Lusaka in the Context

Lusaka as earlier indicated is the national capital and largest city of Zambia. It is located in the southern part of the central plateau of the country, at an elevation of 1300 m (4256 ft). It has a population of 1,084,703 according to the 2000 national census, but with a 2.9 annual population growth rate, the population of Lusaka was estimated to be at 1,684,910 in 2007 (Table 3 ). However, unofficial records indicates that the population of Lusaka could be way beyond 3 000 000 in 2008 due to people relocating to Lusaka with the hope for a better livelihood due to unprecedented squalor conditions, abject poverty and lack of employment opportunities in other parts of the country (Situmbeko 2008). The borders of Lusaka with an area of 21,896 sq. km (Table 3) go beyond the city boundaries and extend to the surrounding areas several kilometers away from the urbanized central business district. The distant districts of Chongwe, Luangwa and Kafue together with Lusaka city (district) make the Lusaka province. This is however, divided into the urban area with 360 sq. km (table 3) and the rural area with 21,536 sq. km (table 3). Among the 4 districts that make Lusaka province, only Lusaka district is urbanized with only 360 sq .km. Chongwe, Luangwa and Kafue are all rural districts with minimum infrastructure but with a total surface of area of 21,536 sq. km, refer to Table 3 below.

21 Table 3: General information about Lusaka

Lusaka In 2007

Area 21,896 sq. km

Rural area 21,536 sq. km

Urban area 360 sq. km

Population 1.7 million (approx.)

Population without safe water 12 % Population without adequate toilet facility 30 % Number of households in the slums 267,000 Number of informal settlements 37 Population in informal settlements 800,000 Source: Central Statistical Office, Zambia (2008)

This table shows the population of Lusaka and the surface area in both urban and rural parts.

However, basic services and facilities such as adequate toilets and safe drinking water is in short supply, 30% of Lusaka population for example has no adequate toilet facility. The population as compared to available conversional housing is limited resulting in 37 informal settlements with about 800 000 people living in slums or semi slums. The next subtopic highlights more on the informal settlements (Slums) of both Lusaka urban and Lusaka rural.

2.12.1 The Under-served Urban Settlements in Lusaka

Lusaka is considered one of the fastest growing (in terms of population) cities in Africa (Lusaka City Council 2009). It is a commercial centre as well as the centre of government.

The country’s four main highways to the north, south, east and west radiate from Lusaka. This makes it easily accessible by road which is the cheapest and most reliable mode of transport in the country. 70% of the people reside in well over 37 unplanned slum or semi slum settlements with roughly 267 000 households (Table 3) clustered on the fringes of the city and occupying a mere 20% of the area (Situmbeko 2008, CSO 2008), the official estimated population in these settlements is over 800 000 (Table 3). Because of the overwhelming influx of people trying to settle in Lusaka, the adequate delivery of social services is strained and compromised i.e. 12% of the Lusaka population has no safe drinking water and 30% have no adequate toilet facilities (Table 3). The Lusaka influx has also made many residents in these slum settlements either completely unemployed or working in the informal sector as Banik (2006:160) reports that “In Zambia, about 46% urban employment is in the informal sector”.

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However, on the other hand, Mulenga (2003) reports that the slums of Lusaka owe their origins to the neglect of providing low-cost public housing and to short-sighted urban and housing policies, both during the colonial and the post-independence times. Mulenga (2003) further states that, in the absence of sufficient public low-cost housing, and with non-insistence on statutory building standards, the urban growth resulted in a series of housing crises and the growth of unauthorized settlements at the urban periphery. The bulk of the residents of the low-income housing areas are predominantly unskilled and semi-skilled and work mainly in the informal sector (piecework and small-scale trading activities). Common features in these slum settlements are overcrowding, inadequate water supply, deteriorated environmental conditions characterized by poor sanitation, poor drainage, uncollected solid waste and above all unsecured tenure for most of the population. Young men and women engage in criminal and anti-social activities as a means of surviving the hush conditions in the slums (UN-Habitat 2003) as the Overseas Security and Advisory Council (2006:1) reports that _“Gangs of armed criminals from Lusaka's poorer neighbourhoods roam the streets at night, perpetrating robberies and home invasions with impunity”.However, this scenario is a bit different in the rural settings where the settlements are more homogenous and culturally connected unlike in urban areas where settlements are a mixture of people of different backgrounds. However, unplanned settlements are not only found in urban centers but also in rural areas as the next subtopic shows.

2.12.2 The Under-served Rural Settlements in Lusaka

The under-served rural settlements of Lusaka are not as overcrowded as the settlements in Lusaka urban. The settlements are far apart with larger settlements established within or near farms owned by commercial farmers that are usually not indigenous from the area or from Zambia (CSO 2008). These commercial farmers offer employment to the settlers usually in an informal manner probably taking advantage of the desperation. The majority of the Lusaka rural populations are engaged in agriculture that is devoted to maize, a staple food and cash crop in the area. The other crops grown are groundnuts and finger millet while the commercial farmers apart from maize also grow sunflower, soya beans, tobacco and seed cotton (Chidumayo 2001). However, the situation has not been the same in the 2007 farming season, the rural settlements that to a greater extent depend on farming for their living, experienced a drought in rainfall and this has negatively affected them.

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These settlements have factored into the problem of HIV/AIDS. Highlighted below, is the position taken by MOE in the fight against this problem.