VZCZCXRO3459
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHLS #0839/01 3240426
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 200426Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY LUSAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7451
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 LUSAKA 000839 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/S, PRM/AFR, CA/OCS/ACS/AF 
 
PROGRAM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON PGOV PREF PREL KWMN CASC SOCI ZA AO
 
SUBJECT: Ambassador's Tour d'Western Horizon 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Zambia's Central and Western provinces offer 
great capacity for growth and development but continue to struggle 
with a lack of good governance, deficiencies in infrastructure, and 
the unresolved status of refugees.  Ambassador met with Amcit 
entrepreneurs and activists, local leaders, and refugees and 
highlighted USG health and education initiatives via media outreach 
in the region October 27-29.  End summary. 
 
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American Firm is Largest Micro-Financer in Zambia 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Located in Mumbwa, Central Province, the American-owned 
Dunavant Cotton Gin buys cotton entirely from small-scale Zambian 
farmers, providing much-needed capital in the region and employment 
for 36 permanent and 340 seasonal workers.  Dunavant is the largest 
ginner in Zambia, providing 100,000 Zambian farmers with quality 
control training and input financing, making it the largest 
micro-financer in the country.  The company's technical director 
expressed frustration to Ambassador that Chinese competitors do not 
provide micro-financing but will then buy up cotton from farmers who 
received input financing from Dunavant.  Dunavant is pressing for a 
Cotton Act that would require all ginneries to make input loans in 
order to promote expanded production. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The company has partnered with the Gates Foundation to 
support farmer training.  Falling cotton prices have led to a 
decrease in production to 100,000 tons of seed cotton - half of what 
it was in 2005, the technical director remarked.  Nevertheless, he 
noted, Dunavant is working aggressively to win farmers back to 
cotton production, promoting the marketing label "Cotton Made in 
Africa." 
 
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Mayukwauykwa Refugee Camp - Laboring On 
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¶4. (SBU) The oldest refugee camp in Zambia, Mayukwayukwa houses over 
9,000 Angolans, along with approximately 300 Congolese, 100 
Rwandans, and 100 Burundians.  The camp resembles a typical Zambian 
village rather than an organized camp.  Many of the ostensibly 
Angolan inhabitants, some of whom are the children and grandchildren 
of Angolan refugees who first arrived in the late 1960s, have little 
knowledge of or connection to Angola.  The Ambassador witnessed 
UNHCR-supported programs that provide agriculture and other job 
training, and a skit performed by camp youth that educates people 
about gender-based violence and human trafficking.  Inhabitants 
struggle with sub-standard housing during the rainy season and a 
lack of employment options given the tight restrictions on passes to 
leave the camp.  While relations between refugees and local Zambians 
are generally amicable, during a later meeting with the Ambassador, 
the Provincial Permanent Secretary blamed the refugees for bringing 
diseased animals into Zambia and thus ruining the cattle-raising 
industry in Western Province. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Ambassador met with a group of about 100 refugees who 
will be returning to Angola by the end of this year.  One refugee 
noted he was encouraged to return after hearing from the Angolan 
ambassador in Zambia that the country is now safe.  (Note: Although 
the Angolan civil war ended in 2002, refugees lack hard information 
about the situation they would face upon return to eastern Angola). 
The Embassy's joint press release with UNHCR, noting USG support for 
refugee programs and the need to find a permanent solution for the 
refugees, received favorable press coverage. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
Mongu Amcits - Grateful for Attention, Critical of Provincial 
Government 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶6. (SBU)The American community in Mongu comprises priests and nuns 
in the Roman Catholic church, Baptist missionaries, and young adults 
working for NGOs, including the daughter of a U.S. Congressman and 
the daughter of a U.S. Senator's senior staffer.  The community 
expressed great appreciation for the Ambassador's visit to the 
remote area, for the Embassy's consular assistance in past medical 
emergencies involving American citizens, and for the Embassy's work 
in development projects.  Vice Consul briefed the community on the 
Consular Section's new outreach efforts and assisted several 
citizens with registering as overseas voters.  Long-time Amcit 
residents noted that the local police are more problem than help, 
and reported that corruption is rampant in the area. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Ambassador met separately with Amcit Catholic Bishop Paul 
 
LUSAKA 00000839  002 OF 003 
 
 
Duffy, who is outspoken on issues of governance and corruption. 
(Note: The Roman Catholic Church plays a prominent role in 
provincial development projects, partnering with the U.S. African 
Development Foundation (USADF), and promoting press freedom through 
Catholic-owned Radio Liseli.  End note).  Duffy confided that many 
Zambian bureaucrats and community leaders have encouraged him to 
keep speaking out when they are unable to do so for fear of 
retribution.  He opined that Western Province must be the most 
corrupt province in Zambia.  "If it is not," he said, "Zambia is in 
real trouble."  As an example of corruption in the province, he 
cited the 65 bore holes paid for by the government as the first step 
in a development of a new commercial farm bloc, but none of which, 
upon field inspection, could be found. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Duffy noted that women have few opportunities in the 
province under patriarchal Lozi tribal society.  Turning to the 
refugee camp where he is active, he lamented that everyone born in 
Zambia gets citizenship except children of refugees -- even children 
of Zambian mothers and refugee fathers do not get citizenship. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) In a Radio Liseli interview conducted by a Fulbright 
nominee, the Ambassador highlighted USG health and education 
initiatives in the region as well as the importance of good 
government. The station manager of Radio Liseli noted at a separate 
meeting that the station has also highlighted corruption issues, 
even at the risk of displeasure from the provincial government. 
 
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Senanga District Clinic - Successful Community Involvement in PMTCT 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The Ambassador visited the Nanjuca rural health center in 
Senanga District and officially handed over a laboratory provided by 
the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through a 
co-operative agreement between U.S. Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention (CDC) and the Western Province medical office of the 
Ministry of Health.  This laboratory serves the local community 
(population 5,419) as well as distant surrounding areas and is an 
example of decentralized strengthening of the health system to 
improve quality of care, especially for HIV, TB, and malaria.  The 
HIV prevalence among adults 15-49 in Western Province is 15.2%, 
which is higher than the national average of 14.3%.  The Ambassador 
stressed the need for community leadership to strengthen HIV 
prevention.  Through an innovative program led by local area chiefs 
(indunas) and the facility health committee, the rate of testing of 
male partners of pregnant women increased from 36% in the first 
quarter to 83.6% in the third quarter, strengthening the impact of 
the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) program. 
 
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Agriculture Potential Unmet 
--------------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Local interlocutors noted that Western Province has very 
fertile ground but agricultural production is far below potential. 
Mango trees grow abundantly, but there is insufficient 
infrastructure to get the produce to markets outside the province. 
Likewise, cashew nuts are plentiful in the province, but the one 
cashew-processing factory closed down a few years ago following 
privatization of the parastatal company.  Capitalizing on a common 
belief that rice from Mongu tastes better than other rice, a 
USADF-funded project with the Diocese of Mongu Development Center 
(DMDC) is helping to develop the Mongu Rice brand.  It is currently 
sold in Lusaka and elsewhere in Zambia at a small premium over other 
rice, and the company has received interest from buyers in the 
Democratic Republic of Congo.  The USG contributes over USD 1 
million to support rice production in Zambia.  [Comment: Ironically, 
the DMDC is seeking to begin rice-polishing as a way to add value to 
the output, even though in doing so, a less healthy product is 
produced for consumption.  Wealthier Zambians tend to perceive more 
highly processed foods as a mark of development.  End comment].  The 
DMDC noted that local farmers could have a second season of rice 
production in the dry season, but only with significant investment 
in irrigation. 
 
¶12. (SBU) USAID funds a number of projects in Western Province aimed 
at increasing agricultural output and reducing the area's exposure 
to natural disasters.  The Ambassador toured a project to clear 
colonial-era canals built by the Lozi Royal Establishment when the 
province was still known as Barotseland.  The cleared canals will 
reduce flood risk and open up 2600 hectares of farmland.  At the 
same time, USAID projects train farmers in organic farming, using 
manure and natural insect repellents such as shallots in place of 
chemicals. 
 
LUSAKA 00000839  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
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Westward Expansion 
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¶13. Comment: Projects such as the DMDC Mongu Rice cooperative and 
Dunavant Cotton Gin highlight the region's agricultural potential. 
Likewise, the Nanjuca Rural Health Center shows how a relatively 
small investment in local health can pay significant dividends. 
However, progress in Western Province is hindered by poor 
governance, a lack of infrastructure, and the unresolved status of 
long-term refugees.  End comment. 
 
 
YY 
BOOTH