NAMWALA CULTURAL AND TRADITIONAL TRUST
NACTT
About Us
Team
Vision
Partners
Namwala District
Strategy
Partners and Sponsors
The Namwala Cultural and Traditional Trust understands that to continue to deliver state of the art technological solutions adaptive to culturally appropriate animal husbandry we rely on national and international technical advisors and scientists to continue to deliver state-of-the-art solutions.
NACTT welcomes interested professionals and organizations to collaborate with us and assist us with our efforts.
NACTT ensures effective communication of innovative technological information and findings to keep up knowledge to end users.
NACTT strives to be a center of excellence to continue to attract professional network of scientists and support staff and volunteers skilled in animal husbandry, ecological and wildlife management.
Description of the Area
Namwala is situated in the southern province of Zambia. It is a rural District and shares its boundaries with Monze (South East), Choma (South), Kalomo (South) and Itezhi-Tezhi (North West) districts.
It is located 170 km North West of Choma District and 158 km from Monze and 350 km from Lusaka. Most parts District lie in the Kafue basin zone with seasonal flooding being prevalent. It covers an estimated total area of about 10,000 square Kilometers and lies between latitudes 15 and 17 degrees south of the equator and longitude 25 and 27 degrees east.
The District is predominantly composed of indigenous Ila with immigrants who are mainly fishermen from Western, Luapula and Eastern Provinces.
Kafue Flats
The Kafue Flood Plains
Historically, prior to the construction of the Itezhi-Tezhi dam the Kafue Flood Plains were listed by the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) as a Ramsar wetland of international importance and listed amongst the major wetlands of the world. The area is rich in biodiversity endemic to the region, home to the Kafue lechwe and over 500 bird species including the endangered wattled crane.
Wetlands exist through seasonal flooding of rivers along lowland regions around river systems. The effect of the dam has been inadequate grazing therefore it is the Trust’s urgent mandate to create sustainable foraging practices and improve upon traditional practices by educating the community on grassland management.
Pastoralism and Artesian fishing has been adversely affected by the interruption of annual cycle of floodplains of the Kafue River. Added to that changing rainfall patterns tempered by climate change and the immigration of an Australian weed called Mimosa Pigra, and encroachment of shrubs and trees on the flats which has further interfered with grazing lands.
Our Core Values
NACTT is committed to:
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Harmonious beef producing region that benefits the entire community
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Strong cultural identity that promotes inclusive social harmony
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Holistic value chain of livestock and wildlife industry that promotes environmental mainstreaming
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Excellence and high standards
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Partnerships at local, national and international level
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Alleviation of poverty interventions
NACTT achieves our objectives by placing an emphasis on the role of stakeholder-led demand-driven market research for development.
NACTT provides beef producers the relevant and practical technological information and advice required to become competitive in the changing landscape of beef production in Zambia. This training focuses on improved productivity and quality to enhance profitability value addition and result in market competitiveness.
NACTT works at increasing community education and awareness through training of sustainable wildlife practices.
NACTT believes in sustainable development practices built on the inherent wisdom found in our traditional cultural institutions and practices. We do this under a framework that ensures protection for our environment, wildlife, livestock and cultural values.
Why NACTT?
The Namwala district is home to the Ila people and the fishing communities of the Baatwa. The Ila people’s livelihood has for centuries been their rich heritage of cattle. The most important resource to the Ila has been the rich ecosystem of wetlands of the Kafue Flats with the undulating flood plains. Since the development of the Itezhi Tezhi dam the seasonal flooding has been adversely affected reducing pastureland and has brought about changes in the ecology of the region.
Pastoralism
NACTT works at mitigating inter-related challenges through behavioral change strategies by creating community awareness, capacity building, creation of value added opportunities for the social, economic and spiritual wellbeing of the Ila people.
Cultural Identity of the Ila People
NACTT strives to promote strong cultural identity for the Ba Ila. This is done by reviewing and documenting our cultural heritage through the recording of oral history.
Social Harmony of Namwala District
NACTT acts as a crucible to collect and collate the history of the Ba Ila to form cultural expression that can continue to be highlighted in all forms of Ila way of life to create social harmony within the various pastoralist and fishing communities.
Environment of the Kafue Flats and Surrounding Area
NACTT is earnest at cultivating awareness on the sustainable use of Namwala District resources. At the forefront of this approach is to ensure value chain approach in the management of disease risk through holistic livestock training and wildlife health and environmental harmony and development.
Economic Advancement of the Namwala District
NACTT believes that the sustainability of the Namwala district lies in the building upon age-old pastoralist practices to tap into the immense potential of beef production. To this end, the development of the Namwala district beef industry is at the forefront of the districts economic development strategy.
Partnerships
NACTT partners with local and international organizations to increase capacity, through training and awareness and improve value addition to traditional pastoralism.
Tourism
NACTT is committed to the promotion of cultural and eco-tourism and ensuring community employment in
the region’s tourism potential.
Gender Based Issues
NACTT highlights the empowerment of women while respecting cultural values and norms. We aim to do this by community participation, raising awareness of gender violence, promoting women’s rights. We are active at repealing customary laws that marginalize girls and women in any way.
Board Members
Chief Wesley Mukobela – CHAIRMAN
Chief Victor Mungaila
Chief Bright Nalubamba
Chief Chitongo
Chief Muchila
Gilbert Vlahakis
Gwen Namainga Jones
Management
Lawrence Phiri – PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
Misheck Mapani – LEGAL
Oliver Shichozha – AGRICULTURE
Mutinta Nkhetani – NGO
Kelvin Simukondwi – COUNCIL
Linnie Kaile – SOCIAL WELFARE
Robinson Bwato – EDUCATION
Chiimbo Mbula – COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, DVO VETERENARY SCIENCE
Sydney Ngwira – SKILLS ACCOUNTS
Advisory Board
Namwala Friends Society
Shatis Vlahakis
WWF
Ramsar
CITES
Our Vision
The Namwala Cultural and Traditional Trust (NACTT) aims to create a robust productive society that harnesses modern technological solutions while cherishing traditional culture and environment.
Our Mission
To promote socio economic development and empowerment in the livestock sector while conserving indigenous culture, wildlife, fisheries and ecologies of the Namwala district of Southern Zambia.
Our Objectives
To increase competitiveness of Namwala Cultural, Pastoral, Wildlife, Fishing activities on the national and international market; this will ultimately increase incomes, reduce poverty and improve and protect livelihoods of the Ila and Baatwa communities of Southern Province of Zambia.
The key areas to be addressed:
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Livestock training using sustainable grazing practices through a bottom up consultative based curriculum tailored specifically for the area
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Ila language curriculum training
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Training beef farmer’s livestock business methods to encourage sales of animals at peek to improve selling prices
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Demonstrate to farmer’s losses from selling before slaughter age to gain better market access
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Overall upgrade of genetics of herd
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Native Indigenous breed
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Feedlot fattening groups rotational grazing to avoid over grazing
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Improve climate change adaptation strategies related to rangeland, livestock marketing and cropping
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Develop strong regional response to improve uptake of beef production
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Introduce production of fodder to improve productivity
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Create Value Chain of beef production
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Ongoing research to address key issues that affect the sustainability of rangelands
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Improved wildlife and livestock integrated management
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Assist in the reduction of animal poaching
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Protect endangered species
Economic and Agriculture Sector Performance
The strategy of the Namwala Cultural and Traditional Trust will be carried out through:
Education Behavior change strategies on livestock training following an approach to integrate wildlife management.
We will further focus practices on animal and human health, animal production, marketing and trade of animals and their products and land use options while upholding cultural, traditional, ecological values.
The Namwala Cultural and Traditional Trust (NACTT) was established by Chief Wesley Mukobela, with the consultation of the leaders of the local Namwala District community, Gilbert Vlahakis and Gwen Namainga Jones.
The Namwala Cultural and Traditional Trust represents all Ba Ila and Baatwa people in the Namwala district which is divided into 4 Blocks namely Mukobela, Mungaila, Chitongo and Muchila. These blocks are in turn subdivided into 15 camps; Namwala Central, Baambwe, Ngabo, Kabulamwanda, Kantengwa, Maala, Chitongo, Nakamboma, Bwizu, Ndema, Shimashikwe, Ichila, Moobola, Kaabwe, and Muchila.
Decisions are made in an inclusionary framework through the institution of the Trust. The Ba Ila have embraced the vision and mission of NACTT. They know that sustainability will only be possible by embracing technology and building on traditional knowledge to blend and fuse for the betterment of the community.
