Zambia’s North-Western Province is the source of the mighty Zambezi, Africa’s fourth-longest river, which begins its journey to the Indian Ocean in North-Western’s Kalene Hills. North-Western Province also features West Lunga National Park, Mutanda Falls, and Northern Kafue National Park. While less well-known for copper production than neighboring Copperbelt Province, North-Western’s output has surpassed that of the Copperbelt in recent years.
USAID ACTIVITIES IN NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCE
In North-Western Province, USAID/Zambia implements 13 activities in the Health, Education and Economic development sectors. The largest activities in the province, in terms of annual funding, are USAID Let’s Read, and Supporting an AIDS Free Era (SAFE). Though lower than the national average, North-Western Province faces an HIV prevalence rate of 6.1 percent. A large proportion of USAID’s provincial budget goes toward HIV prevention, treatment, and support services to ensure Zambia is on track to achieve our 95-95-95 framework.
Additional health-related funding is directed toward preventing new HIV infections through high-impact, evidence-based programs, with additional funding channeled to gender-based violence prevention, family services, and TB detection and treatment.
USAID operates its flagship USAID Let’s Read program in North-Western Province. USAID Let’s Read strengthens curriculum delivery to improve literacy levels in every community and government school in the province. In 2018, the Education Data Activity conducted an Early Grade Reading Assessment which set a baseline for USAID Let’s Read to help measure progress made towards national reading benchmarks for Grade 2 learners.
USAID implements community-based wildlife, fisheries and forest conservation in the Greater Kafue Landscape, which includes Kafue National Park, Zambia’s largest national park., Efforts focus on reducing poaching, deforestation, bush fires, and human encroachment for sustainable livelihoods and economic and human health benefits.
HEALTH
District Coverage of Health Services (DISCOVER-Health)
DISCOVER-Health supports HIV prevention and treatment, family planning, and maternal and child health programs. The project scales up Test and Start HIV treatment, facilitates access to, and uptake of, family planning and HIV prevention services, and ensures a strong continuum of care between clinics and communities. DISCOVER-Health is active in Solwezi District.
Partner: John Snow, Inc.
Duration: Dec. 2015 – Dec. 2021
Empowered Child and Adolescents Program I
The Empowered Children and Adolescents Program (ECAP) works to mitigate the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and improve the health and well-being of highly vulnerable children and adolescents (VCA) and their families. Targeting the communities hardest hit by HIV/AIDS, the program provides wrap-around, needs-based services to support the resilience of families to be healthy, stable, safe, and educated, working in partnership with health facilities, school, and other community structures. By responding to the unique needs of children and adolescents living with or at high risk of HIV, ECAP is contributing to epidemic control in Zambia.
Partner: CMMB-Z
Duration: Sept. 2020 - Sept. 2025
Eradicate Tuberculosis (ETB)
ETB works in partnership with the Zambian Government, the National TB Control Program, the private sector, and other partners to strengthen the response in each of the North-Western’s districts. ETB focuses on finding new TB cases, laboratory strengthening, management of drug-resistant TB, and operational research. The project targets high TB-burden communities.
Prime Partner: Program for Appropriate Technology in Health
Duration: May 2017 – Nov. 2022
Open Doors
Open Doors aims to expand HIV care, prevention, and treatment services for under-served populations along one of Zambia’s primary transport corridors and in other hotspots. The activity focuses on closing existing gaps in service delivery and increasing access for key populations, including female sex workers (fsw), men who have sex with men (msm), and transgender people. In North-Western Province, Open Doors is implemented in Solwezi, the provincial capital.
Partner: FHI 360
Duration: May 2016 – Dec. 2021
Service Delivery for HIV Prevention (SDHP) 1 Project
SDHP I seeks to improve the health outcomes of Zambians by preventing new infections among priority and key populations most at risk of acquiring HIV such as adolescent girls and young women (AGYW), adolescent boys and young men (ABYM), men who have sex with men (MSM), female sex workers (FSW), transgender people, and prisoners. The SDHP I project combines the activities of two separate prevention activities: Zambia Community HIV Prevention Project (Z-CHPP) and the Open Doors Project. In North-Western province, the project is in Solwezi district.
Partner: CIDRZ
Duration: Oct. 2021- Oct. 2026
STOP GBV
STOP GBV aims to strengthen and expand opportunities for girls, women, boys, and men to live lives free of gender-based violence (GBV) and enjoy healthy, gender-equitable relationships. The STOP GBV project builds government and traditional leaders’ capacity and commitment to GBV prevention, response, and law enforcement and works with communities to challenge unhealthy gender norms. Additionally, One-Stop GBV response care centers manage cases and provide the following: victim-support services by the Zambian Police, paralegal services, HIV testing and linkage to treatment, and child-friendly counseling services. STOP GBV is implemented in Solwezi District.
Partner: Zambia Center for Communication Programs
Duration: Nov. 2018 – Nov. 2023
Supporting an AIDS Free Era (SAFE)
SAFE provides Zambians with direct HIV service delivery and technical assistance to reduce HIV mortality, morbidity, and transmission while improving nutrition outcomes and family planning integration. SAFE has successfully leveraged private sector resources by partnering with mining companies and the small businesses that serve miners. Finally, SAFE works closely with the Zambian government to strengthen sub-national monitoring and evaluation capacity, public financial management, and human resource management systems for improved program management. Working with 27 facilities, over 20,000 HIV-positive individuals are receiving life-saving treatment across three North-Western districts: Kalumbila, Mushindamo, and Solwezi.
Partner: John Snow, Inc.
Duration: Aug. 2017 – Aug. 2022
Zambia Community HIV Prevention Project
Z-CHPP is implemented in Solwezi District. It aims to prevent new HIV infections through community-based behavioral interventions, improved condom accessibility and acceptability, and promotion of high-impact services. In partnership with the Zambian government, Z-CHPP supports the development of community groups that mitigate risky behaviors, increase referrals from community to clinical services, and reduce the vulnerability of adolescent girls and young women to HIV infection.
Partner: Pact, Inc.
Duration: Nov. 2015 – Nov. 2021
EDUCATION
USAID Education Data
The Education Data activity provides assessment, data management, research, and evaluation services for USAID and provides baselines and mid-point data to measure the progress of the USAID Let’s Read project against its targets in order to identify priority areas, inform decision making, and strengthen the capacity of the Zambian government to improve learning outcomes in Zambia.
Prime Partner: DevTech Systems, Inc.
Duration: April 2018 – Dec. 2022
USAID Let’s Read
USAID Let’s Read works with the Ministry of General Education to improve reading outcomes for over 120,000 children in North-Western Province. The project strengthens delivery of the primary literacy curriculum through improved teaching and learning materials, regular pupil learning assessments, school and learner performance tracking, and engagement with communities and the private sector. The goal of the activity is to ensure students read with age-appropriate comprehension and fluency in one of Zambia’s seven official languages of instruction. USAID Let’s Read is implemented in all community and public schools in the province.
Prime Partner: Education Development Center
Duration: Jan. 2019 – Jan. 2024
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Alternatives to Charcoal
The Alternatives to Charcoal (A2C) mechanism addresses national-level threats that drive deforestation, in particular, the over-reliance on charcoal for household energy and the lack of sustainable alternative-energy options. Charcoal production results in forest degradation and deforestation, including key habitat for wildlife and associated ecotourism.
Partner: Tetra Tech ARD
Duration: Jan. 2021 - Jan. 2026
Eastern Kafue Nature Alliance
The new Eastern Kafue Nature Alliance aims to achieve biodiversity conservation and cross-cutting outcomes in health, water and sanitation, nutrition, and food security in two districts: Mushindamo and Kasempa. Unsustainable agricultural expansion, poaching, overfishing, deforestation, and habitat degradation are major threats affecting the biodiversity of the Greater Kafue Landscape. The Alliance will harness over $11 million in private investment and strengthen community governance institutions to inform and contribute to strengthening disincentives for illegal behavior, while increasing incentives for proper stewardship and pride in wildlife and tourism, thereby improving and stabilizing long-term economic and livelihood opportunities for rural communities.
Prime Partner: The Nature Conservancy
Duration: Sept. 2021 – Sept. 2026
Emerging Farmers Partnership GDA (EFP)
Zambia has fewer than 1,000 commercial farmers who have access to commercial finance and utilize irrigation and mechanization. Over the past decade, a new class of “emergent” farmers has become established through the commercialization of some smallholder farmers as well as through investments by salaried and business persons. The emergent farmers operate more as businesses and cultivate over 20 hectares. In turn, emerging farmers serve as lead agro-entrepreneurs who can link organized groups of smallholder farmers to input and output markets and promote the adoption of more productive, climate resilient technologies. The ultimate goal is to commercialize 10,000 emerging farmers to increase the scope and trade of high-value products, building a stronger economy. The project operates in Solwezi and Kasempa districts.
Partner: Global Communities
Duration: Oct. 2020 - Oct. 2023