also presents the global community with the biggest challenges. The poverty levels and other development indicators for Africa, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa are some of the most unattractive features of the world economy. Sadly, of the world’s poorest countries, 33 are in Africa, where, between 2000 and 2008, about 48% lived below the poverty line of US$1.25 per day (Kasekende, 2012).

Zambia is one of the most urbanized countries in Sub-Saharan Africa; of its total population, over 40% is estimated to live in urban areas and about 80% live in poverty. During the 1960s and 1970s, the production and export of copper led to an expansion of the urban economy. Zambia experienced high levels of rural-urban migration, as citizens sought to benefit from urban-based employment opportunities and subsidized food and infrastructure. Poverty and the lack of a sustainable housing policy have led to urban growth being absorbed in informal settlements. As urban populations have increased, so has the extent of urban poverty. This development has resulted in what are called shanty compounds-where poverty levels and unemployment (28%) are high in such informal settlements. Lusaka is a capital of Zambia with a population of about 1, 747 152. 12 % of the total Lusaka population is without safe water, 30% are without adequate toilet facility. There are about 37 informal settlements in Lusaka whose occupants are estimated at 800, 000 (Phiri, 2008).

Ng’ombe Township, where the majority live in unplanned squatter settlements, is on the north-eastern periphery of the built up areas of Lusaka City. It borders with one of the high-income areas of Lusaka city known as Roma. It is within a radius of 15 km from the central business area of Lusaka and is accessible by road although 85% of the roads are not in good state. Ng’ombe Township has a total population of 92,000 (RDC 2006 Statistical Records) of which 23% are men, 45% women and 32% children. The majority of the residents work in the informal sector, about 38% is without access to safe water; and about 60% of households share unprotected pit latrines. This is an area where the poor suffer from various deprivations such as lack of access to employment, adequate housing and infrastructure, lack of access to health and education and personal security. Poor people in this area suffer from diseases often associated with poor sanitation, lack of clean water, overcrowding and poorly ventilated living and working environments (Phiri, 2008).

This study, with the above background, intends to identify the different dimensions of poverty manifest in Ng’ombe Compound, Lusaka.

1.1 Definition of poverty: Fundamentally, poverty is a denial of choices and opportunities, a violation of human dignity. It means lack of basic capacity to participate effectively in society. It means not having enough to feed and clothe a family, not having a school or clinic to go to; not having the land on which to grow one’s food or a job to earn one’s living, not having access to credit. It means insecurity, powerlessness and exclusion of individuals, households and communities. It means susceptibility to violence, and it often implies living on marginal or fragile environments, without access to clean water or sanitation (UN, 2011).

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2.0 PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

Ng’ombe compound is among the poorest and densely populated shanty compounds of Lusaka. It is faced with extreme poverty which manifests in very challenging conditions for the residents. The compound has many poverty issues (inadequate health and educational facilities, lack of proper sanitation and clean running water sources and improper housing units, poor infrastructure and poor market structures) which were identified through physical and intelligent observations, interviewing of the locals and focus group discussions. Furthermore, the compound has only one government school (Ng’ombe Basic School) and one clinic (Ng’ombe Clinic), inadequate to cater for the educational and healthcare needs of the population. These facilities are evidently in poor state with inadequate infrastructure to cater for the entire population of Ng’ombe. Increased levels of unemployment are evident amongst the residents as this could be seen from a number of young men in taverns during working hours when the research was being conducted.

3.0 OBJECTIVES

3.1 General objective

To identify the different dimensions of poverty in Ng’ombe Compound, Lusaka

3.2 Specific objectives

i. To find out what poverty means to the local residents of Ng’ombe compound ii. To determine the major problem(s) the people of Ng’ombe experience.

4.0 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This section presents findings from the study done in Ng’ombe Compound.

Information was gathered from different sources like focus group discussions (3), group on one interviews (4), and intelligent observations. Out of the people interviewed, 3 were females and 2 males. Three focus groups were done comprising of females and males separately to gain more insight on poverty issues in the compound.

4.1 What poverty means to Ng’ombe residents

Respondents and participants were asked to define poverty from their own perspectives. They defined poverty in various ways depending on their personal and household experiences. Some defined poverty as the lack of employment. They explicitly expressed concern on the lack of access to sustainable employment. High priority was given to employment as the cornerstone for their livelihoods. Those who defined poverty as the lack of employment blamed their current conditions as a result of their joblessness.

A group of youths caught our attention when they stormed us upon disembarking from vehicles; they thought we were recruiting people for employment-demanding to know what we were doing. Unemployment, we observed, is one of the types of poverty manifest in Ng’ombe. One of them had this to say “there are no jobs in Ng’ombe. Those who are employed (by the council) are casualized, this lack of jobs leads many youths into beer drinking, and prostitution. As you have seen yourselves, life is really had

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in Ng’ombe. Imagine, there are no jobs, water we pay, mealie meal we buy at high prices….using what? Transport is also expensive, in schools they want money, and at the clinic they want money…from where? We are really suffering mwandi”.

Another youth in defining poverty said this “It is lack of jobs. Look, if there was employment, right now I would be working and making money. But I am just here now doing nothing. Life is bad for me today and since I did not do anything, I expect tomorrow to be similar. Unless I find employment, I will remain just like this at least for the whole month.”

His colleague contributed by lamenting that “when you are still in school (secondary), life is easy as parents provide. But when you complete they want to rest and eat from you. But money is hard to find in society without employment”.

Others still defined poverty in terms of lack of access to clean and safe drinking water and poor sanitation facilities. Water seems to be a source of major concern as the participants pointed out that supply is erratic and most of the time the area has no water. “We are forced to walk long distances to New Ng’ombe compound (kuma plot as he put it) to fetch water for which we are charged a fee of 20ngwee per 20 liter container” a respondent charged. They also indicated that water, highly chlorinated, bitter and not clear, flows (comes out) only at night (towards mid-night) every day, though sometimes without. By 5am, water would have stopped flowing.

Literature reviewed indicated that about 38% of Ng’ombe residents lack safe water; this is a very significant percentage that should be given attention. MDG number 7 requires that the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation is halved, by 2015. On safe drinking water, Zambia is making some progress though with particular focus on Ng’ombe, much has to be done. Statistics indicate that the percentage as of 2013 has been reduced to 36.9 towards a reduction of 25.5% by 2015. On sanitation, approximately 2 million Zambians have no access to sanitation facilities. Statistics stand at 67.3% towards a reduction of 13%. Great efforts are needed to meet this target especially people in shanty compounds like Ng’ombe, where participants revealed that about 30 households share one pit latrine in Ng’ombe, this is as a result of overcrowding and lack of adequate land, additionally; there are no proper drainages and some residents draw water from shallow wells (MDGR,2013).

Courtesy of Ng’ombe team, 2013

Further, another resident lamented that poverty is lack of money. He illustrated how this component affects other aspects of one’s life. “If you do not have money, you are not a person. You cannot afford to rent a decent house for your family; you cannot pay for your children at school and take them to the clinic when they are sick. You cannot provide a decent meal for the family and when there are contributions to be made in society you cannot help and society regards you and your family as a dependent”.

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The study revealed that, for poor people, poverty is more than just income, though the aspect of money was frequently mentioned. Poverty is multidimensional concept which can be measured using a range of indicators. For this study, from residents’ perspectives, it was discovered that it manifests itself in form of lack of access to; adequate education and health facilities, safe water for drinking, health and sustainable sanitation facilities, access to affordable credit services and lack of employment and an income. From this, we see social and economic, income poverty, political dimensions, environmental dimensions and capability as well as employment, participation and safety.

4.2 Major problem(s) Faced by people of Ng’ombe

The image shows a woman in Ng’ombe washing clothes; just next to her is a well they use to draw water for home chores, including drinking (sometimes). This led to the determination that, actually water is the major challenge for the people of Ng’ombe, though there are other pressing issues like limited health and educational facilities, poor road and market infrastructure, lack of credit facilities and poor sanitation.

Even though Zambia is one of the countries in Southern Africa with abundant natural resources (water in this case), the country is still one of those where water supply is erratic in most parts of the country especially in areas where the poor live. Ng’ombe compound is one such area inhabited by poor people, severely hit by erratic water supply. In Ng’ombe compound, water is on transit. If one does not catch it at the water station at around 5AM at 20 ngwee per 20liters, they better try the next day at the same place at the time. This was typical of transport service in rural areas during the 1980s.

What was observable upon arrival in the compound was the dryness of the water sources which are public kiosk except for a shallow well located near a pit latrine. The situation raised our concerns and motivation to find out exactly what the situation was and why.

Many of the respondents talked to were able to indicate the severity of water scarcity in the compound. All of them were quick to reveal that water comes at a specific time every day. This led to the conclusion that erratic water supply is a major problem faced by Ng’ombe residents. All of the reached respondents, including insights from focus group discussions, when asked about the kind of poverty or problems that they face, indicated that access to water is a challenge in the area. This is so because it is inadequately and intermittently supplied. Water is present only late in the night and stops flowing at around 5am. Those who want to access it should be ready to wake up early in the morning. A widow who narrated the situation of water in Ng’ombe was found washing at her sister’s house. She had this to say: “My children and I had to wake up early in the morning to walk a distance so that we could access water from a well here at my sister’s house to wash. Elsewhere they charge 20 ngwee for a 20liters container of water, I

A girl washing plates near the well, to the right is the “toilet”

Picture by Fred

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cannot manage. Though this water here is also not very clean it helps us especially for washing and sometimes we drink the same water if we fail to get 20 ngwee for a container from the tap”. This alone explains that water is a huge problem in the area. The issue of water is followed by sanitation as the latter is directly affected by the former.

Our definition, adopted from the UN, does suffice all the perceptions (definition of poverty from residents’ perspectives). It means not having enough to feed and clothe a family, not having a school or clinic to go to; not having a job to earn one’s living, not having access to credit and without access to clean water or sanitation. These are realities that emerged in the field.

5.0 CONCLUSION

This was a qualitative study done in Ng’ombe compound. The research found that the kind of poverty experienced in Ng’ombe is mostly extreme with many people lacking the most basic needs like clean water, access to health and education. Poverty is seen by local residents as the lack of; employment, access to water, education and access to credit. To residents of this compound, the biggest challenge is access to clean and safe water for drinking and jobs as they believe that having an income would enable them meet all their needs. Important to note, the problem of water was so evident and came out prominently from all the interviewed residents.

The researchers concluded that when forming poverty reduction strategies the poor are provide the best recommendations as the poor themselves know better what poverty means.

6.0 RECOMMENDATION

6.1 Community’s recommendations

i. There is need to build more schools and healthcare facilities in the area including road infrastructure and modern market structures

ii. The government needs to create employment ventures for residents including the provision of accessible credit services

iii. There is urgent need to rectify the water problem and find a sustainable solution

6.2 Team’s recommendations

i. Clean water and sanitation needs a larger budget allocation and incentives for private sector and communities to engage more in these areas of essential service delivery. Significant investments are required in the provision of a wide range of appropriate and affordable water and sanitation technologies to meet MDG 7

ii. There is need to integrate the principles of sustainable development into city policies and programs to effectively reduce poverty in Ng’ombe

iii. The council needs to involve the private sector and communities in the management of the area with emphasis on community-based management. Further, there is need to utilize innovative public-private partnerships to generate and manage such areas, bringing in new financing to sustain this effort

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REFERENCES

Kasekende, L. e. (2012). Economics of Africa. NY.: Oxford University Press.

Phiri, G. (2008). Project Baseline for the water wells project in Ng'ombe settlement (Masters thesis). University of Free State.

RDC. (2006). Statistical Records.

WB. (2002). Upgrading of low income settlements country assessment report: Zambia. Lusaka.