By DUNCAN KONDWANI KALICHINI –

THE Kafue is named after the very river that dissects it almost north through south. The Kafue is the largest tributary of the mighty Zambezi and is the only truly Zambian river (that is it begins and ends within the borders of the country).

It is a large river, broad and unhurried in places, interspersed with fast flowing rapids, home to otters and hippo, and sand islands with colonies of skimmers and basking crocodiles.

The Kafue River is home to many flora and fauna and if these negative effects are not properly addressed they will lead to the distortion of the fresh water ecosystem.

The use of the dam involves competition and complementation among these; wildlife, capture fisheries, angling as a sport, agricultural purposes, industrial purposes, tourism, hydropower, commercial fish farming, and water supply to households.

1. WILDLIFE

Kafue River is an important habitat for a large variety of animals and plants. These include fish, amphibians, birds, insects, invertebrates, and reptiles that live in this river, or find their food there. The river plays a vital role in connecting habitats, and their value to plants and animals extends far beyond the surface area they cover.

The hydroelectric power plant has brought about the setup of power cables which may cause danger to the birds. Activities such as agriculture and industrialisation have caused decline in wildlife.

2. TOURISM

Tourism – one of Zambia’s most promising and fastest-growing industries is based on wildlife and water supply for recreation.

Wildlife and waterfalls are some of the major tourist attractions in Zambia hence putting the country on the map as one of best tourist destination.

Tourism is a source of income for government revenues and the local community benefit from tourist.

Despite its benefits, tourism has negatively impacted the freshwater ecosystem by the development of structures such as hotels and pleasure resorts hence increasing sewage which may cause eutrophication, which leads to oxygen depletion.

Tourism has also lead pollution for instance the throwing of non-biodegradable substances such as plastics and cans that may injure or kill fish.

3. CAPTURE FISHERIES

This is the harvesting of fish from natural bodies of water. Usually the fish captured is for sale but mainly for home consumption.

Although it is a source of food and income to local people, it has led to over fishing due to bad methods of fishing such as the use of mosquito nets and fish poisoning.

Due to poverty levels and ignorance the fish ban is not observed hence endangering fish species which may cause a disturbance in the food chain.

4. COMMERCIAL FISH FARMING

 Commercial fish farming is also known as aquaculture, is the raising of fish for consumption but for business purposes and can either be done on ponds or in door fish tanks ,it accounts for half for the fish consumed as there has been an increase in the demand for fish protein and fish leading to over fishing.

Fish farming is a source of income for foreign exchange when exported. It is done in closed proximity which makes it easy for virus infestation diseases.

Effluents from the farm may contain antibiotics or chemicals used to treat the fish and some infected fish may escape to the other water bodies.

5. HYDROPOWER PRODUCTION

The Kafue Gorge Dam which is a power source for Zesco generates most of the power used nationwide.

The government benefits from this in terms of foreign exchange when it exports to the neighboring countries.

When the spill way gates are opened the water flows with a high velocity promoting oxygen diffusion which is important for aquatic organisms.

It enables a clean and non-polluting production of electricity which is eco-friendly.

Despite all these benefits the super saturation is danger to fish going over the dam from the spill gates which may expose the fish to nitrogen causing death.

It also leads to loss of riparian vegetation which may cause displacing of organisms that leave on them.

6. WATER SUPPLY TO HOUSEHOLDS

It has being estimated that a greater percentage of water is used for household purposes such as; gardening, drinking water, bathing, cooking, sanitation etc.

The supplying of water is done by the

sewerage companies such as nkana Sewerage Company. People leaving around the river pollute the water hence killing fish.

Due to the high demand of water supply to households there is less water to run the turbines hence leading to load shading.

On the other hand it helps to regulate the water level in times of floods. Because of its size and geographic location, the Kafue River basin is an ecosystem that provides services and support to communities and industries that have different and sometimes conflicting interests in usage of the river resources.

In 1999, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) initiated dialogue between Zesco and local people to restore a more natural flow pattern to water releases from the Itezhi-tezhi dam built on the Kafue River.

This project heavily influenced development of Zambian Government policy on water resources. In February 2010, the Zambian Cabinet approved a revised National Water policy that “aims to improve water resources management by establishing institutional coordination, engaging in modern methods of integrated water resource management while decentralising government policy to address diverse interests within the water sector.

Despite the initiatives, management of the river basin resources remains a challenge.

For effective participation in governance, good governance practices should exist between the local government institutions that manage resources and non-state actors.

A review done by The Water Resources Action Program (WRAP) to implement water sector reform noticed weak linkages between institutions, lack of legislation and policy in managing water resources, and that local communities are not well informed about water management and planning, thus their participation is lacking.

Among all users of the Kafue River Basin, the local communities are most marginalised in the decision-making and governance processes yet they have the strongest cultural and economic links to the river basin.

Leveling the playing field in participatory governance by increasing access to information and equating all decisions among stakeholders should increase participation from non-state actors, and make the decisions more impartial.

Zambia faces the challenge of translating aspects of international governance into workable solutions due, to resource constraints and entrenched interests that make it difficult for policy change to be effective.

Horizontal governance cannot be successful without the political will to reform the external environment which is market driven and places emphasis on property rights against traditional community rights.

Share with us your experiences, comments and recommendations. Send emails to wildlifemgtsociety@gmail.com  or duncankalichini@gmail.com