Chibanga
Chibanga is a village located in the Central Province of Zambia, Kabwe Rural. It is located 35km east of Kabwe, and has a population of 9,005. Chibanga has more challenges than most rural communities. The villagers do not have access to safe and clean drinking water and have to draw water from a nearby stream, which often dries up post rainy season. There is no clinic nearby and the nearest health centre is 40 km away, a four hour walk for a healthy adult. The dirt roads leading towards the village became impassable by vehicle during the rainy season.
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" I used to worry about rainfall a lot. If my crops failed, it meant I could not feed my family and struggled to buy the inputs for next year’s field. Having access to insurance is something I am very excited about." — Doreen of Chibanga. Doreen is a mother to five children and grandmother to seven. |
Insurance Project
Given Zua’s mission to limit agricultural risk for low-income farmers, we will be providing rainfall insurance to combat the impacts of weather volatility that has had debilitating effects on so many of the farmers, like Doreen, in this village over the past decade. Most of the community relies on agriculture as a source of income, and is incredibly vulnerable to weather-related shocks. Zua is set to launch a new project in the community of Chibanga, Zambia ahead of this year’s growing season.
Loan Project
In some cases, there can be pertinent risks faced by farmers which require microfinance solutions in addition to microinsurance. One of these cases can be seen in Chibanga. When interviewing female farmers about the largest risks that impacted their crop yield, we were surprised by many of their answers. In addition to the more typical rainfall, insect, and weed-based concerns, many of them worried about how long it would take the men they hired to plough their fields to successfully complete the job.
Given how physically demanding ploughing is, many of the female farmers in Chibanga are dependent on men and owners of oxen to plough the majority of their fields for them. Despite being paid upfront and on-time, many of these men prioritize ploughing their own fields and their friends’ before that of their female clients, often resulting in these women having to plant their seeds late and thereby limiting their final crop yield.
Given how physically demanding ploughing is, many of the female farmers in Chibanga are dependent on men and owners of oxen to plough the majority of their fields for them. Despite being paid upfront and on-time, many of these men prioritize ploughing their own fields and their friends’ before that of their female clients, often resulting in these women having to plant their seeds late and thereby limiting their final crop yield.
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“This harvest season has been a disaster for me, my crops have failed. I planted my seeds two months late as the people I hired to prepare my field delayed and did not come until December 23rd. Even if I tried to plough by hand, I would not have been able to plough enough land to even survive on. I think people take advantage of me.” — Elizabeth of Chibanga. Elizabeth is a mother to eight children and grandmother to twenty. |
Women like Elizabeth have grown frustrated with the risk of low crop yields that results from planting too late into the season. This risk is one that we are working to limit by providing a loan to a group of seven women to purchase a pair of oxen and a plough that will be shared amongst them. Having access to their own oxen and plough will enable them to plough their fields on time, eliminating the risk posed to their final harvest by the lateness of hired help. Alongside this loan, we will be providing insurance for the maize crop of these women, as well as other maize farmers in the community, to protect them from extreme drought and flooding.
Katuba
Katuba is a rural village located in Central Zambia. It has a population of approximately 7,634 people. It is located 26km from Kabwe, the nearest city. The residents in Katuba are heavily dependent on small-scale agriculture for survival. This year we will begin to offer low-cost rainfall insurance to local farmers, in order to help them deal with weather-related shocks. In cases of flooding and droughts, the insurance product will compensate them for the cost of failed crops, thereby playing a key role in ensuring their livelihoods and survival of the farmers and their families in face of failed harvests.
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"Farming is a hard job. We worry about weeds and insects. But the biggest worry of all is rainfall. Droughts and floods are becoming more frequent and we have no control over rain and weather. It’s very worrisome as a person who farms to support my three children and I am very much interested in insurance to protect me from these weather risks!" — Lydia of Katuba. Lydia is a mother of three. |