The World Bank has commended the Government’s implementation of climate resilience projects.

World Bank Task Team Leads Ms. Nathalie Weier Johnson and Ms. Ngao Mubanga expressed the Bank’s satisfaction during a virtual debrief with Ministry of Green Economy and Environment Ms. John Msimuko at the start the World Bank Implementation Support Mission this week.

Ms. Johnson and Ms. Mubanga expressed satisfaction with the manner the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR) being implemented in Western Province including Kazungula District of Southern Province. The World Bank expressed optimism to replicate the climate resilient project in other parts of the country and modelled on the successes of the PPCR. The Bank also commended the implementation of the new project – Transforming Landscapes for Resilience and Development in Zambia (TRALARD) which is being implemented in Luapula, Muchinga and Northern Provinces.

The Permanent Secretary welcomed the World Bank Implementation Support Mission and assured the team of the Zambia Government support.

Mr. Msimuko was impressed with the World Bank expression of satisfaction with the implementation of the PPCR funded project namely the Strengthening Climate Resilience in the Barotse Sub-basin (SCReBS), which is progressively winding down as it closes in December 2022.

“The project will close on a successful note as Government is assured that the Project Development Objective will be successfully met,” said Mr. Msimuko. “The SCReBS Project has 12 Indictors, of which 9 are successfully achieved, however the other indicators could not be attained as they were beyond the project scope.”

He said a total of 1,366 sub-projects have been completed out of 1,659 that were funded, representing an overall completion rate of 82 per cent, and that all remaining sub-projects will be fully implemented and closed out in the remaining time between 4th quarter 2021 and end of first quarter of 2022.

The Permanent Secretary also highlighted the progress that was being made under the TRALARD project in Muchinga, Luapula and Northern Provinces. He expressed optimism that the TRALARD Project will transform people’s lives and contribute to mitigation and adaptation to the effects of climate change.

Mr. Msimuko assured the World Bank that the New Government attaches great importance to addressing climate change challenges, environmental degradation and deforestation.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Green Economy and Environment Hon. Collins Nzovu, in the company of Mr. Msimuko, had held a meeting with Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) Director General Dr. Frank Rijisberman and Director Strategic Partnership Dr. Mahamadou Tounkara on the sideline of the COP26 Conference in Glasgow in Scotland before return to Lusaka.

During the meeting, Zambia reaffirmed its commitment to become a member of the GGGI and to benefit from the treaty-based inter-governmental international development in the country’s efforts to combat climate change.

The two parties agreed to speed up the ratification of Zambia membership process, which is expected to conclude in the first quarter of 2022. In the meantime, GGGI assured that it was ready to help Zambia with technical assistance that would kick start the process of developing a Green Growth Strategy, development engagement strategy for the Private Sector, Civil Society and Academia and most importantly the Financing Vehicle for Climate Change.

Zambia will, therefore, as a matter of urgency pursue GGGI’s offer of technical assistance to help commence the development of Green Growth Strategy.

At present there are two projects that GGGI and Zambia are working on together, namely the Readiness Proposal under the Green Climate Fund and the International Climate Initiative supported by the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

United Kingdom (UK) High Commissioner to Zambia Nicholas Woolley has hailed the United Party for National Development (UPND) government for what he terms as satisfying 2022 National budget.

Mr Nickolas says the budget has clearly reflected the UPND manifesto as promised during the 2021 general election.

The High Commissioner was speaking when he paid a courtesy call on Republican Vice President WK Mutale Nalumango at her office in Lusaka today.

And the Vice President expressed gratitude to the UK for several aid that has been rendered to Zambia in an ongoing bilateral cooperation between the two commonwealth countries, adding that the new administration is willing to strengthen the relationship even further for the benefit of the general citizenry.

And British Deputy High Commissioner to Zambia, Will Eckersley emphasized on the need by the Zambian government to prepare for a possible disastrous drought.

The duo further praised President Hakainde Hichilema’s maturity and personal charisma during their interactions in the just ended Cop26 summit in Glasgow.

Others who attended the courtesy call included Head of Economic growth and prosperity, Serah Bloom, Steven Bickers and Ben Powis, Second Secretary Political and Head of Governance and Political Development respectively.

It’s not always that solutions will lie in other countries who were in a similar situation and have changed it or are changing it. Sometimes better solutions lie in our communities right here at home. That is why before the government can look elsewhere, they need to take surveys within local communities to try and find out if there are working solutions being implemented on a small scale.

It’s human nature to always strive to find solutions to our problems. We live in a country where interest rates from banks are high for most SMEs to cope with. This creates a barrier for people having SMEs to access the much needed capital to enable them to graduate from one level to another. With so many requirements, restrictions and paper work, banks are perceived to be nightmares for most informal businesses and service providers, more especially people with little or no education.

This however hasn’t stopped people affected by this situation from looking for solutions to their problems. In my normal routines of trying to find practical solutions to problems which communities are facing, I found out that one of the most successful programs offering loan schemes and savings is the Silk Program. This program is well known in communities and more prevalent among women doing business. It has improved a lot businesses of participants and testimonies are everywhere. If this program was to be adopted and implemented at a national scale, it would change a lot of people’s lives and would stand to be the best tool to fight poverty in our communities for the informal sector.

How the program works.

TRAINING
Unlike banks, whenever a group of women want to start the silk program, they hire a specialist to teach them how the whole program works. The teacher gives them all the information they need, from saving to loaning and annual cash outs. They monitor the program throughout the year and assists participants in terms of sharing the money at the end of the yeah. The program is very simple because unlike banks, you don’t need passport sized photos, a recommendation from anywhere, affidavit and all the unnecessary requirements which banks ask for.

LEDGER BOOK
There is a ledger book which is very well documented where all the activities are recorded. All the savings, loans, loan payments and balances are recorded in the ledger book.

SAVINGS
The Silk program starts with savings, everyone plegdes the amount they will be saving every after 7 days according to their capacity. Every after 7 days the beneficiaries gather and cash in their savings. This money never goes to the bank, it remains with a designated individual from the group.

LOANS
The way the loan scheme is is that you cannot get more than you have served. So if you want to get a bigger loan, then you need to serve more. After assembling and cashing in, anyone who wants to get a loan is given an opportunity to do so.

INTEREST
When someone gets a loan, the money is returned with an interest. The interest is a percentage which is agreed upon by the members according to their capacity. It’s usually not big. The interets paid by the people getting loads adds to the money which is shared at the end of the year.

CASH OUTS
After savings have been made and loans have been paid, every year, the beneficiaries do what is called the cash out. This is simply withdrawing all the money and then starting the program afresh. This gives a chance to the members to remove those participants who had been problematic either by not submitting savings or not returning loaned money.

CONCLUSION
This program is not a theory but is providing practical solutions in our communities. I recommend that the government, local leaders and private institutions take keen interest in the program.

By David Chishimba
Association Of Unemployed Youths President.