Blog
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Home Equals Campaign
Zambia is a fast-developing lower middle-income country with an estimated population of 19,610,769 people and a growth rate of 3.4 per cent. The country has one of the highest urbanization rates in Sub-Saharan Africa pegged at 4.23% that has offset the proliferation and expansion of informal settlements that are home to 70% of the urban population.
Habitat for Humanity Zambia is therefore advocating for mutually reinforcing People Public Private Partnerships in holistically addressing the plight of informal settlement dwellers through the implementation of just policies, participatory upgrading initiatives and commensurate national budgetary allocations in line with national polices, national development plans and the far-reaching Sustainable Development Goals.
Challenges faced by informal settlements in Zambia
- Homes are built from poor construction materials such as mud and unprofessional construction techniques thus are susceptible to structural failure especially during the rainy season leaving some households literally homeless.
- Informal settlements generally have inadequate land security of tenure thus increasing the risk of involuntary displacements and evictions.
- Informal settlements have inadequate Water, Sanitation, Hygiene (WASH) and solid waste collection thereby increasing the risk of preventable waterborne diseases.
- Informal settlements have inadequate energy sources thus the dependance on unsustainable sources such as firewood and charcoal.
- Informal settlement dwellers to a greater extent do not have access to affordable financial products from Financial Service Providers or Microfinance Institutions to help them address their housing and livelihood needs therefore have limited capacities to invest in sustainable housing and essential basic services.
Why Home Equals is important in Zambia
- Home Equals will help to catalyze government’s efforts to implement the National Housing Policy (2020) and National Lands Policy (2021) particularly in informal settlements.
- Home Equals will provide transdisciplinary dialogue platforms with informal settlement communities at the center to review the implementation of policies, national development plans and the SDGs and lobby for increased budgetary allocations and timely disbursements for efficient and effective service delivery.
- Home Equals will amplify the voices of informal settlement dwellers in civic engagement and enhance social accountability.
Policy solutions
Empowered Participation
Reliable and Sustainable Basic Services
Security of Tenure
Climate Resilience -
Savings Group Member Extends House and Boosts Chicken Rearing Business
“Once the savings group records and cash boxes are fully incorporated in Savings Groups, I will spend very little time away from my business as I will opt to be virtually present in some meeting while attending to my business,” said Sophia Phiri.
Sophia Phiri is a 50-year-old woman, married with six children. She is a member of Twafwane Savings Group, a Habitat for Humanity Zambia supported group which she joined in 2020 during its formation. She joined the group with the hope of boosting her chicken rearing business by having access to loans with little interest rate.
“I joined Twafwane Savings Group with the hope of boosting my business through access to loans and access to information on how to grow my business. Before joining the group, I was running a chicken rearing business of 100 birds and after the first share out of the funds, I decided to increase the number of birds to 200,” Sophia said.
Through the money raised from Twafwane Savings Group, Sophia has been able to extend her house and connect pipped water to her house.
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Savings Group Member Builds Shop and Boosts Business
“Due to the digitization of the Savings Group records, I no longer have to go through the stress of tracking my savings through a book at home which sometimes gets misplaced or lost,” said Elizabeth Mwape.
Elizabeth is 48, married with four children. She joined Twafwane Savings Group in 2020 when it was formed. She heard about the Habitat for Humanity Zambia-supported Savings Groups from Community Change Agents working with Habitat for Humanity Zambia who were sensitizing the community on the value of Savings Groups.
Elizabeth shares how her business and family have benefited from the Savings Group. “Before joining the Savings Group, I used to sell tomatoes, charcoal and mealie meal. After the first share out, I added cooking oil, salt and beans to the items I am selling. I only used to buy one box of tomatoes for sale, but now I buy two boxes,” said Elizabeth.
Elizabeth built a shop at her house when she previously used to sell her products on a table. She has additionally enrolled one of her children who used to attend a government school into a private school. She further added that the family could only afford one meal a day before she joined the Savings Group. Currently, they can afford to have three meals a day.
Elizabeth intends to allocate the money from the next share out to renovate her shop by adding shelves to place her products.
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Speech by the Executive Director of Zambia Land Alliance During the Civil Society Organisations’ Press Briefing on the National Land Policy
Please click here to the Speech by the Executive Director of Zambia Land Alliance During the Civil Society Organisations’ Press Briefing on the National Land Policy.
