DOING BUSINESS IN ZAMBIA

THE ZDA STRATEGIC PLAN, 2009-2011
Following the formation of the Zambia Development Agency and its subsequent operationalisation, the Agency has developed its first strategic plan. This first strategic plan serves as a guide in its programmes and activities for a three year period commencing from January 2009 to December 2011. The plan is intended to assist the fulfillment of the Agency’s mandate to foster economic growth and development.

The strategic plan aims to focus the Agency on programmes and activities that will contribute to the country’s vision of becoming a prosperous middle income nation by the year 2030. In addition, the plan takes into account of both the broad policy aims and strategies as outlined in the Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP) as well as taking cognizance of the aspirations and objectives as highlighted in the strategic plan for the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry.

The strategic plan articulates the ZDA vision, mission, goals, values and objectives as well as including the strategies that will be used to achieve them. It also highlights performance indicators in order to measure the effectiveness of the Agency with regard to its set targets in the development agenda of the country.

The strategic plan aims to guide the Zambia Development Agency in its quest to become a fully integrated world class institution that effectively and efficiently promotes and facilitates economic development. It is intended that once implemented, the strategic plan will lead to a focused organisation designed to ensure stakeholders’ satisfaction. However, the successful implementation of the strategic plan will depend on the support and cooperation of government, cooperating partners, staff and all stakeholders particularly the private sector, who are the intended beneficiaries of the Agency’s planned activities.

Plan coverage
The ZDA’s strategic plan covers some key issues to its success. These issues include environmental analysis; vision of the organisation; mission statement; goals; its values; objectives, strategies and performance indicators; pre-conditions; general assumptions; linking the strategic plan to the budgeting process; monitoring and evaluation implementation of the strategic plan; and structural implications.

The environmental analysis is an analysis of the environment in which the Agency will operate during the set period of the strategic plan. The analysis takes into account major political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal developments that will have an impact, positive or negative, on the operations of the Agency. Politically, the analysis is ascertains the country’s political environmental and the effect such an environment has on attainment of planned development of the country. It also analyses the support of the current government to the business sector and the kind of reforms it puts in place in order to improve the investment and business environment in the country. Such an analysis is vital in determining the success of ZDA’s strategic plan because the level of political commitment in the country has serious effects towards the completion of development reform process and the degree of integration of ZDA in these initiatives.

The analysis of the economic environment looks at economic parameters such interest rates, exchanges rates and inflation and how they affect the economy, consequently development. An analysis of the economic environment helps the Agency plan and set its investment promotion in various sectors of the economy, among other things. Socially, the analysis ascertains the availability of human resource in the country and the kind of skills its posses and how trainable the available labour force is in various skills. Its also recognises the HIV and AIDS pandemic and the extent to which the pandemic has affected the country’s labour (among trained and experienced workforce) and thus development. Based on findings to that effect, the Agency devises mechanisms of encouraging investors to put in place measures to mitigate against the effects of the pandemic on their businesses and the whole economy.

Environmental matters are some of the aspects that the ZDA strategic plan takes into account. The Environmental Protection and Pollution Act provide guidelines on the protection of the environment which investors need to be aware of. Further, as can be seen from increase in the number of projects rejected by the Environmental Council of Zambia of the communities proposed to host planned projects, based on their environmental impact, Zambians have become increasingly aware of the need to protect the environment. The Agency will thus ensure that investors are made aware of the need to comply with the environmental protection and pollution control laws.

The legal environment analysis looks at laws that govern investments in Zambia. The operations of the Zambia Development Agency are governed by the Zambia Development Agency Act No. 11 of 2006, which is the principal law governing investment in the country.

However, there are many other laws that affect investors, exporters and SMEs which either hinder or assist ZDA in achieving its strategic objectives. The ZDA will ensure harmonisation of all laws relating to promotion and facilitation of trade and investment. These include, among others Income Tax Act. Value Added Tax Act, Customs and Exercise Act, Immigration and Deportation Act, Citizen Economic Empowerment Act, Competition Act and other legislation. Consequently, the harmonisation process will lead to the amendment of the ZDA Act.

Opportunities
This strategic plan draws strength from several opportunities that the Agency can capitalise on in order to achieve its strategic objectives. Some of these opportunities are the favourable macroeconomic conditions in the country. The macroeconomic environment in the country has improved with the local currency, inflation and interest rates reasonably remaining stable thereby making planning for business easier. Of added advantage towards promoting investment and exports, the economy has consistently continued to grow, while becoming more diversified.

However, the Agency takes cognizant of the recent global economic crisis which will negatively impact on the positive economic environment which government has created. The global financial crisis has so far resulted in an increase in inflation, interest and exchange rates. However, given the stimulus packages that the international community has put forward and specifically taking into consideration of the diversification approach and measures contained in the Zambian Budget for 2009, it is expected that the macroeconomic indicators will improve and stabilise in the second half of the year. In this regard, the Agency shall continuously monitor these developments and revise strategies in line with the local and global economic environment.

The other opportunity to take advantage of on by the ZDA is the stable political environment and political will to enhance development in the country. Zambia has had no political strife since her independence in 1964. Her democracy has been growing and maturing, providing a peaceful and stable political environment. The suitable political environment coupled with the political will exhibited by Government, at the highest levels possible, provides an environment in which business can thrive.

The Agency should utilise the stable political environment as a cornerstone feature, towards promoting Zambia as a favourable investment destination.

In addition, there is an increasing investor and donor confidence in the Zambian economy. This is mainly due to the good economic policies and government’s prudent economic management. The transparent and prudent utilisation of public resources has also greatly contributed to general improvements in public perception of the country.

The other opportunity is that there is government and donor goodwill to the development agenda of Zambia. The Zambian government and the donor community in Zambia have shown a lot of goodwill to the Agency since it was established. This has resulted in financial and technical support to the institution. There is need for the Agency to ensure that this goodwill is maintained by using the resources provided by Government and Donors, prudently and efficiently.

Access to regional and international market is the other aspect the ZDA can capitalise on in its strategic plan. Being that Zambia is centrally located, surrounded by eight (8) neighbouring countries, it is provided with great opportunity to access the various regional and international markets. The country belongs to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and Southern Africa Development community (SADC). Consequently and as a result of the various bilateral, regional and multilateral trade agreements that the country is party to provide a huge regional market.

Zambia also has duty-free and quota free market access to the following international markets:

EU market, through the Cotonou Agreement and Everything But Arms Initiative (EBA);
American market, through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA);
Canadian market, through the Canadian Market Access Initiative;
Market access of agro-based products to China through the Chinese Initiative; and
Japanese market, through the Japanese Market Initiative.
The possible access to these export markets provides the Agency with enormous opportunity to facilitate and promote export of Zambian products.

FITTING INTO THE WORLD...as a youth

Wife at 14, Unza student at 30
By John Sakala
ENTERING the gates of the University of Zambia (Unza) Great East Road campus this coming Sunday, together with many other first-year entrants, will be a 30-year-old Chililabombwe mother of two whose story is as inspiring as it is touching.
Her story is one of those that bring alive legendary United States boxer Muhammad Ali’s words which imply that great feats are never thrust upon anyone but built from one’s inner drive to succeed.
“Champions aren’t made in gyms, Ali begins. “Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: A desire, a dream, vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster; they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.”
With skill, Gertrude Funga serves her customers at Chililabombwe Senior Police Club where she works as a barmaid.But, as Ali contends, it is the willpower in Funga’s life that has been overly amazing.
Being barmaid is just one of the many menial jobs that Funga has known over the last nine years, including being a house servant for a white man in Ndola and a cook in Chililabombwe.
It has been a meandering road for Funga who is going to study for a bachelor’s degree in education with a bias in biology at Unza.
At the age of 14 in 1993, Funga dropped out of school in grade nine at Fatima Girls Secondary School in Ndola not so a result of failure to qualify to grade 10 as lack of sponsorship.
Thus marked the beginning of a journey down the avenue of tribulation which could have broken the aspirations and blurred the vision of any young woman in her predicament at that time.
There being no money to enable young Gertrude continue her education, the easier way for the girl’s mother was to send her into marriage at that still-fledgling age.
Hopelessly, Funga became a wife at Dola Hill in Ndola’s Zaffico compound and, before long, was in a motherly way, leading to her first child, Justin, who is now in Grade 10.A girl, Lisa, now 10, followed three years later.
After six years in marriage, the man’s job had been done; Funga’s husband had had enough and it was time to leave his wife and the two children.
So in 1999, Funga was left with no husband to support her and the two children, and the situation became grim as she could not manage to make ends meet to sustain the lives of her offspring.
Listening to the lyrics in the late South African reggae artiste Lucky Dube’s track God Bless the Women, it makes one feel the singer had Funga’s circumstances in mind.In the middle of the night, I heard her pray so bitterly . . . She prayed for her children. She prayed for their education. Then she prayed for the man who left her with her children.
We praise heroes everyday. But there are those we forget to praise; the women of this world. They don’t run from anything. They stand and fight for what’s right.
God bless the women. Even when times are so hard, they are so cool, calm and collected. They don’t run from anything, they stand and fight for what is right. They do not run from responsibilities
Funga recollects the dark years of her life: “I had stopped school in grade nine in at Fatima Girls Secondary School due to lack of sponsorship and then I was forced into marriage which resulted in me having the two children I now have.
“The man who gave me those kids later divorced me, and to support my children, I was forced, in 2000, to start working as a house servant for a certain white man (Dr Andrea de Angeles) at Villa Farm in Ndola.”
It was evident that Funga’s husband had not planned for the two children, and that was lesson number one, which inspired her to beginning doing some voluntary community work whenever she found time away from work as a house servant.
“During my free time, I could do voluntary work of distributing condoms and sensitising people on the importance of family planning,” she says who was staying in Commando Site and Service in Ndola.
At the back of Funga’s mind was the desire to continue with her education at some point. If she could make time for community work, it could surely be possible to continue with her education.
But as Funga was figuring out how she could do this using her meagre resources, the man she was working for was deported, rendering her jobless and without any income to support the two children.
“This forced me to relocate to Chililabombwe where I started working as a cook at an orphanage called the One Way Mission,” she explains.
She remained determined not to become a victim of psychological and emotional stress, and denial of personal development as a result of early marriage.
Realising the direct link between education and income, and education and opportunity, she was resolute to go back to school.
She says: “Personal success is a dream of every individual but success is almost bleak without good educational qualifications. I realised that education is a catalyst of every person’s development. So, I strove towards my dream and in 2004, I started going to school at Muleya Secondary in grade nine.”
Her determination paid off and she qualified to grade 10 but, a year later, lost her job again.
“This time, I had no option but to relocate to a farm in Kasumbalesa where I began to work on the land,” she says.
With every passing day, Funga increasingly realised the direct link between education and income, and education and opportunity.
From the farm to Muleya Secondary School, the distance was 15 kilometres but, driven by determination, self-belief, hope and conviction, Funga did not forget her dream of completing her education.
She would not let go this opportunity and soon got hold of a bicycle which she could ride every day for 45 minutes to get to school and cycle back after classes.This she did until the last secondary school grade and sat for examinations.
The results of those examinations have now sent Funga to university to pursue a degree programmeWhat determination!
After school, Funga still needed to support her children, which was why she looked for a job as a barmaid at Chililabombwe Senior Police club.
Despite overcoming her numerous hurdles, Funga now has the latest challenge of financing her education.
Funga’s job as a barmaid has helped sustain her and the two children but will certainly not be sufficient to finance her university education.
While she appreciates the 75 per cent Government bursary, Funga says it would still not be enough to meet her accommodation costs.
She has so far been to the department of social welfare but nothing tangible has come forth.
While at university, Funga is going to leave her two children with her mother at Kavu Settlement in Ndola rural.
Even as she ponders over how she is going to look for the money, Funga is able to look back with pride, saying all that she has gone through has not weighed her down as she has always been determined to chart her own course.
She encourages women in a similar situation to be objective resilient, and never to forgo their dreams.
“Life and people can be cruel at times but it is important not to be cruel to yourself by living a careless life that leaves your future on the verge of collapse,” says Funga who stays with a well-wisher, Febby Kabwe, herself a widow, in Lubengele Township.
Funga says eradicating one’s poverty demands formidable ammunition, most formidable of which is education.Education, she says, has the ability to propel one’s war against poverty with surety of victory.
Again, the inspirational Ali says wars of nations are fought to change maps while wars of poverty are fought to map change.
Change in Funga’s life has been mapped by her determination to make a difference and become an inspiration to other women in a seemingly inextricable condition.(Funga can be contacted through the Times Features Desk on 02-12-617096/02-12-620063).

ROLE OF THE MEDIA IN DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Librarry



THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA

IN DISASTER MANAGEMENT

AT AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES CONGRESS

PREAMBLE:
Scholars say communication and development are like two sides of one coin. This emphasis wants to drive home that the two are inseparable. We can make another premise that communication and media involvement in disaster management is as important as the air we breathe in.
The majority of people become vulnerable and are desperate for media products that can help prevent loss of lives and offer relief. Dr. Frank Press Founder of International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) writes; “Disasters are tragic, not only because of the great loses to the victims, but also because they are often avoidable…”



The process of communication is not as easy as we think it should be. Marriages have broken because of break down of communication. Nations have gone to war because of break down of communication; relationships have gone sour because of lack of communication or break down of communication. The process of communication is difficult in ordinary and daily times, and it is even more difficult in times of disasters because we use ‘words’ or ‘language’ which is a culture by its own. Words are neutral and only get the meaning when one attaches that meaning to them. Hence a single word can have as many meanings as the number of people who hear and use the word.



Meanings have historical biases, subjective to individual personal experience, geographical, tribal and ethical boundaries.



In spite of all these problems that language or words bring, communication has still to take place. As human beings, our task is to learn how to communicate and communicate clearly.



In time of disaster and crisis, the organization or institution involved has to respond with accurate, clear and complete information as quickly as possible.



Definitions:

When we talk of disaster we assume that a catastrophe has occurred in ways that the natural laws of nature have been violated or disrupted. There is disarray, confusion and panic.



The dictionary defines disaster as: An occurrence causing widespread destruction and distress. A grave misfortune; a total failure; an evil influence of a celestial body;

A calamity of great destruction; Hardships and loss of life; Grief; and tragic outcome with irreparable loss.



One definition is, “situations characterized by surprise, high threats to important values, and a short decision time” Another goes as follows: - “A disruption that physically affects a system as a whole and threatens its basic assumptions, its subjective sense of self, and its existence core”.



In industry or production plants they define disaster as: “An extraordinary event or series of events that adversely affect the integrity of the product the reputation or financial stability of the organization or health of the well-being of employees, community or the public at large.



During disaster period, all information needed does not come fast enough or should have come earlier, but nevertheless, let it come and as soon as possible.



We are no longer in the Stone Age where disaster should come as if we are helpless victims of God’s wrath.



In the modern technology of satellite, disasters can be prevented, controlled and bad effects made manageable and minimized. Six months before an earthquake occurs in California, the citizens are warned not only by the earth tremors but also by the scientists at earthquake centre who give details of the intensity of earth tremors and their probabilities up to the moment earthquake strikes.



Disasters do not only surprise us, but we do not know how to manage them or react to them not even plan for them.



Research done in different companies, intuitions and organisations that have experienced disasters and crises have shown that 86% of disasters or crises

Are called ‘SMOULDERING’ crises or disasters that the organisations or institutions are aware of their occurrence way before they happen and before the public find out about them.



The same research reveals that Management and mismanagement caused 78% of the crises and disasters by lack of crisis planning or disaster management planning.



One small example is the use of fertilizers and how they damage the natural powers of the Mother Nature but at the same time help our farmers produce bumper harvests.



This paper will explore ways on how the media can help in the management of disasters.

The media can educate the publics about disaster prevention and preparedness. The media can link scientists, disaster mitigation officials and the public. The media can provide analytical materials for future prevention. The media can remove the myth that disaster is caused by God’s wrath.



The role of the media is to provide a vital link among the people and the state. Kasoma 1990 says the media are cogs through which the people see the function or not of the government administrative machinery.



The media must help to co-ordinate government activities and operations so that both the receivers and givers of information they publish are served adequately. There should be no shortfalls or serious contradictions within the media. The media need to have proper liaison and lack of it could lead to destruction, disaster, and duplication of efforts leading to wastage of public funds. The media should provide the nation with useful important information on the state of the country as well as the outside world.

Unfortunately here in Africa, natural disasters surprise us as if we are still in the Stone Age. It must be the gods that are angry with us. Disasters do not only surprise us, but we do not know how to manage them, plan for them, or react to them.



The media are to provide educational material on any possible disaster that can occur in Africa. There must be a liaison between the officials, the scientists and relief agencies. All stakeholders must work together as a team. There must be an Internet website for each possible disaster that can occur in the region. Educational materials must be provided in all primary, secondary and high institutes of learning. Public libraries must all have these educational materials. Risk areas must display these educational materials.



EARLY WARNING- PREPAREDNESS

The media must provide information-warning signs. Nyondo, 1988 took a close look at the ancient narratives of our grandparents from different African countries. In these narratives, myth, folklore and stories, there are several of them that are related to warning about disasters such as droughts and floods. The Beautiful Giraffe; The Ancient and Wise Python; The Millipede. From these ancient narratives we know that drought disasters are not a modern phenomena. The question each one of us should ask is; How come we have not learned on how to cope with them?





Nearly every Zambian tribe or any tribe in Africa has a story on droughts; Management of these issues should not be something new and more disastrous than the disaster itself.



The media that can be used in early warning and preparedness no longer take the form of storytelling of our grandparents but modern technology that can reach beyond the fireside of a village hut. These modern means of communication systems that can be used in early warning are as follows:



1. Technical Communications systems such as satellites, air craft with

Remote sensing devices and computer networks and other technologies.

2. Disaster sites of communications (These maintain links with affected ministries and publics.

3. Organisational Communications (Communication within the organisation staff and other stakeholders within the country and international)



4. Communication for scientific development, which is always missing in developing countries. Nobody wants to own up to a mistake. Materials to analyses past disasters is not available. We have examples of disasters that happened in other worlds and not in our countries. The western media report on our disaster before the local journalists reports.





PROVIDING ANALYTICAL INFORMATION: AS A MEANS OF PREPAREDNESS.

The media are good at reporting events and functions. One of the negatives the media has during disasters is that they do not provide analytical information on what exactly happened? What is the history surrounding this particular disaster? What should have been done and by who? What are the future ramifications? What is being done to prevent future possible disasters? Answering these hard questions will be of great help in the prevention of future disasters. In summary then, early warning systems, disaster preparedness, analytical information, and the coordination and readiness for responses are all factors determined by people rather than “Acts of gods” beyond human control.

Fred H. Cate 1990 says humankind possesses the means to reduce the impact of disasters to save lives and reduce damage to property. If we do not accurately document and analyse our present disasters, we will never learn to cope up with them. When we die we will take all our experience and knowledge with us to the grave.



MEDIA PROBLEMS:



Negative presentations

One of the major problems of the media is that negative aspects of the story are more news worthy than the positive. Because of this weakness the authorities and all those answerable to any disaster resent the media and give distorted facts.

Avoid negative presentation, concentrate on the positives such as how people are being helped to cope with the situation. What is being done to relieve the affected and what is being done to avoid future ramifications?



Analytical Scientific Materials

Lack of proving analytical material and focussing on sensational information and events will always make us repeat the same mistakes. Analytical materials will help in:

1. LONG TERM PLANNING

2 Disaster preparedness and early warning

3. Reconstruction

4. Rehabilitation

5. Relief and mitigation



Media Causing Panic:

The media have to provide information that will eliminate panic and confusion. During disaster time the human mind is very vulnerable to panic and confusion. The media can provide information on how lives can be saved. What the relief officials are doing. What should be done to cooperate with the rescue teams?



We should never take it for granted that people know what to do. We human beings have a varsity of experiences and influences that affect our behaviour and the way we react to different events and issues.



A recent research done by Fiske and de Certeau-2000 found that the audience to media products are active producers of meaning and not passive consumers of media meanings. We decode media texts in ways that are related to our social and cultural circumstances and ways in which we experience those circumstances.

Taking all this into consideration the media and relief officials must handle disaster with great care.



In both conflict coverage and disaster coverage the media have done a poor job. Some of the reasons cited is lack of training, lack of proper facilities and assigning such duties to junior media trainees who have no experience. These negatives are in both Western media reporting on Africa as well as the African media reporting on Africa.

Corner 2000 says, unfortunately, international media agencies risk no penalties should they act unethically when reporting from non-western countries.



The Annenberg project revealed that most of the news and programs from the Southern hemisphere be it political, cultural, entertainment or disaster have suffered severe misrepresentation and distortion. The culprits in the distortion of disaster news are not just the media but also relief organizations. The relief organizations usually exaggerate the severity of problems to maximize fundraising. The media machinery itself is very complicated when it comes to the choice of news for the readers. A small example of strikes or protest coverage would suffice. The story that will show on the evening news is not the two days of negotiations of union leaders and management but the few minutes when the police will throw tear gas or beat up demonstrators.



Most of the on the spot news reporters called “stringers” are indigenous journalists who are very loyal citizens of their States. The

Gate Keepers (the editors) are different. What the world knows about the third world as Admason 1993, concluded in his report on World Vision U.K. public opinion survey results is “an impression that the developing world is exclusively a theatre of tragedy in which poverty and human misery figure prominently in almost every scene…. This misconception is as profound as it is widespread.”



The questionnaire done by Admson founder and author of UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children reveal a lot of what has gone wrong from both the media and relief organizations. According to Admson ‘s research there is no free health child in Africa, our children are starving to death, out of school and are street runaways.



OUR LOCAL MEDIA:
Local media have not been exempted to lack of skills, structure and capacity to adequately cover disaster news. What makes it even worse is the sour relationship that the media has with law enforcement agents, and disaster management units. The two have never enjoyed a good marriage.



The media and disaster management agencies need each other to perform their functions better. Information needs to be presented responsibly and timely. The media should not just report on what has happened and what is being done. The media should analyse what is not being done and prescribes what should be done. The question we should all shamefully look at and try to answer is that: Why should the Africa always experience hunger starvation massive loos of life after a drought or floods disasters?

Information on drought disasters flood disasters, industrial pollution disasters and all possible disasters in Africa should be given to all citizens free and readily available in schools, public libraries, and the internet.



Critical Media Problems:

The reporting of conflict and disasters in the world press is a disaster itself

Factual information is concealed and distorted at different stages of production of the media product.

a) Origination of the story: Victims of the disaster will relate the story according to their perception and their experience

b) Stakeholders (The people who are implicated in the disaster)

Institution, government, industry, company, family etc. will relate the story to save their tarnished image to the public.

c) The journalists involved have their own biases and experiences that accompany their objective reporting when they are honest and do a through job they face the following:

The journalists are accused of being un accurate giving distorted information biased, un experienced not trained to report on disaster and no analytical skills, traitors of the enemy The question they are asked is not how objective and truthful is your story but which side are you? On our side or the enemy?

d) The sub-editors of the story have their own ‘house style’ of reporting that each media house has adapted as their accepted format and style

The starving children in Africa are not news until we see skeletons on the TV screens. They decide what deserves to be called a disaster in their newsrooms.

e) The interests of the shareholders of the newspaper or media house have to be protected or served. The shareholders main objective is to make the business run and make some profit at the end of the day. Stories that will make poor sales or tarnish the credibility of the media house and shareholders will never be published. All these are problems that cannot be ignored if we want to address the issue of the role the media should play in disaster coverage.



WHAT MEDIUM SHOULD WE USE FOR WHICH DISASTER?
Radio:

Research has shown that during earthquakes, volcano ruptures and other related disasters the one item that people picked from their homes to escape with is a radio. A similar research was done in El Salvador, survivor’s even dead bodies were found with a radio in their hands or in the vicinity. Hence, radio becomes a very important medium in disasters.



However, the most recent research with American kids on; which media would you prefer to have? Internet was found to be the most preferable.



In Africa less than 2% of the population have access to a computer, Internet or Websites. This information should not discourage us since more than 99% of media houses both electronic and print, do have access to some computer, internet or websites. The so-called medium for the rich if properly utilised the information on the Websites can reach the grassroots in a matter of hours or minutes. It is therefore, time for experts on each disaster to:



1. Create websites for each disaster they foresee in the region.

2. Give correct information before the disaster occurs.

3. Give responsible and accurate information after and during disaster period.

4. Provide accurate analysis of the future ramifications and prevention of repetition of the disaster.

5. Provide address and contacts of relief services.



The public need constant education on all possible disasters. The education should include early warning, planning, prevention, and mitigation.

TRADITIONAL:

1. Face-to-Face communication will never be surpassed by any modern medium.

Education and training done by extension workers can be more productive to the small-scale farmer. Than mass broadcast.



2. Story telling: Fireside stories were told to warn people about possible disaster. The story of The Millipede; The story of the beautiful giraffe; The python; These ancient stories that are found in every African language and ethnic group do reveal to us that disasters of drought, floods etc. have been a common phenomena in our history.



3. Village meetings, debates, discussions, and deliberations took place at the Insaka. now popularly known as Indaba. Every village had these forums where issues were discussed openly and deliberation taken. They were effective because everybody was involved and participated in decision-making. When we examine communication models we see that development in Africa has delayed because we jumped the ancient village forum to the modern communication where information is given from above to the grassroots, ignoring the participatory aspect.



4. One very effective mode of communication is drama and plays or Theatre for Development (TFD) in urban areas as well as rural areas. These are very effective especially if they are followed by a group discussion facilitated by some experienced personnel.

ELECTRONIC:

5. The cheapest of them all in terms of MASS COMMUNICATION is radio. In Zambia and in most parts of Africa we claim that every citizen has access to a radio and that more than 95% of the households have a radio-Kasoma 2001. The saturation and access to radio makes it cheaper. We all know that the Internet will be even cheaper if it were available to the masses. The creation of a winding radio, a radio that does not need batteries is a great innovation for Africa where power is limited and during the time of disasters you usually will have no time to look for batteries or power. The creation of community radio stations in Africa will bring great strides in development if properly used. According to Kasoma 2001, the moment Community radio will become a property of the community and operated by the community without interference, development in Africa will make a difference.


6. Television audiovisual media such as slides, videotapes in house production of film can be very effective in the education of the public. They are effective because they engage both the eye and hear.

This media can be quite expensive both in production and disseminating of the product. When making a decision on what medium to use for ‘In House Training’ to prevent factory disasters or mine disasters television, videotapes, or a slide montage would be the best. In this way, you have both inter personal communication and a professional presentation.



7. Film and network video production and distributions. These are very

different from the "in house" production. They are meant for mass consumption. No matter how educational they are the element of entertainment surpasses that of educational tool. We can all recall the many films or TV programmes we have enjoyed and at the same time learned a lot from them. The element that made us enjoy the production and persevere in watching it up to the end was the entertainment value. Because of the Aesthetic elements in these productions we attach the word fiction to them. What we forget is that the narratives or folklores from our grandparents were also fiction but very educative



8. Satellite Communication: The satellite communication has made the

world into a global village. We are able to receive news from all

over the world within a few hours or minutes of occurrence. We are

able to watch the events as they occur - LIVE. We are able to

Access information, research from different universities and other

Academic and research institutions. The new technology of cell phones

has brought another element in the reporting of disasters. The first pictures

of Surnami disaster on CNN and BBC were not taken by journalist

but by tourists on the spot.



9. PRINT:

The Print Media: We must explore all print media outlets to

Disseminate all needed information. The beauty or practicality of

Print materials is that you can go back to it, refer to it, read and study

the material at your own pace and convenient time. However, during disaster time it becomes difficult to concentrate and comprehend sophisticated information. Rescue materials must be simple and summarized. The best print media conducive to disaster information are pamphlets, brochure and small leaflets. It has to be materials people can carry in their pockets.





DROUGHT AND FLOODS

The droughts and floods in one-way or another have affected us all They are part the way the world does its business.. Why on earth should the countries that have 6-8 months of snow be feeding us instead of us being of help to them? One missionary, who returned home for leave in giving a speech to aspiring missionaries, said “I love African weather, where you throw seeds away in the backyard and a few days later they will geminate and grow”. How long are we going to pose to the rest of world as a backward continent living in the "Stone Age" and have no knowledge on how to manage disaster? The agriculture extension workers are doing very well in some farming communities. But we need more mass education to supplement their efforts.

The Mozambique floods were badly handled by the media. We kept on seeing the young woman giving birth in the tree. The media usually does that to call for sympathy. There was no article that ever analysed as to why that flood?



CONFLICT:

The human element in us makes us watch conflict on the media partly as entertainment. Who is winning and who is losing? It is staged conflict, until when we start seeing dead bodies. We all can relate our own experiences on conflict in the region and the way our media have handled it. Apart from factual information being concealed from the media, the media is forced to take sides if they need any information. Any journalist who claims to be neutral is a spy, a traitor.



MINE DISASTERS

The mine disasters have become to frequent and an embarrassment to the world. The recurrences of these disasters demonstrate that we do not analyse our disasters to help us prevent or plan future disasters. The blame is across the board, from all stakeholders and the media as well as the mining authorities.



Summary:

An individual cannot overcome the poor coverage of disasters in Africa.

We need a change of policy. Policy that will compel all stakeholders to react, plan and manage the disasters to the interest of humanity.



The question of which side are you should never arise. Training, and materials on all possible disasters and conflict management should be available to the public.

Companies, institutions, or governments involved in the disasters must be accountable to publics by giving truthful, objective analytical information that will help prevent future disasters

One of the goals and tasks for a media house is to tell the people by merely broadcasting normal programmes that all is well in the country. Media houses have no communication policy in disaster management.

Media involvement in disaster time is implied. For a long time, as long as I have been a journalist, schools of journalism never included materials such as coverage of conflict, coverage of disasters. It is less than a decade that few Departments of journalism started to include conflict coverage and disaster coverage as topics on the curriculum at both undergraduate and post graduate level.



Victims of disaster should be treated with respect and dignity both by the media and relief organizations. State media policies must have clear guidelines on media roles in disaster coverage



END


BIBLIOGRAPHY


1. Fred H. Cate Media Disaster Relief and images of the Developing World:

http://www.annenberg.nwu.edu/pubs/disas/disas1o.htm.



2. Graber Doris 1994 Media Power In Politics.





3. Kasoma 1990 Communication Policies in Zambia

4. Kasoma 1992 Communication Policies in Botswana,

5. Kasoma Lesotho and Swaziland.

6 Kasoma 2001 Community Media In Zambia

7. MacBride Sean 1980 Many Voices, One World.



8 Nyondo, Muzyamba Chanda 2002 Radio Audience research.



9 Nyondo 1988 Analysis of African Animal Stories and

their Adaptation to Communication of

Religious meaning in Television.

10. Philip Lee 1978 Communication For All.



11 Servaes et al 1996 Participatory Communication for Social

Change.




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