Zambia - Oakland Institute

led redundancies, farm closure/seizure, or land use
changes) that many laborers stay behind to farm the
land in that area.
LOSS OF ACCESS TO LAND, MARKETS, AND PUBLIC
SERVICES
Many large farms have portions of their land area
fenced off – whether the land is being farmed or not,
restricting access to local people. Even if local people
are not displaced, enclosure of areas limits traditional
paths and routes of access, and in many cases
dramatically increases the amount of time to get to
desired areas and services such as schools, clinics, etc.
In some cases access to land is lost all together (in the
case of many grazing areas, forests, or wetlands being
completely enclosed within fenced off plantations. This
can result in decreased school enrolment and access
to health care as well as loss of various important
resources such as wood and fodder. This particularly
impacts women, who most often use transportation
routes to water points (laundry, drinking, cooking, etc.)
and are the primary care givers and child rearers.
An example is the ETC Bioenergy’s 55,000 ha farm (of
which only 8,000 ha is currently under cultivation),
which has cut off access to critical infrastructure. The
displaced communities are on the outer edge of the
farm while schools and other communal facilities are
on the other side resulting in a circuitous route to
reach school, with many students no longer attending.
In addition, there are two other large farms adjacent
to ETC’s farm (65,000 ha DA International Farms and
38,000 ha Sumwu Farms - both of which are largely
idle) that have long been rumored for amalgamation
which could further restrict access (to school and to
grazing areas in particular). To further local frustration,
some of the areas that are fenced off do not appear to
be being used at this time, and there are concerns that
these companies are engaged in land speculation. 149
The June 2011 announcement by Zambeef that it seeks
funds to purchase, among other things, “123,550 acres
of prime farming land in Zambia, currently owned by
ETC Bio-Energy” lends credence to this speculation. 150
Other examples of this exist along the Zambezi and
Kafue rivers where game lodges and agricultural
development has led to a significant loss of riparian
access. This issue has even been raised at a
parliamentary level. 151
Environmental Impacts
DEFORESTATION
Deforestation is becoming a large problem in Zambia,
increasing at a rate of 4,600 km 2 per year (as of 2005), 152
particularly in the more urban provinces (2 percent per
year compared to