Zambia’s Rural Housing and Enhanced Youth Skills Development
Lumwana community is a mining community located in Kalumbila District in North-Western Province of Zambia. The population of this community has been growing steadily owing to economic opportunities availed by mining activities. This community like others in rural areas is characterised by poor housing. The situation is exacerbated by limited artisans’ skills, high cost of building materials, insufficient infrastructure support such as water supply, sanitation, electricity, solid waste management, health, education, security facilities and other social amenities. Lumwana community has in the recent past experienced a sharp increase in criminal activities due to population growth and absence of police in the community. Barrick Gold Lumwana Mine working with Lumwana Trust identified that construction of decent shelter would compel the police command in North-Western Province to deploy officers to Manyama community which had an inactive police post which further compromised security in the community.
Lumwana community is a mining community located in Kalumbila District in North-Western Province of Zambia. The population of this community has been growing steadily owing to economic opportunities availed by mining activities. This community like others in rural areas is characterised by poor housing. The situation isexacerbated by limited artisans’ skills, high cost of building materials, insufficient infrastructure support such as water supply, sanitation, electricity, solid waste management, health, education, security facilities and other social amenities.
Lumwana community has in the recent past experienced a sharp increase in criminal activities due to population growth and absence of police in the community. Barrick Gold Lumwana Mine working with Lumwana Trust identified that construction of decent shelter would compel the police command in North-Western Province to deploy officers to Manyama community which had an inactive police post which further compr
omised security in the community. Civic Forum on Housing and Habitat Zambia (CFHHZ) was contacted by Barrick Lumwana Mine after watching a television documentary where CFHHZ was showcasing the accrued benefits of using alternative building methods in the delivery of housing. In 2018, CFHHZ signed a contract with Barrick Lumwana Mine to build a semi-detached housing unit. This was a community led initiative and CFHHZ worked closed with Lumwana Trust youths. Twenty-three (23) youths, that is Fifteen (15) males and eight (8) females from Lumwana trust were trained on how to use the soil stabilising block making machine and how to mould blocks. The trained youths took
the leading role in moulding blocks for the structure. They moulded a total of 10,000 blocks to build a housed which was built on a foundation measuring 16,700 x 9300 mm. The youths participated in the construction process which provided an opportunity for effective knowledge transfer.
