JUICY WILD IDEA: The case of Livingstone's Mario Nyanga who turned a wild idea into business

ANYONE who has lived in Livingstone, or at least visited the tourist capital at any time of the year will attest to the town’s high temperatures.

In fact, Livingstone records some of the highest temperatures in the country and one way to beat the heat is obviously by staying hydrated at all times.

And instead of just sitting at home and engaging in illicit activities after failing to find a job, an enterprising youth in the name of Mario Nyanga, 32, has taken advantage of the situation and seen a business opportunity out of people’s desperate attempts to beat the heat.

Located on Botswana Road in Livingstone’s Dambwa North township is Summer Splash Enterprise, a wild and healthy fruit juice joint owned by Mario. He started the business in November 2018. What is interesting about the joint is that the fruit juices are made from indigenous Zambian wild fruits.

The self-taught juice maker makes drinks such as lemonade, tamarind juice and smoothies out of baobab fruit, locally known as mubuyu. Mario also makes granadilla fruit juice.

“You know, growing up, we used to just play with these fruits and many times we never even thought of taking the idea of eating them seriously because for all we cared, they were just wild fruits that you could only eat once in a while,” he says.

Indeed these fruits are everywhere and readily available. Anyone who has lived in rural Zambia will agree with Mario that even collecting them requires minimal effort. Mario first started with tamarind juice.

“It was sometime in November 2018 when I started. It was at a time when there was a lot of talk about how beneficial musika (tamarind) is for people, both male and female. I then decided that maybe I should try and make something out of the fruit that was selling like hot cake in Livingstone. Besides that, it was tamarind season then, so it was only wise that I started with it,” he says.

Mario says he was overwhelmed by the response his drink got. “I used to sell it in disposable plastic cups and people would queue up here for it. Then, I hadn’t even built a structure and shelter.”

Since then, he says, the business has been growing and making steady progress. Mario says he makes about K200 per day.

“Today I have been able to put up this structure and shelter, thanks to the business. I have also gone into making other types of juices as well, which many people have been appreciating,” he says.

He adds: “There are plenty of health benefits in tamarind, lemon, granadilla and baobab that many of us have taken for granted. These same fruits have the ability to boost immunity, maintain and control sugar and cholesterol levels in the body. They are also good for the kidneys and have a lot more benefits.”

But like any other business, Mario has had to deal with his own share of challenges. He says the biggest challenge has been sourcing the fruits, bearing in mind that they are seasonal.

“I have had to go to places like Siavonga and Maamba to get supplies for some of the fruits and stock up for use even in times when they are not [in season]. It hasn’t been easy, but I am glad that I have been managing, much as it has been with difficulties,” he says.

He says with the right kind of money, his business, which is legally registered, would have grown to a more satisfying level. “I want to be able to package the drinks nicely in branded bottles or cups and supply them to big chain stores here in Livingstone and other nearby towns, if not the entire country,” he says.

At the moment, Mario stills sells his drinks to those that stop by his stand in disposable plastic cups of three different sizes at different prices. “As you can also see, these juice dispensers and beverage coolers that I am using are not industrial, so it means I have to constantly keep refilling them from time to time,” he says.

Asked if he has ever tried to get a loan or any form of capital to boost his business through the youth empowerment fund, Mario says he is yet to.

“I have thought about the idea of accessing those loans, but it is something that I haven’t really given much thought to. However, the idea that I fancy most is to partner with someone. Otherwise, I know that with enough funds and access to any financial boost, I would have the capacity to get as many supplies as possible and be able to grow the business,” he says.

Mario is a trained auto-electrical engineer. He graduated from Livingstone Institute of Business and Engineering Studies in 2015. He is the last born in a family of six which comprises three boys and three girls.

“I was born to Wilfred Nyanga and Agness Njoolo in Maamba in 1989. I attended Mujala Primary, St. Mark’s Secondary in Choma and also David Livingstone Secondary School in Livingstone,” he says.

After completing school, Mario went on search for job opportunities and a happy life. His pursuit of happiness even landed him in South Africa for a brief stint before moving back to Zambia to start work as a gym instructor.

He relocated to Livingstone from Choma in 2018 and soon after, even without any formal training for it, decided to open his business.

He has gone on to get a food handlers certificate from the council and registered the business with the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) and is tax compliant with the Zambia Revenue Authority.

“As youths, we don’t need to limit our thinking. We should be able to identify business opportunities from everything around us. I wasn’t working when I started this, but afterwards, I think I am okay working for myself,” he says.

Mario says there are a lot of business opportunities in Zambia and all that is needed is for people, especially youths, to apply themselves and take advantage of the favourable environment Government has created for small businesses to thrive.

This article was published in the Zambia Daily Mail Newspaper on November 12, 2021. You can find it on this link http://www.daily-mail.co.zm/juicy-wild-idea/

Government extolled for increased CDF allocation, but...

IN its ambitious 2022 national budget, Government announced an unprecedented constituency development fund (CDF) increment from K1.6 million to K25.7 million

ON Friday, 29th October 2021, the Minister of Finance and National Planning, Situmbeko Musokotwane presented the proposed 2022 national budget to parliament under the theme: “Growth, jobs and taking development closer to the people.”

In this budget, Dr. Musokotwane made a number of pronouncements.

However, one such pronouncement that has drawn interest, commendation and criticism, is the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) which has been increased from K1.6 million to K25.7 million per constituency.

Now that is quite a pronouncement!

Dr. Musokotwane says the new dawn government targets to register a 100 percent disbursement of the CDF to all the constituencies in a bid to enhance social service delivery and citizen empowerment especially among youths and women.

Shangombo Member of Parliament (MP), Mubika Mubika has praised the government for the proposed move. Mr Mubika who was first elected to the seat in 2016 says the budget will be the first ever to uplift the livelihoods of people in Shangombo district since Zambia got its Independence.

His observation is that the budget will be implemented effectively because the money has been decentralised to the local people who will benefit directly.

“This is the first budget that will uplift the lives of the people of Shangombo,” he says. “We will try by all means to ensure that we have enough clinics, staff accommodation for our teachers, enough classrooms, ICTs also to be provided to our learners as well as feeder roads to be attended to.”

Mr. Mubika is positive that with the increased CDF, the face of Shangombo District will now change.

Weighing in on the matter, a coalition of civil society organisations working under the auspices of the Strengthened Accountability Programme phase two (SAP II) contends that the pronouncement requires critical reflection, given that the CDF is designed to meet the development needs of citizens.

SAP II is a programme supported by Diakonia, a faith based organisation with funding from the Embassy of Sweden in Zambia. The program is empowering citizens who are the rights holders in holding duty bearers accountable and fully benefiting from the nation’s resource endowment.

In a joint statement released in Lusaka recently, the implementing partners who include: Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR), Caritas Zambia, Caritas Solwezi, Forum for Democratic Processes (FODEP), and Women for Change in collaboration with Diakonia Zambia, said while the CDF Act of 2018 provides workable guidelines in the management of CDF, in practice, a number of challenges linger.

They have suggested strengthened capacity building to local governance structures such as ward development committees and local councils countrywide.

“The government needs to ensure that all ward development committees are established, functional and have the capacity to manage the CDF funds and development project in the area before any disbursement of the CDF is made and the Minister of Finance needs to provide more guidance on what the CDF will be used on and what it will not be used on,” reads the statement.

They said the pronouncement should also take into consideration the disbursement, utilisation and monitoring of the CDF to enhance transparency and accountability in the management of funds.

They said the undue influence of local authority officials and Members of Parliament in the management and administration of the CDF must also be managed.

The implementing partners have proposed the strengthening of the CDF Guidelines in order to mitigate the risk of individuals or elected representatives’ dictating which projects to prioritise.

“There is an urgent need to establish and strengthen local and sub-governance structures such as the WDCs and the CDF management committees. Local authorities also need to prioritise the formation and full orientation of the WDCs as provided for in the 2021 WDC guidelines as they are key in the submission of ward development plans and priorities.

“There is a need to harmonize and align various policies, regulations and procedures as the CDF will be an integral component of the country’s development agenda. There is a need to review the local Government expenditure and procurement rules and regulations as a means of enhancing transparency and accountability in the expenditure and procurement of the CDF. It should be emphasised that the CDF should be prioritized within the local communities needs and aligned to the Integrated Development Plans (IDPS). The CDF amounts should be adequate in consideration of the size of the wards, constituency and population among others,” reads the statement in part.

Harry Miyanda is opposition Patriotic Front (PF) Kapwayambale ward councillor in Chongwe constituency.

He too has welcomed the move to increase the fund, but not without caution. “Of course, it’s a welcome move if the WDCs are made to work according to how they are supposed to, without any political interference.”

Mr. Miyanda however foresees a challenge, especially for wards in rural areas whose representatives may not have basic education to understand basic things such as project management, proposals, budgets, and reports among others.

“I also hope it won’t come with its own challenges for those of us in the opposition to access, for fear of outshining those in power. For those of us in constituencies whose MPs are UPND and we are opposition, I hope we shall not be frustrated regarding access to the funds and implementation of projects,” he says.

He too has called for WDCs to be adequately trained and oriented in the management of the fund, considering how huge it is.

Continental Leadership Research Institute (CLRI) executive director Hakoola Ngo says the increment is a milestone development that will not only drive decentralisation of finances, but also spur rural development.

He says rural areas have in the past lagged in development because of inadequate resources. He says, with the increment, rural-dwellers will have an opportunity to identify their pressing needs and priorities.

“This speaks to decentralisation of development to constituencies where communities will have an opportunity to draw up plans in key needy areas and have a stake in the development agenda,” he says.

Mr. Ngo who has also noted the need for capacity building of human resources in most constituencies has urged youths and women to take advantage of the financial allocations by forming cooperatives and companies that could bid for various community projects.

CLRI is a non-partisan and non-profit making organization that believes in research based advocacy working with different professionals and also young people across the country.

Asked about what he makes of the pronouncement, Gershom Mulenga of Lusaka's Mandevu Township says the move is welcome and long overdue.

“The whole thing is just refreshing and has the potential to bring hope to people. I haven’t read it in its entirety but when I heard about the CDF, I couldn’t help but wonder where the previous administration was taking the money, if indeed we have such a capacity,” he says.

Just like many others, Mr. Mulenga’s other scepticism is misuse of the funds.

Josephine Malasha of Lusaka’s Chunga Township says the representatives of the people should ensure that the people they lead have an input in identifying priority areas of need in their respective constituencies.

“We don’t want things to just be imposed on us. Let them consult us because we are the ones that live here. Most of these leaders we elect don't even live among us and they mostly just want to do things their own way and aim at just enriching themselves at our expense,” she says.

But Dr. Musokotwane has a message for anyone intending to misuse the fund. In his budget presentation speech, he said: “Here is a stern warning, abuse of CDF and failure to sanction those who misuse the funds will attract heavy punishment.”

IS THERE ANY HELP FOR CHILOBE COMMUNITY? A mining firm has allegedly claimed a mine where locals were earning a living

WITH the prices of tin having nearly doubled on the London Metal Exchange (LME) from between US$18,184 and US$18,530 per tonne in October last year to trade somewhere between US$27,030 and US$32,950 per tonne, it is not strange that something that commentators close to the development are calling ugly is brewing in Chilobe, a small community in Zimba district.

The community is deep in Zimba’s Mapatizya area. The area is endowed with tin, a mineral whose price has steadily been skyrocketing on the LME recently to nearly three times more than the price of copper.

Tin is a soft, silvery white metal with a bluish tinge which is mixed with copper to get bronze. It is widely used for plating steel cans used as food containers, in metals used for bearings and in solder.

Following a report from Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) in Zimba that a mining corporation called Ostrich Mining and Exploration Limited had fenced off the Chilobe Mine where locals were earning a livelihood, Caritas Zambia, who were instrumental in helping the community legalise operations, embarked on a fact-finding mission to the area.

The intention was to get firsthand information of what was going on and make recommendations on the way forward. In his report, CCJP chairperson Joseph Kaluwe stated that the situation in Chilobe was tense. “It is a sad situation because the community depends on mining for their livelihood.” he said.

Minutes into the meeting with the community members, the gathering was nearly disrupted with scenes reminiscent of an action movie. Prince Muuzu, who is Ostrich Mining and Exploration Limited - Chilobe Mine site manager made quite an entrance with his Nissan pickup truck and wasted no time in asking who was chairing the meeting.

Visibly displeased, Mr. Muuzu who was locked in a heated discussion with Caritas Zambia programmes officer for economic and social accountability, Mando Chiundaponde claimed his company has an exploration and mining license to the area.

“How am I a bad person when I have allowed these people to mine here and sell to whomever? I haven’t chased them away even if I could if I wanted,” he was heard saying.

Well, let’s just say the back and forth went on for nearly 30 minutes before Mr. Muuzu cooled down, albeit after reaching a mutual understanding.

The background to the story is that Caritas Zambia discovered the group sometime in 2019 and since then, it has been helping the group in capacity building and also in the process of acquiring an artisanal mining license.

Through the Diakonia funded Strengthened Accountability Programme (SAP II) project, Caritas Zambia managed to help the community form a cooperative society and facilitated for the group to get a consent letter from Chief Simwatachela of the Tonga speaking people of Zimba district to facilitate the obtaining of the mining license.

Everything was going well until Ostrich Mining and Exploration Limited came along and claimed the site, and deprived the community of something they hoped would help turn their fortunes round.

Joseph Poipoi is the Chilobe Mining Co-operative society chairperson and says the group had made tremendous efforts in its pursuit for a license, before being duped at the very last minute. “We paid K900 and an additional K1,000 to the Ministry of Mines and officials from the ministry, including their regional manager (Dickson Banda) came here to get the coordinates for the mine,” says Mr. Poipoi.

Just when the community thought it would be given the license, it was later discovered that there was already a license holder in the name of Olibul Mining and Exploration whose licence was to expire in March 2021.

The community was made to wait for Olibul’s license to expire or get consent from it to permit them to go on site as artisanal miners. “But after March, we were surprised to see Ostrich Mining and Exploration coming to fence off the area and lay claim to the mine,” he says.

It is said Chief Simwatachela also gave Ostrich Mining and Exploration, a company owned by a named Rita Hoare who is reportedly Copperbelt based, a consent letter.

Whitewaters Development Trust (WDT) is also another organisation that has been working closely with the Chilobe community in trying to make sure that they have a sustainable livelihood. The organisation has offices in Zimba and Choma.

WDT director and senior trustee Jeffrey Mikunga says the organisation's thematic areas are climate change, sports development for youths, agriculture and tourism and mining. He also explains how they came to learn of the Chilobe community.

“When we went there, we found those people mining without safety measures and it got us worried and concerned. We started to try and legalise the process for them - it was an expensive venture so the quotation we got was somewhere around USD25,000 and we couldn't find people to help us with the moneys.

“When the government made things easier with the introduction of artisanal miners, that's how we resorted to the issue of co-operatives. The people of Chilobe did that and the final step was the application for an artisanal mining license using the co-operative certificate,” he says.

Mr. Mikunga who is also a magistrate at the Zimba local court says Olibul, the previous license holders had even prepared a well thought out Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) for the community.

“But due to hostility, Olibul decided to pull out of the area. We don’t know whether along the way, some people from the Ministry of Mines sold the information that we found on the ground to other people - but that’s how the community has seemingly lost out,” he says.

He said his team has been in contact with the Ministry of Mines to resolve the impasse before it escalates into what he termed as “something embarrassing to the Government and Chief Simwatachela”.

In his letter to the ministry dated March 16, 2021, Mr. Mikunga said: “...unfortunately Hon. Minister, this Co-operative and a population of over one thousand locals of Chilobe area which is under Chalimongela ward in Zimba district are under threat of being displaced due to a mining investor in the name of Ostrich Mining and Exploration Company whom we understand has been given a mining license. The company wants to fence off the entire area thus displacing them.

The letter continued: “White waters Development Trust has a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Chilobe Mining Co-operative in which it has been given the Power of Attorney. We are now imploring you Honourable Minister to clear this impasse and see how best the community can benefit from the natural resource endowed in their area or from the  putative owners and avoid displacement of these people who were earlier displaced in 1955 during construction of the Kariba Dam and they were not compensated. I would also like to inform you that the locals have been mining since 1963 illegally and formalization was done recently due to the new Government Policy on artisanal mining to benefit the Locals.”

Mr. Mikunga says he had assurances from Mr. Musukwa that the matter had been escalated and a response would be given even before parliament is dissolved.

“That is why we haven’t even decided to go to court yet because we believe we can resolve this matter amicably otherwise we are ready to challenge these actions, but first we get a response from the ministry,” he says.

He wondered how Ostrich Mining and Explorations Limited could have a mining license even before satisfying the conditions of an explorations license.

Efforts to get a comment from Ms. Hoare proved futile as her phone went unanswered. “We also don’t understand how Chief Simwatachela gave consent letters to two different people. In fact, we are even told there is someone else with a consent letter from him as well,” he says.

Caritas Zambia programmes officer Chepa Lesa who also held a meeting with Zimba town council secretary says the organisation wants to get to the bottom of the matter before it can recommend a way forward.

She says efforts will be made to have a round table meeting between all parties involved to see how to make sure that the community is not left out. “The idea is to see how we can resolve this matter among the parties involved here before going to the community. Those are our people and we need to go there with one voice and make sure that they are protected,” she says.

The Zimba Town Council is also aware of the mining activities in the district but it has very scanty information regarding the statistics.

Coster Mutandi is the council secretary. He says there is a gap between the council and the ministry of mines when it comes to the issuance of mining licenses.

“We feel sidelined because we just hear of activities happening in certain areas without our knowledge really. That is the reason why we have invited the Ministry of Mines regional manager Mr. Banda to our next full council meeting to come and educate and sensitise the house on how they go about with the issuance of licenses,” he says.

He says the council wants to come up with a clear register of all the mining activities in the district and how they are benefiting the local communities.

“We have noticed that many of these mining companies are not even ploughing back to the communities they are working in. It is our wish that any mining company operating here has a well thought out corporate social responsibility plan. That way, the communities and us as a council will benefit in a way,” he says.

Estely Siambalo is one of the Chilobe community members. All her life has evolved around the community.

The community comprises about 254 people of which 98 are males and 156 females. For a livelihood, the community has been relying hugely on mining tin, of course using unconventional means and a little bit of farming. “We don’t do as much farming here because of the soil and landscape. We keep a few livestock such as chickens and goats too,” says Ms. Siambalo.

This article was published in the Zambia Daily Mail Newspaper on 18, August, 2021. You can find it on this link http://www.daily-mail.co.zm/is-there-any-help-for-chilobe-community/