Zambia: programs & priorities

ChildFund Australia's affiliate organisation in Zambia has been helping children and families in the country since 1983, and currently assists over half a million children and their family members. ChildFund in Zambia's main development priorities are in the areas of basic healthcare, nutrition, sanitation, micro-enterprise, education and early childhood development programs,

As in many developing countries, childbirth places newborns and mothers at great risk in Zambia. Here, 75 out of every 10,000 women die in pregnancy or childbirth. ChildFund in Zambia is addressing this problem with its Safe Motherhood Program, which ensures access to healthcare facilities for prenatal visits, emergencies and births. Participants are given vitamin supplements, as are babies and children under the age of five years.

Due to the incidences of natural disaster among rural communities, ChildFund in Zambia operates an emergency supplementary feeding program for malnourished children under age five years, and has also established farmers' cooperatives to give communities greater levels of food security.

The prevention and treatment of malaria is also a major focus of ChildFund in Zambia's work.

Development in progress

Many families in the Chongwe district of Zambia struggle to provide for themselves or for their children. The main source of income is farming but a severe lack of crops and farming knowledge means many young people in the community face incredible challenges. Desperately low incomes mean that the basic necessities of life, such as nutritious food are out of reach, malnutrition in children is a real threat and financial futures are uncertain.

ChildFund in Zambia launched a program focusing on farming development and education for young people in Zambia. Our Youth Farming Program provides sustainable solutions for income generation and reduces poverty and hunger for generations of children to come.

The Youth Farming Program is currently giving 1,000 young farmers sustainable resources such as chicks, vegetable seed, soya beans and groundnuts. It also provides training on crop rotation, as well as essential farming resources such as water tanks and pumps. This program will help young Zambian farmers to look after themselves, provide for their families and enrich their community.