Maravi

Zambians failing to manage natural resources

Zambians failing to manage natural resources
By Mukosha Funga
Mon 09 July 2012, 13:22 CAT

CHIEF Chibesakunda of the Bemba people in Chinsali says Zambians have failed to identify bottlenecks in the development process owing to poor mindsets despite almost fifty years of independence.

And Zambia Community Based Natural Resource Management Forum has adopted a stock-taking report for Zambia in the hope of promoting wildlife, natural resource conservation and rural development.

In an interview during the CBNRM stakeholders meeting in Lusaka last Thursday, chief Chibesakunda said Zambians are failing to manage natural resources for their own benefit.

"If these resources were meant for the Chinese or the Europeans, why weren't these resources put in China or Europe? But they are in Zambia. As Zambians, are we benefitting from the copper? Our young people are not employed and when we mine these resources, we are not adding value to them," he said.

"We are selling them as raw materials to the Chinese and they just start piling... Does it make sense that we should export raw copper to China and import solar panels? It is through adding value that we are going to create jobs."

Chief Chibesakunda said other regional countries had streamlined community-based natural resource management as a development tool for rural areas. "We need to start having deliberate policies that are going to ensure that jobs are created in this country and it must start from the communities because it is these poor communities that have these resources around them," he said.

"For example, every year when it rains, we have a lot of mushrooms that spring up. How much of that mushroom is adding value to the quality of life?"

Chief Chibesakunda cited Namibia as one of the countries that was developing through benefits derived from its wildlife resources. "The communities have this sense of ownership. They know the importance of that resource. The wildlife population is surpassing the beef population. Namibia is traditionally a beef economy but now a lot of them have gone into wildlife ranching. We hope to get to a place where Namibia is because our wildlife is on the decline, because you call the owner of that resource a poacher," said chief Chibesakunda.

Labels: CHIEF CHIBESAKUNDA, MINING

posted by MrK @ 1:54 PM