Oxfam's work in Zambia in depth

Oxfam began working in Zambia in 1980. Since then, we have responded to natural disasters as well as to political, economic, and social changes. We work mostly with partners in rural areas.

Oxfam’s aim in Zambia is to help poor, marginalised, and often powerless communities to make the changes that will help them to permanently leave poverty and suffering behind. Oxfam is careful to make certain that people have a say in the decisions that affect their lives.

These are Oxfam’s main programmes in Zambia, based in Southern, Western and Copperbelt Provinces:

Rural livelihoods

Work at community level involves helping people to diversify the crops they grow, and the livestock they rear. This work also covers:

• animal restocking;
• production and processing;
• technology training;
• water-harvesting;
• small-scale irrigation schemes;
• land access and use;
• improving access to markets;
• business skills;
• income generation and small loans.

Disaster preparedness and response

Closely linked to livelihoods, we build community, district, and national capacity to predict, cope, and recover from disasters.

The focus is on community-preparedness through the development and training of Disaster Management and Mitigation Committees (DMMCs) in early warning, disaster-preparedness, targeting and co-ordination of emergency responses.

At national level, we support the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU), increasing its ability to co-ordinate responses.

We seek to influence policy on food aid, and security, and campaign for government and donor funding to improve disaster preparedness at district level. We also influence the use of standards such as the Sphere standards.

Humanitarian response

The effects of the drought in 2004/05 are threatening the lives of three million Zambians.

We are working in the Western Province to help minimise hunger due to the impact of the 04/05 drought. We are also improving people's ability to make a living and reduce vulnerability, so that future food disasters are averted.

We are co-ordinating response efforts to reach the most affected areas, and most vulnerable people;

• training farmers in methods to irrigate their fields, the use of drought-resistant crops, and conservation of the environment;
• helping households to save water for dry periods;
• and improving water and sanitation provision to reduce the incidence of water-borne diseases.

At community level we seek to promote a livelihoods approach to implement a recovery project in Western Province. This aims to help communities to diversify their crops, increase local level seed production, and implement water-harvesting techniques. These are all ways of helping households and communities to cope with shocks that increase their vulnerabilities.

Public health

We are focusing on safe drinking-water supply, sanitation, and water for livelihoods in rural communities. Oxfam trains, and engages village and district hygiene committees in leadership, water resource management, and public-health hygiene-education for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.

At district level, we will work with District Health Teams, water departments, and local authorities in rural water supply and sanitation.

At national level, we engage with rural water supply and sanitation policy reform.

HIV and AIDS and Gender

Oxfam promotes and provides equitable access to prevention, treatment, and care services to destitute and vulnerable households and contributes to changing perceptions of HIV/AIDS through appropriate messages.

We work at community, district, and national level; building the capacity of District AIDS Task Forces (DATFs), households, and other partners, to provide better co-ordination, prevention, treatment and care, including Home-Based Care (HBC) services.

We seek to influence funding policy, and co-ordination of HIV/AIDS programmes at a national level. We are involved in piloting a comprehensive HBC framework. We are also working to ensure HIV/AIDS is taken into account in all our livelihoods work.

Social protection

Oxfam focuses on social assistance to vulnerable, incapacitated, and destitute households.

The project seeks the enactment of a Social Protection Policy by the end of 2006, and provides support for social welfare for HIV and AIDS-affected households, orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs), elderly and landless people, among other destitute people.

We provide support for vulnerability assessments and analysis to ensure appropriate targeting and adherence to humanitarian standards.

Last updated: February 2006