Monday, February 22, 2010

‘Human activities have led to changes in weather pattern’

‘Human activities have led to changes in weather pattern’
By Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone
Mon 22 Feb. 2010, 03:48 CAT

LIVINGSTONE district commissioner Francis Chika has said human activities have led to changes in the weather pattern, resulting in droughts.

Speaking on Friday when Professional Insurance handed over 1,200 posters on climate change and nutrition to the government for distribution to Southern Province schools, Chika said the provision of education required concerted efforts from all stakeholders.

“As education is critical to national development, my government attaches a lot of importance to programmes that are deliberately tailored to empower the citizenry through the provision of information. The two areas you have focused on of climate change and nutrition have taken centre stage worldwide,” Chika said. “This is so as human activity has led to changes in the weather pattern that have resulted in, among other things, droughts that have led to malnutrition and deaths.”

He said the effects of human activities on climate could not be overemphasised.

“We have taken interventions aimed at mitigating the damaging effects that human activity exerts on the environment and your approach which targets children at a tender age should be commended,” Chika said.

He said the Ministry of Education last year launched the school health month in order to raise awareness on the importance of health and nutrition among learners in schools.

“The school health and nutrition programme which was initially introduced in Eastern Province has now been scaled up to all the nine provinces. The month of July has been set aside to specifically commemorate this important event,” he said.

Chika said the government appreciated the efforts the private sector were putting in to complement the government policies and programs which were aimed at ensuring a healthy and educated nation.

And Professional Insurance Livingstone manager Edger Nyemba said the organisation spent about K250 million to print and distribute the posters throughout Zambia.

“We have decided to partner with government in terms of sensitising children on the importance of good and appropriate nutrition and the value of good traditional food. We are happy with what is happening in your government through the Ministry of Education in this regard and we are cognizant of the tremendous strides you have made in promoting good and appropriate nutrition through education,” he said.

Nyemba commended the teachers for their tremendous job, which they had continued to do in the development of the country.

Nyemba said the 1,200 posters on climate change, nutrition and value of good traditional food would be distributed to 400 basic schools in the province.

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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Zambians are not utilising their talent, says L/stone DC

Zambians are not utilising their talent, says L/stone DC
By Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone
Tue 19 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT

LIVINGSTONE District Commissioner Francis Chika says that Zambians have not utilised their talents to earn a living and sustain their future, despite being highly talented.

During the opening ceremony for the Business Skills Training workshop for Southern Province based artists at Chapa Classic Lodge; Chika said that Zambians lacked exposure in vital skills such as starting a business.

"Zambia is one country which is endowed with rich talented cadre of people in various arts. However, it is a pity that not all of them have utilised this talent not only to earn a living but to sustain their entire future. This is due to lack of exposure in vital skills such as starting a business, developing a business plan, costing and pricing and indeed marketing," he said.

He thanked the Finnish government for making available 52,500 Euros (about K357 million) to cater for the countrywide training workshops.

" Countries that appreciate and invest in their own culture also advance in development. I would like to assure you that Zambia is not lagging behind in far as this concept is concerned. The Fifth National Development Plan FNDP has also prioritised investment in arts and culture. It is for this reason that here in Livingstone, government is constructing Maramba Cultural Village specifically to be the venue for production and marketing the arts with a view for sustainable human development and preservation of our cultural heritage," said Chika.

And International Labour Organisation (ILO) Broad Based Wealth and Job Creation senior technical advisor, Jealous Chirove said the ILO through a project - Strengthening Creative Industries in Zambia - is looking at turning the arts into an industry, which could create job and generate foreign exchange.
He said the project would train about 180 artists.

"We look at artists and creative arts as an industry which can lead to the creation of jobs and foreign exchange earnings. Our target is to train 20 artists from each province with the support of the Finnish government," he said.

Chirove added that the project would also endeavour to link artists to other programmes such as financing programmes such as the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC).

"Any business expansion needs financing, so we need to link our trainees to other on going programmes in the country so that they can access financing such as the CEEC," said Chirove.

And National Arts Council (NAC) assistant director Adrian Chipindi said the training programme had caused chaos among the artists and there was need to train more.
"We have a lot of artists so when we train 20 like in Lusaka, we create chaos because there are many more who need training," said Chipindi.

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