Categories Africa, Blog, Zambia

ICCAs in Zambia: a hopeful moment!

First published on 09/25/2016, and last updated on 03/25/2018

By: Vincent Ziba, ICCA Consortium Coordinator for East and Southern Africa

The population of Zambia, according to the 2010 census information, numbers 15 million people living on 753 square kilometres of land. More than 60% of the population are rural dwellers, and more than 90% of the total land of Zambia is managed under customary systems.

Customary governance systems recognise a traditional authority which is guided by cultural values in land management. However, there has been increasing pressure from industrial growth on customary land, which has been significantly reduced in size (at present, governmental agencies and researchers are not able to precisely estimate this reduction). The first step toward preserving customary land is to identify its physical boundaries, based on tribal areas and related cultural beliefs. Tribal areas are mostly defined by their own purpose in culture and history, as becomes apparent during traditional ceremonies run by the traditional authorities.

Traditional ceremonies have been known to preserve culture and ultimately to perpetuate boundaries as defined by some groups of people.  For example, the Lozi Kumboka ceremony is well known in the western provinces of Zambia.  It takes place each year at the end of the rainy season. On this occasion, the Zambian government also imposes a fishing ban which allows fish to breed in the Zambezi River flood plains. The ceremony is characterised by the Lozi people’s migration from flood plains, where they dwell most part of the year with livelihoods based on fishing and animals grazing, to higher lands. This ceremony embodies a key moment in the regeneration of the natural resources of the flood plains and it is useful to replenish both the fisheries and the grazing lands.   It has been an essential feature of life since the Lozi people migrated into Zambia more than a hundred years ago.

A National ICCA steering committee was formed after the ICCA regional knowledge-sharing and capacity-building event in Namushasha, Namibia, in February 2016.  Today, it has a membership of 10 organisations and several individuals.  The committee entrusted the Zambia Community-based Natural Resources Forum (CBNRM Forum) and the Zambia Land Alliance to take the lead for ICCA work in Zambia. Both organisations will identify actual and potential ICCAs and will assess how their communities can be supported to protect their territories and enhance conservation of natural resources to support livelihoods. The CBNRM Forum and Zambia Land Alliance will also assess existing threats to ICCAs and look for the best ways to protect them from land grabs for other economic activities that might threaten both ICCAs and local livelihoods. The action will start in the Kafue River Basin and is expected to spread to other parts of the country.  This is a hopeful moment in the history of Zambia.