APPENDIX 1
EASTERN PROVINCE AND CHIPATA DISTRICT

1. DEMOGRAPHY

The extent to which rural people depend on non-agricultural employment to supplement their incomes varies considerably with the opportunity to earn a cash income from farming. Thus Daene estimated in 1945 that 70% of the men were absent from villages in Eastern Province (Daene in Harvey, 1976).

In 1947 a Peasant Farming Scheme had begun in Eastern Province and in 1952 an Improved Farmers Scheme. Their contribution to increased control over agricultural resources by a minority of rising peasants was strong and quick. For the majority of the rural farmers, however, it did not give them an opportunity to earn cash in agriculture. Halcrow estimates that in 1960 no less than 60% of taxable men in Eastern Province were still working for wages ‘generally outside the province’ (Halcrow, 1961 in Good, 1986).

The consequences of this history of labour migration for Eastern Province can be seen in the present composition of the population, as illustrated by Table 1.

Table 1: Percentage of populations by age and sex

SOURCE: 1980 census of population and housing, Volume 1: General population and migration tables

The population of the capital shows a low percentage of old people and also a preponderance of male adults. Conversely the rural areas of Eastern Province have far more older people than is the national average and also far fewer males of working age.

Because the age group 50 years and over constitutes a relatively large portion of the population in the rural areas in Eastern Province, the dependency ratio [(10–14 years) + (50 and over) / (15–49 years)] is also high, 1.56.

With the data in the census of 1980 the migration flows in and out of Chipata District can be calculated. From the people who were born in Chipata District, 35% migrated either to another District or to another Province. The in-migration was also important in 1980. Of the total number of residents, 14% was born outside Chipata District. Two-thirds of these ‘in-migrants’ go to the rural areas. In the pilot areas there are lot of these ‘in-migrants’ who have taken up farming in the District. Sometimes they have formed separate villages, but often these people (who belong to another tribe) are mixed in the already existing villages.

The age distribution of the population who stayed in Chipata District and of the people who migrated is reproduced in Table 2. These figures are not known for the people settled in Chipata District (these data are only given on Province level).

Table 2 : Age distribution in percentages of the population born in Chipata District

* Rural and urban areas here implies the areas to which migration has taken place

SOURCE: 1980 census of population and housing, Volume 1: General population and migration tables

Of those who remained in the rural areas, the older people and the women are over-represented. This shortage of male labour of working age has consequences for activities which are considered specifically as ‘man's tasks’ (e.g., the clearing of the fields; and because the clearing of new fields is not done often anymore, the soil is degenerating fast). The construction of a fish pond is always considered a man's job, although it has appeared that this sexual division of labour is not as rigid as is sometimes assumed.

There are no data available on the number of migrants who return to their villages; however, the figures on out-migration to the urban areas suggest that there is less of a tendency to return home in later life. Despite this tendency there are still a lot of migrants who have come back to the villages. Very often these migrants try to distinguish themselves from those who have not gone to the urban areas.

The Central Statistical Office do not indicate how precise the data of the 1980 population census data are. Yet, when calculating the curves of sex ratios (ratio of the male to the female population) at different ages for ‘Eastern Province Rural’ and ‘Zambia Total’ it was found that the sex ratios were distorted at various ages. These distortions are a normal pattern in many developing countries and can be explained as follows:

• Enumerators very often impose an ageing process on young women; this results in a sex ratio which is too low at ages 15–30 and consequently a sex ratio which is too high before the age of 15;

• Omissions of women and an inaccurate age declaration can explain the too high ratio at the later ages. Women tend to declare themselves younger. The corrected ratio at 30–44 years should thus be lower (Pressat, 1978).

On inquiries about the procedure of the population census in Zambia these deficiencies were confirmed. This means that the figures on the female age group 15–44 years are probably too high and that in reality the difference in number between the two sexes is less than shown in both tables.

Eastern Province has the highest incidence of female-headed rural households in the country, namely 39%. There are three types of female-headed households:

• de facto, created through male migration;

• legal, created through death, divorce, or never having been married;

• autonomous polygynous, or co-wives living separately and having major responsibility for day-to-day activities (Hurlich, 1986).

Of the 39% female-headed households in Eastern Province Rural, 51% is legal (which is 20% of all the households). Depending on how the female-headed household was defined in the 1980 population census, if the polygynous wives were classified under this group or not, the percentage of the de facto female headed households varies from 49% (or 19% of all the households) to 23% (9% of all the households).

The size of a female-headed household is generally smaller (average of 3.5 members in Eastern Province Rural) than that of a male-headed household (average of 4.6 members). This also indicates the labour shortage of the female-headed households in comparison with the male-headed households.

2. CLIMATE

The climatic characteristics are presented in Table 3. There is a clear difference between the dry season and the rainy season. The rainfall is concentrated between November and April, during the other months there is no rainfall at all.

The temperature is suitable for the culture of tilapias; however, the growth of the fish may be limited during the coldest period.

Table 3: Climatic characteristics: Chipata

elevation: 1032 m.
dry days: 211. intermediate days: 35. wet days: 119
humid period: 120 days (28 Nov. – 27 March)

3. TOPOGRAPHY AND SOILS

The Chipata district (1 198 644 ha) can roughly be divided into three major landscapes:

• the Degraded Plateau
• the Escarpment Complex
• the Rift Trough

The Degraded Plateau covers the area around Chipata and consists of hills, ridges and minor escarpments. Slopes range from 0 to 12%. The soils of the Degraded Plateau consist of associations of slightly leached, strongly acid, reddish to brownish, clayey to loamy soils (with variable topsoil texture) derived from basic and acid rocks. Dominant vegetation is Munga and Miombo.

The main limitations of the soils in this area are:

• acidity: none to strong, in general slight;

• aluminium toxicity: none to moderate, in general moderate;

• nutrient retention: low to moderate;

• topsoil texture: variable, but mainly coarse textured;

• topsoil capping: severe in several places;

• erosion and soil degradation: none to severe, in general slight to moderate;

• waterholding capacity of the soils: moderate to good, in general moderate;

soils: mainly Acrisols, association of Lithosols and Cambisols. Luvisols and Phaeozems.

The Escarpment Complex is a transition zone to the Rift Trough (the Luangwa Valley). The soils in this part are shallow and gravelly derived from acid rocks. The main topography is rolling to hilly, slopes range from 8 to 25%, with Miombo vegetation.

The main limitations of the soils in this area are:

• soil depth: hardly any deep soils;

• erosion: none to severe;

• slope: steep slopes;

• waterholding capacity of the soils: low to very low;

• accessibility: severe

Soils: Lithosols and Cambisols

The Rift Trough covers the Lupande Game Management Area and the South Luangwa National Park. The soils in this area are of variable texture, mainly of alluvial origin, and with Mopane, Munga or Miombo vegetation. The soils are underlain by an intermediate type of Karroo sandstone, but mainly of alluvial origin, formed by deposition of the river system. This deposition has caused a great micro-variability in soils and drainage conditions. Dambos with very poor clayey soils, sandy levee soils and intermediate soils, often with a clay cover, form a complex pattern.

The main limitations of the soils in this area are:

• wetness: moderate to very severe;

• alkalinity: slight to very severe, in general very severe;

• waterholding capacity of the soils: very low to moderate, in general moderate;

• soil variability: soils vary over very short distances;

• erosion and soil degradation: none in the flat parts (slopes 0 to 1%), serious erosion risk on the alkaline terraces bordering streams, in general moderate;

• workability: due to heavy clay texture in depressions and dambos these soils are difficult to till;

• accessibility: access problems during the rainy season.

  Soils: Fluvisols and Vertisols

  (van der Meeren C., Soil Surveyer Chipata, personal communication)

4. WATER SUPPLY

In Chipata District there are hardly any perennial streams. This means that aquaculture will either depend on water diverted from water storage reservoirs or will have to rely on short-term production of fish during the period the rainfall is adequate and the watertable high enough to keep the pond full. This also means that the number of sites suitable for fish culture will be limited.

In Eastern Province there are 213 water storage reservoirs covering a total area of about 2 000 ha. Most of the dams have not been properly maintained and are in a dilapidated condition. In Chipata District there are 63 dams, 168 boreholes and 1 220 wells. The average depth of the boreholes is 25 to 70 m. The depth of the wells ranges from 3 to 10 m, their yield is low, 0.7 to 2.1. 1/sec and most of them become dry during the drought periods. There are only 5 irrigation schemes in the Province using surface water. Small scale farmers often rely on underground water and peasant farmers depend on the rains (PPU and FAO, 1984).

It is estimated that 99% of the streams dry up by the end of August when the rainfall during the previous season was normal, while the same dry up as early as May when the previous rainy season experienced serious droughts.

5. AGRICULTURE

Roberts and Elliott (1971) classify the farmers into three groups: the commercial farmers, the emergent farmers and the subsistence farmers. The emergent farmers are defined as farmers selling more than 50% of their crops whereas the subsistence farmers sell less than 50%. In Zambia the emergent farmers are geographically concentrated along the line-of-rail and in the Eastern Province. In Eastern Province most of them live along a fairly narrow band following the Great East and Lundazi-Chipata roads.

In Chipata District the main crop is maize. The number of farmers by category and area planted with maize are given in Table 4. The PPU and FAO classified the farmers in commercial, emergent and peasant farmers. They do not, however, describe or define these groups.

Table 4: Number of farmers in Eastern Province by category and area planted with maize 1983/84

SOURCE: PPU and PAO, 1984

The average yield of maize per hectare in Chipata District is 18 bags (1 620 kg/ha). Many peasant farmers are still using their own seed for planting reserved from their previous harvests instead of using scientifically tested seed. Another problem for the increase of agricultural production is an inadequate and untimely supply of inputs such as fertilizers. The lack of fertilizers in Eastern Province can be partly explained because of smuggling into Malawi. In late 1987 115 t of fertilizer worth ZK 8 million (equivalent to US$1 million) disappeared near the border with Malawi (Times of Zambia, 22-01-1988).

Apart from the poor marketing of inputs, the marketing of outputs has also been deteriorating between 1980 and 1984. Especially the late payment to farmers by marketing agencies is seen as a major constraint (PPU and FAO, 1984).

Other crops are groundnuts, tobacco, cotton, sorghum, sunflower and vegetables (Table 5 gives the agricultural calendar of these crops). The growing season starts at the end of November and ends at the beginning of April. Before the rains start the fields are prepared, with heavy input of labour but this is not strictly tied down to time. However, the planting has to be done in a very short period because of the brief duration of the growing season. This means that the workload in the planting and weeding season (December until mid-February) is heavy and often the factor which limits further expansion of the farm size.

Table 5: Agricultural calendar

Hybrid maize, groundnuts and cotton all compete for labour in the early part of the growing season. The harvest season (May and June) is another labour-demanding period. Farming systems surveys confirm that the demand for labour, in the planting and weeding season, is the major constraint to increasing production (EPAD, 1987). In practice, farmers are often reluctant to become dependent upon employees and tend to view them as a marginal reserve for use when family labour is temporarily inadequate.

Most of the agricultural work is done by men as well as by women, except the clearing of a new field which is done only by men.

In July and August people receive the money for their crops. This is also the period when many people are travelling to their family or friends to support the necessary social contacts.

6. AGRICULTURAL CREDIT AND EXTENSION

Often the lack of adequate funds is put forward as the main constraint on credit facilities through which it is not possible to lend to small scale farmers who apply for loans. However, the figures reproduced in the agricultural blueprint for Eastern Province (Table 6) show a slightly different picture.

Table 6: Distribution of seasonal credit in Chipata District

SOURCE: PPU and PAO, 1984
Ap. No. = Application Number;

The average seasonal loan for 1981/82 amounted to ZK 1 999 (approximately US$ 2 400). It was not possible to find out the exact price of a 50 kg bag of fertilizer at that time, but it appeared that one could buy around a hundred bags of fertilizer for that amount (all the loans were given in fertilizers and seed; no cash was given). Small-scale farmers do not normally use such a large amount of fertilizer.

Another problem is the late payment of loans to farmers by financial institutions. In the Fourth National Development Plan for Eastern Province, this is mentioned as one of the constraints for the increase of agricultural production (Ministry of Decentralization, 1986).

In principle, women have the same access to credit as men. Nevertheless, Kanstrup (1987) found that men were favoured by the loan committee when Cooperative Credit Scheme funds were disbursed. Only about 12% of the loanees were women.

The actual shortage of resources faced by the Ministry of Agriculture and the need for a rapid increase in production have led to a situation where the agricultural extension services are mainly concentrating on the large-scale farmers. Moreover, in the '70s, they had a theoretical justification for concentrating on the innovators. The ‘diffusion of innovation theory’ claimed that the later adopters and laggards will eventually follow the example of the innovators, through the so-called ‘trickle-down effect’.

Concentrating extension on the innovators did not, however, give the expected results. Therefore, during the early '80s, the Eastern Province Agricultural Development Project (EPADP) reorganized the agricultural services in Eastern Province by introducing the ‘Training and Visit’ system of agricultural extension. The aim was a long-term and sustainable increase in the output and productivity of small farmers and the translation of that increase into improvements in the economic and social well-being of the small farmers themselves. The target group is those farmers who grow crops to meet subsistence needs, although some of these farmers might market surpluses for cash in good years. The extension workers were encouraged to select typical, but responsive farmers as contact farmers for their areas. The results are described in the Extension Implementation Survey of 1986 and 1987. Contact farmers were found to be slightly younger, to have had more years of formal education, and to have larger farm sizes on average than non-contact farmers. The access of contact farmers to credit was five times greater than for non-contact farmers. Only 11% of the contact farmers were female (39% of the households in Eastern Province Rural is female-headed) (EPADP, 1986). The following year the differences between contact and non-contact farmers appeared to have narrowed (EPADP, 1987).

The impact of the T & V system is dependent upon the message received by contact farmers being passed on to the majority of farmers who are not contact farmers. In 1986 only 23% claimed to be receiving advice from the contact farmers; in 1987 the proportion decreased to 17% and there is doubt as to the nature and extent of information diffusion (EPADP, 1987). This is the first bottleneck in the T & V system. Even if the information were passed on to the non-contact farmers, it is not guaranteed that circumstances would allow the adoption of the innovation. The majority of such households in fact face resource constraints such as limited labour and farm equipment. As a result they are unable to produce a surplus over subsistence requirements. It has also been emphasized that with prevailing producer prices, final economic benefits do not accrue mainly to small farmers but to other sectors of the economy and have thus acted as a disincentive to farmers.

Apparently there is a conflict between the EPADP objectives of expanding production (by which responsive farmers were selected, which in turn has led to differences between contact and non-contact farmers on major characteristics), and of improving the economic and social wellbeing of the small farmers. This implies namely a distribution problem, which has not been addressed by the T & V system.

Marter (1979) concluded that the continuation with the former approach in extension and training would only benefit a limited proportion of small-scale farmers. The majority, the least well-off, are excluded, either by selective contact or by the inappropriateness of the packages offered. The results of the T & V system so far do not show an improvement in this situation.

7. NUTRITION

Recent studies have shown that the nutritional status of households declines as farmers enter the market economy. One possible explanation could be due to high labour demands on women which compete with food preparation and child-care. It is also possible that most hybrid maize grown is sold and the income realized does not necessarily supplement the family diet, but is used to purchase non-food items. The emphasis on growing hybrid maize may have serious implications on food consumption in that the total area planted for traditional food crops may have been reduced, and food security at household level threatened. Hybrid maize does not store well and is not suitable for traditional milling processes, making it less available for home consumption.

In several studies, the pattern observed is repeated; malnutrition of differing degrees is rampant in Zambia and is chronic rather than acute (Hurlich, 1986). The same pattern is confirmed for Eastern Province by preliminary results of an IFPRI/RSDB/EPADP/NFNC study and for Chipata District by Buch-Olsen (1985). These last two studies do not look at the cause of the nutritional problem. Hurlich (1986), however, cites a study wherein it is claimed that the most serious nutritional problem in Zambia is an inadequate energy intake, often caused by the low energy density in staple foods; there is no serious protein deficiency. The data for Eastern Province are reproduced in Table 7.

Table 7: Average rural per caput daily intake of selected nutrients

SOURCE: Perez 1984 in Hurlich, 1986

It is not only the rural areas that have nutritional problems. A 1984 study of urban areas in Chipata District showed that peri-urban areas have nutritional problems at least as serious as, if not more serious than the rural areas (Hurlich, 1986).