Habitat Zambia

Category: Water and Sanitation

  • Home Equals Campaign

    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

  • Habitat for Humanity Zambia Commemorates World Water Day

    LUSAKA, Tuesday 22nd March, 2022- Habitat for Humanity Zambia joins the rest of the world in commemorating the World Water Day with a call for concerted efforts in the governing of groundwater.

    Groundwater is a vital invisible resource that supports ecological diversity, human health, economic development and ultimately national development.

    Reports indicate that about 60 to 70 percent of water consumed in Zambia comes from groundwater. The demand for the invisible resource in Zambia is increasing due to population growth, urbanization, irrigated agriculture and industrial purposes. As a result of this, groundwater needs to be protected from degradation and overexploitation as doing this will ensure its sustainable use in the face of climate change.

    We are alive to the water sector reforms that started in the 1990s and culminated in several policy and legal frameworks including the National Water Policy of 2010 and the enactment of the Water Resources Management Act No 21 of 2011 under which the Water Resources Management Authority (WARMA) obtains its mandate of monitoring both groundwater and surface water quality. We commend the Government of Zambia for this while calling upon an increase in National Budget Allocation to groundwater management. The call is towards strengthening the collection of groundwater data through the establishment of a groundwater monitoring network and drawing groundwater plans to halt any incoming heavy metal pollution from the large-scale mining. Additionally, groundwater needs to be protected from anthropogenic activities such as the use and pit latrines, soak away and open defecation. Further, Government through institutions such as WARMA should conduct periodic environmental audits to assess the compliance of the existing filling stations with environmental guidelines to prevent groundwater pollution for the benefit of the public good.

    National Director, Ms Mathabo Makuta commented “groundwater is critical to national development as such, we call for concerted and coordinated efforts from government, the private sector, civil society, research institutions and the media in its governance.