Managing the Miombo Woodlands of Southern Africa Policies, incentives and options

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2Methods

2.1The study sites

The study was conducted in villages from the districts of Mufulira and Kabompo in Zambia’s Copperbelt and Northwestern provinces, respectively (Table 1). The selected villages in Mufulira district (Sosala and Village No. 14) are situated within easy access (10-70 km) of a network of mining towns of Kitwe, Mufulira and Chingola, and Zambia’s second largest city of Ndola. Both villages are located not more than 5 km from a tarred road connecting them with urban centers. The border post into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is less than 5 km from Sosala village, allowing vibrant cross-border trading in various commodities. In sharp contrast to Mufulira, Kabompo district is located towards the Angolan border and remains largely remote from urban centres, only connected by a gravel road to the provincial centre Solwezi, some 370 km away. The selected villages in Kabompo - Nkhulwashi and Maveve - are located 23 km and 69 km, respectively, from the district centre.
Historical background and institutional systems

The people of Mufulira and Kabompo share their origins in the Congo from where they are said to have migrated during the early part of the 19^th century. While other groups came directly and settled in the northern part of the country, some groups settled briefly in Angola before civil strive forced them to proceed further south to settle in northwestern Zambia. Despite the common history these communities now exhibit significant differences in their livelihood systems, largely shaped by broader development trends in the country. The lure of copper mining in the Copperbelt province led to rapid economic growth, improved infrastructure, higher population pressure, higher rates of urbanization and generally more diverse livelihood opportunities. In contrast much of Northwestern province remains geographically remote from urban centers, with poor access roads and other infrastructure, resulting in limited livelihood opportunities.

Traditional governance arrangements still form the core of the institutional system in Kabompo district, with all land held by the chiefs in trust for their people. Land allocation decisions are the jurisdiction of the chief in consultation with local village headmen. These traditional structures are largely regarded as legitimate and highly effective in enforcing a range of local rules that govern resource use and conflict resolution although pressure from outsiders over access to key resources constantly expose the system and bring about suspicion of corrupt practices. Although parallel state governance structures exist in the district, they work closely with the traditional system as they often lack the resources and capacity to independently enforce rules especially at the local level.
A markedly different institutional landscape is in place in Mufulira district where the traditional system is almost non-existent and state structures control all facets of local governance. Although the study sites are regarded as rural, much of the land is either state land or held by local councils. Villages have mostly been established through contestation with the state especially over state forests. Cases of illegal settlements and encroachment onto state or council land are rampant and often political pressure results in state forests being degazetted to legalize such occupation. High population pressure and economic expansion in the district means that pressure on resources, especially land, will continue into the foreseeable future.
More recently development oriented institutional systems have also appeared in both districts as is the case elsewhere across the country, often driven by NGOs and other development agencies. These have largely aimed at improving local organization for resource utilization and empowering resource users to deal with various challenges such as productivity enhancement and marketing of products. Discussions with locals reveal that effectiveness of these institutions often depends on the level of outside facilitation and cases of collapse are common once outside help is withdrawn.
Population and Poverty Status

During the last census in 2000, Zambia was estimated to have a population of about 10.5 million with about 65 percent of the population living in the rural areas. Due to high economic activity associated with the mining industry, Copperbelt province had the highest population (1.6m) and the highest proportion (75%) of urban population, while Northwestern province had the lowest population (580 000) and also the lowest urban proportion (12%). Copperbelt province also exhibits some of the highest population densities in the country, estimated at about 50 persons per square kilometer, while Northwestern province is the lowest with just 5 persons per square kilometer although this is increasing fast, almost doubling between 1980 and 2000 (Govt Zambia CSO, 2000).

Table 1. Summary of characteristics of study districts
Characteristic	Mufulira –Copperbelt Province	Kabompo – Northwestern Province
Type of forest	Miombo, mostly degraded, except on some state forests	Pristine miombo, little signs of deforestation
Important forest products	Firewood, Charcoal, mushroom, fruits, caterpillars	Firewood, timber, honey, fruits, mushroom, caterpillars, bushmeat, thatching grass
Traded forest products	Charcoal, mushroom, fruits, caterpillars	Honey, timber, thatching grass
Distance to nearest town	21 km	365 km

Access road	Villages less than 5 km from tarred road	Gravel road, in deplorable state during rains
Pressure on resources	High population density, 50ppkm² high incidence of encroachment on forest reserves	Low population density, 5 ppkm², little apparent competition for resources
Agro-ecological conditions	High rainfall, (>1200mm), acidic sandy soils	High rainfall, (>1500mm), Kalahari sands
Institutional setup	State structures allocate resources, externally-driven development related formations, no traditional structures	Traditional structures dominate, chief makes key decisions in resource allocation, externally-driven development related formations, parallel state structures but hardly influence resource allocation.

In Zambia, chronic poverty is widespread. According to a 1998 Central Statistical Office (CSO) survey report (CSO Living Conditions Monitoring Survey, LCMS, 1998), 73% of the population is classified as poor, of this 50% is extremely poor^⁹. The acute levels of poverty are more concentrated in rural areas where up to 83% of the population is classified as poor (compared with 56% in urban), while 71% of these are extremely poor. Provincial patterns are more or less the same, with the less developed provinces exhibiting higher incidences of poverty. As is the case in other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, female-headed households are highly vulnerable due to low asset endowment and the generally disempowering socio-economic circumstances (Campbell et al., 2002). About 19.5% of households in Zambia’s rural areas are female-head (17.6% in urban) and of these 93% are poor and 85% are extremely poor (Govt of Zambia CSO, 1998).
Agro-ecology and natural resources

Both study sites are located on Zambia’s Northern Zone III high rainfall ecological belt covering Northern Luapula, Copperbelt and Northwestern provinces. This region is part of the Central African plateau which is characterized by high average annual precipitation of 1200 mm and above and has a growing season of up to 190 days. The high rainfall has resulted in considerable leaching, resulting in highly acidic sandy soils which limit crops that can be grown in this area. The main vegetation type is miombo woodland with Brachystegia and Julbernardia as the dominant species. A wide range of timber and non-timber products from these woodlands provide households with energy for heating and cooking, food, medicines and structural materials for construction.

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