Location: Zambia
Keywords:
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The Zambian economy has historically been based on the copper mining industry. Output of copper had fallen to a low of 228,000 metric tons in 1998 after a 30-year decline in output due to lack of investment, low copper prices, and uncertainty over privatisation. In 2002, following privatisation of the industry, copper production rebounded to 337,000 metric tons. Improvements in the world copper market have magnified the effect of this volume increase on revenues and foreign exchange earnings.
The major Nkana open copper mine, Kitwe.
In 2003, exports of nonmetals increased by 25% and accounted for 38% of all export earnings, previously 35%. The Zambian government has recently been granting licenses to international resource companies to prospect for minerals such as nickel, tin, copper and uranium.[80] It is hoped that nickel will take over from copper as the country's top metallic export. In 2009, Zambia has been badly hit by the world economic crisis.[81]
Agriculture
Agriculture plays a very important part in Zambia's economy providing many more jobs than the mining industry. A small number of white Zimbabwean farmers were welcomed into Zambia after their expulsion by Robert Mugabe, whose numbers had reached roughly 150 to 300 people as of 2004.[82][83]They farm a variety of crops including tobacco, wheat, and chili peppers on an estimated 150 farms. The skills they brought, combined with general economic liberalisation under the late Zambian president Levy Mwanawasa, has been credited with stimulating an agricultural boom in Zambia. In 2004, for the first time in 26 years, Zambia exported more corn than it imported.
Reduction of open waste burning projects in Zambia
The Zambia Environmental Management Agency in cooperation with UNIDO and UNITAR are currently implementing a project on reduction of unintentional persistent organic pollutants (uPOPs) from open burning of municipal waste. Solid waste management (SWM) is a challenge experienced in most developing countries. This sometimes results in the waste being managed in environmentally unsuitable manner such as open burning and informal dumping. Today, various initiatives are being carried out to reduce the environmental and health impacts of open waste burning.
Make Zambia Clean, Green and Healthy
Led by Mr Simwanza, the principal inspector of the department of operations of Zambia Environmental Management Agency. This is a program that was started in 2007 and re-launched in April 2018 by the Republican President. The program is multi-sectoral, where stakeholders including the general public are encouraged to actively participate in the implementation of the wide range of related activities to promoting environmental and public health.
Since the commencement of the program, the following achievements have been attained:
- Enhanced Private sector participation in waste management
- Increased public awareness on waste management
- Reduced indiscriminate dumping of waste in places like storm drains.