Introduction to the city
Ndola is the third largest city of Zambia as well as the provincial headquarters of the Copperbelt Province. Ndola is on the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Most of Ndola district is urban and peri-urban. It covers 110, 300 hectares (most of which is under forest reserve) with a population of 374,757 (As per 2000 census).
Ndola suffered population decline due to the closure of copper mines around 2004. Population is estimated to be 490 000 by 2015. During the slave trade era, Ndola was a slave trading post and was declared a Village Management Board in 1920, a Municipality in 1932 before attaining City status in 1967.
The strategic location of Ndola during the booming copper mining era of the 1960s and 70s, quickly established the city as the country’s leading commercial, industrial and distributive center. Attributed mainly to the Government’s economic liberalization and privatization policies of the 1990s, Ndola experienced a period of economic slump, however currently the economy is gradually coming up and this is evidenced by a number of business houses which are opening up.
The main economic characteristics of the city include the following:
Urban Agriculture in Ndola
Although not properly developed and coordinated, Urban Agriculture is widely practiced in Ndola. The location of these farming activities is mainly in back yards, forest reserves, along main road tracks, along streams and river banks, on rented plots and small holdings. Mainly the farming carried out involves among other things, the growing of vegetables, pumpkins, maize, beans, groundnuts and sugar canes etc. Most of these crops are grown in open spaces and in the peri-urban area around Ndola. There is institutional urban agriculture. This is largely practiced at schools, churches, prison grounds and police grounds. There is also community urban agriculture practiced in some of the open spaces. Backyard urban agriculture is also practiced on the plots. This is characterized by the production of various vegetables and poultry products. Large livestock like cattle is noticeable by its absence in the city.
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Prison farm in Ndola Rabbits, chickens and ducks in a backyard
MPAP Processes
Inception activities were undertaken during a visit to the city from 21 to 23 May. The main objectives of the visit to Ndola included:
A core team was put in place with members drawn from Ministry of Agriculture, Ndola City Council, Community Services, Ndola Nutrition Group, Catholic Diocese, Care Zambia and Ministry of Lands. The team is responsible for implementing activities in the city.
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Meeting farmers in Chipulukusu Meeting with the Mayor of Ndola
Policy Awareness Workshop
The workshop was held on the 2nd of August. 38 people attended the workshop and these included about 25 councillors, the mayor, departmental heads, members of the core team and UA farmer representatives. The workshop managed to raise awareness amongst the policy makers on issues of UA in the city and other cities. In the end they appreciated the need to seriously address UA in Ndola. They recommended the following:
Coming up with A UA policy for Ndola. Participants felt that the existing policy framework did not facilitate the development of UA. It was agreed that there was need to visit this area and develop a policy in view of the experiences in other cities as discussed at the workshop.
Institutional aspects – the workshop agreed that there is need to review the existing council set up and identify a department that would best coordinate UA activities in the city. It was agreed that in the interim, it would be necessary to form a working team (steering committee) which will ensure smooth establishment facilitation and implementation of the urban Agriculture.
Training needs Assessment
Training needs for members of the core team and other important stakeholders was conducted. Results indicated that with the exception of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, the rest of the other stakeholders had low levels of understanding on urban agriculture. Most other staff had low levels of exposure to UA. Therefore most required basic information on UA and its concepts. The TOT was designed to expose the trainers in some of these basic concepts.
Training of Trainers Workshop
This was conducted from 17 to 21 September at Henry Mukulu House in Ndola. The training was attended by 11 participants who included some members of the core team who had an interest in training and others who had been identified on basis of their previous history in training activities. These included participants from the Ministry of Agriculture who were very familiar with training adults. Dr. Jacob Mwitwa from the Copperbelt University in Kitwe also participated as he had a very keen interest in subsequent training activities. The training covered the basic concepts of UA, Risks and Benefits, UA Food Security, the MPAP Process and its various phases, Situation Analysis, UA Policies, Funding UA projects etc. The participants also did dry runs of topics they had been allocated prior to the TOT with training materials from MDP. The ToT resulted in the identification of some good trainers who would participate in subsequent MPAP training activities.
Working group during the ToT
MPAP I Workshop
This workshop was held at the Savoy Hotel from 29 October to 2 December. The objectives of the workshop were to:
22 participants drawn from an array of stakeholders participated. These included those drawn from the Ministry of Agriculture, City Health, City Legal Division, Rainbow Group, Ndola Nutrition Group, Kafubu Water, Farmer Group, Care, Ministry of Lands and Social Welfare. The team trained at the TOT did most of the presentations. The MDP arrived in Ndola one week ahead of the training to offer extra coaching to the presenters and make sure that they were ready.
The emphasis of the workshop was to prepare stakeholders and the core team for conducting the Situation Analysis and the Launch of the Stakeholder Forum. After the introduction to the CFF and MPAP process, most of the time was spent discussing information requirements and techniques to be employed for data gathering during the situation analysis. A field visit was undertaken to some of the UA areas in Ndola where participants applied some of the techniques they had learnt.
At the end of the workshop, it was agreed to create working groups that would undertake some of the components of the situation analysis.
Situation Analysis
Following MPAP I training the working groups established for the situation analysis have started work. The PRA team led by Dr Jacob Mwitwa from the Copperbelt University in Kitwe has completed pre-testing of their field instruments. The section of the short questionnaire was giving problems and has been modified so that it is more straightforward. The other groups on Policy and Legislation Analysis, Mapping, Stakeholder Analysis and Existing Information have also started work on their sections. It is expected that the results of this should be available in mid- January 2008.
Multi-Stakeholder forum Launch
The launch of the stakeholder forum was done on the 29th of November at a colourful ceremony presided over by the Ndola District Commissioner, Mrs Glays Kristafor and the Deputy Mayor Mr. Charles Chinala. 32 people drawn from various organizations in Ndola attended the launch. These included Zambia Electricity Supply Company (ZESCO), Heifer International, Zambia National Farmers Union, Central Statistical Office, Kafubu water, Twapia, Chifubu Projects, Panner Seeds, Ministry of Education, District Health and NDCU. The others were came from the usual organizations who had been attending UA activities before – Ministry of Agriculture, Social Welfare, Care International, Rainbow, Departments of City Council, Lands, Ndola Nutrition, and Catholic Diocese. At the launch terms of reference for the forum were discussed. It was agreed to elect a steering committee of the forum that would put in place structures of the forum.