Developing appropriate skills in view of climate change

By Clive Mutame Siachiyako

Climate change is exerting pressure on different sectors. Right skills are required to adapt to climate variations. Transition to pro-environmental practices can be fostered by developing skills, knowledge and competences for green construction, manufacturing, and renewable energy generation and resource-efficient processes that can be integrated in businesses and communities.  

The TEVET sector is among key sectors in developing skills that foster green economic practices. To develop green skills in Zambia, TEVETA and International Labour Organisation have been working with different stakeholders to develop skills for green jobs in construction, energy and rainy water harvesting. The collaborative work has been anchored on the Zambia Green Jobs Programme (ZGJP). The programme supports the creation of green jobs among micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in construction and contribution to inclusive green job creation.

Green jobs are types of jobs that contribute to the preservation or restoration of the environment. They include jobs in manufacturing, construction and emerging green sectors such as renewable energy. The green jobs improve energy and raw materials efficiency, limit greenhouse gas emissions, minimise waste and pollution, protect and restore ecosystems, and support adaptation to the effects of climate change.

TEVETA has since developed curricula for different programmes under the Zambia Green Jobs Programme. Rain Water Harvesting is one of the programmes. Rainwater harvesting is a system of capturing rainwater for domestic, agricultural or industrial purposes. Harvesting rainy water is becoming a global trend due to depleting global water table. But in Zambia, there was skills gaps in harvesting water despite water table depletion. Thus, there was need to develop a qualification that met this gap. 

Furthermore, as the country shifts towards sustainable and green construction, there is need for the application of technology that preserve the environment and continually empower citizens. Rain Water Harvesting presents a number benefits to the environment and to the economy. Some environmental benefits include the prevention of water wastage through the collection of runoff; prevention of soil erosion; safeguarding and sustaining existing water table; increasing water viability; and ultimately addressing the impact of climate change. The Rain Water Harvesting programme leads to the production of skills in Rainwater Harvesting System Installation.

The other programme that seeks to produce green skills is Solar System Technology. In line with the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP), Zambia remains committed to the socio-economic development of the country including alternative energy provision. Demand for electricity in the country is high but hydro power generation cannot meet the demand resulting into power rationing. The situation has been exacerbated by effects of climate change on the availability of water since Zambia is highly dependent on hydro-power. The current projections indicate that growth in demand for power will increase from 150 MW to 200 MW per annum. The peak demand for electricity in the country is projected at 3,000 MW by 2020. It is envisaged that other sources of energy which included solar would grow to about 15 percent by 2030. To increase supply, there was need for additional investment in energy mix particularly solar energy which is quite abundant. 

However, the investment in solar technology can adequately be realised if there is availability of skilled workers with different levels of education.  It is against this background that TEVETA developed green skills programme in Solar Technology. The solar technology programme seeks to enhance quality training in the energy industry. The programme aims to equip the trainees with knowledge, skills and appropriate attitudes required to carry out installation works in solar technology applications.

Sustainable Building Works Supervision is the other green skills programme TEVETA developed. Building construction today is a substantial part of industrial culture, which can produce a widely varied built environment to serve the diverse needs of society. The construction sector greatly contributes to the Gross Domestic Product GDP) stimulated by demand from the mining sector, residential and commercial buildings. 

Although Zambia has trained a number of building works supervisors, they have not been grounded in sustainable construction practices. In line with the above, the Building Works Supervision Programme was reviewed to highlight the relationship between sustainable buildings, climate change, sustainable development and resource efficiency. Sustainable buildings or green buildings provide an opportunity to use resources efficiently while creating healthier buildings. Furthermore, the developed Sustainable Consumption and Production Programme and Sustainable Housing Guideline identifies sustainable buildings and construction as a priority area and promote a resource efficient approach.

This programme also promotes the creation of green jobs and decent work in the construction sector. The built environment comes with great impact on the environment, human health and the economy. By greening the construction sector we can transform this impact and enjoy an array of socio-economic benefits. In fact, going green makes good business sense and offers excellent opportunities for inclusive green growth, especially for local MSMEs.

Collaboration towards developing green skills to mitigate climate change effects in Zambia

By Clive Mutame Siachiyako

Actors in Zambia are working together to develop green curricula under the Zambia Green Jobs Programme (ZGJP) in view of pressures exerted by climate change on different sectors was highlighted. Many avenues have been pursued, but herein focus is on multi-stakeholder approaches being pursued to enhance green skills development to meet broad-based development in the country. Broadly, target areas include skills development in green building, clean transportation, water management, waste management, renewable energy and land management.

Government is working on medium and long term strategies to address climate change realities the country is experiencing. One of the approaches is to achieve green growth and development, which is about the use of natural resources sustainably. It is envisioned that green growth will lead to job creation in green industries (such as recycling) and shifting of some jobs as industries get greened (from fossil fuel to renewable energy). In the process, some jobs will be redefined as skills, production methods and job profiles are greened.  

Stakeholders from the academia, nongovernment organisations, government ministries and government agencies are mapping-out strategies to develop green skills, competences and awareness on climate change. The aim is to devise multi-sectoral green skills development strategies that meet changes in occupational standards in relation to green economic requirements. Upskilling, developing of new skills, identifying, aligning policies and greening curricula are the other focus areas.

Aligning policies, curricula and climate change strategies will help the country set common goals in mitigating impacts of climate change. Currently, green jobs and skills development has been limited to few sectors such as construction, energy and water management leaving out several sectors. The aim now is to come up long term approaches in greening economy whilst taking care of decent jobs, economic diversification, environmental protection, efficient natural resources usage and green skills development from secondary, trades training to university education.

The creation of value chain linkages among sectors is among the goals of the collaborative efforts in meeting green economic needs. Enterprises needs both human capital with green skills to produce and supply green goods and services and consumers that are pro-environmental minded in their lifestyles to consume the products. Training institutions need to revise and design training programmes that green the economy to make Zambian enterprises in construction, renewable energy, agriculture, and other sectors are some envisaged achievements by the multi-sectoral green economy efforts in the country.

The stakeholders recommended that greening the economy through TEVET was key in terms of developing green skills curricula and design green training systems. Stakeholders believe the TEVET sector can empower individuals to promote decent work and lifelong learning as the sector imparts hands-on and entrepreneurial skills and competencies for productivity, efficiency raw material usage and quality goods and services provision.

To promote the green economy, stakeholders’ consensus was that TEVET curricula should integrate principles of environmental sustainability to foster environmental responsibility for the realization of sustainable consumption and production patterns. Thus, skills and competencies for green occupations should be developed in TEVET at artisan, technician and technologist levels. Further, stakeholder felt TEVET should be thus positioned where it effectively contribute to the development of innovations and technological solutions needed to address climate change and to preserve environmental integrity.

The other recommendation was that TEVET’s role at individual, sectoral and national levels need to be refined in a manner that it promotes inclusive and sustainable economic growth. The role of TEVET in promoting green growth and development is emphasized in Chapter 36 of Agenda 21: “Promoting Education, Public Awareness and Training.” The TEVET has a dual function in this sense. Firstly, it has a job-specific focus to fill gaps in knowledge and skills that help individuals create (through entrepreneurial undertakings) and find employment in the green economy. The second function is to promote competences that are required for the green economy.

TEVET is about developing persons with hands-on skills the industry should readily use competitively to remain viable. That is what differentiates it from theoretical training. It deficiencies from the TEVET sector have long term development implications. For example, poorly trained electrical technician risks having a power station burning or solar energy system fail to function compared to theoretical inclined persons who hypothesis can have lesser effects.

The stakeholders agreed that education in general, and TEVET in particular is key in the transition to green economy and society because its links to the labour market (in curriculum development, practical test project development and assessment of practical competences, among others), thus help in ensuring that occupations become more sustainable. For example, technicians from the sector can be imparted with hands-on skills required to use of recycled raw materials or environmental friendly materials in the construction sector. The TEVET sector can also promote smooth transition towards renewable energy and sustainable forms of energy utilising artisanal skills acquired through industry stimulated learning systems.

Generally different actors are working on cross-cutting green skills development plan for education and training systems that ensure leaners acquire skills and competences needed for the green economy are developed. Therefore, education and TEVET sectors, labour market, business associations and other players’ coordination should be enhanced to ensure timely articulation and integration of green competences and concepts in occupation standards, curriculum development and learning systems to adapt to current and future career needs in the advent of climate change pressures.

Actions towards improved sanitation to prevent water borne diseases outbreaks

By Clive Mutame Siachiyako

The provision of quality sanitation is problematic in most Zambian towns, resulting into almost annual water borne diseases outbreaks. Many actions to keep Zambia clean have been tried with dismal results and abandoned. People's attitude, lack of skilled persons and lack of facilities to improve sanitation conditions have contributed to the bad performance of the country in sanitation provision. 

To address lack of skilled human capital in addressing sanitation issues, Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training Authority (TEVETA) in collaboration with the German development agency (GIZ) has developed curricula for new training programmes in sanitation and faecal sludge management (FSM). The training programmes have since been approved by TEVETA in line with sanitation programmes in councils in the country. The training programmes are meant to develop suitable skills to improve the management of on-site sanitation and to avert underground water contamination and water/soil pollutions that resulted into water borne diseases outbreaks such as cholera. Cholera at the beginning of 2018 paralysed business operations in most towns mostly Lusaka. The development of sanitation and faecal sludge management skills have been identified to be valuable to improve sanitation conditions in townships in the country.  

Zambia is one the most urbanised and fastest growing countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The rate of urbanisation has come with challenges in accessing sanitation, especially in peri-urban as population growth surpasses infrastructure and service delivery. Most of the people in peri-urban and rural areas rely on on-site satiation, which is predominantly characterised with the use of pit latrines and septic tanks. These facilities store and accumulate faecal sludge, hence posing a threat to human health through unsafe disposal when pits become full or ground water pollution in the areas where ground water table is high.

Lusaka has 35 settlements in peri-urban areas in which 70% of the population lives [more than 2 million] according to the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat). The city’s urbanisation rate increased from 3.3% [from 1990 t0 200] to 5% [from 2000 to 2010]. Rural- urban migration in search of economic opportunities exert more pressure on already stressed peri-urban communities where most rural migrants settle. As a result, access to social services that include safe water, adequate sanitation, energy and health in peri-urban areas is becoming a big challenge. Lack of safe sanitation facilities partly stems from unplanned settings of peri-urban areas that make it difficult to be connected to sewer systems. As a result, more than 75% of sewage and wastewater in Lusaka remain inadequately collected and treated.

The FSM training programmes are aimed at improving sanitation provision and utilisation of faecal sludge. The newly developed curricula in FSM are: Faecal Sludge Management Services, Inspection and Enforcement of Faecal Sludge Management, Manual Emptying of On-Site Sanitation Systems, Occupational Health and Safety in Faecal Sludge Management, Vacuum Truck Operations and Maintenance, and Operation and Maintenance of Faecal Sludge Treatment Plants. The programmes are meant to develop relevant skills in managing faecal sludge and making by-products in the faecal sludge value chain.

FSM is the collection, transport, and treatment of faecal sludge from pit latrines, septic tanks or other on-site sanitation systems. Faecal sludge is a mixture of human excreta, water and solid wastes (such as toilet paper and menstrual hygiene materials) that are disposed in pits, tanks or vaults of on-site sanitation systems. It comes from onsite sanitation technologies, and has not been transported through a sewer. Examples of onsite technologies include pit latrines, public ablution blocks not connected to sewer system, septic tanks, aqua privies, and dry toilets. Sludge management skills are significant to improve sanitation in townships where pit latrines are mostly used and in areas where sewer networks are not connected to sewer ponds.

FSM requires safe and hygienic pit latrine and septic tank emptying services, effective treatment of faecal sludge solids and liquids for possible making of by-products. It includes on-site and offsite treatment options and the dispersal or capture and further processing of the products of the treatment process into biogas, compost manure and energy. Currently, faecal sludge is not well utilised in Zambia. It is landfilled, discharged to the environment or kept underground in septic tanks and pit latrines. On-site sanitation is a system of sanitation whose storage facilities are contained within the plot occupied by people and their immediate surrounding.

Suitable sanitation is imperative in any community. Being rated as one of the most urbanized and fastest growing countries by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Zambia faces challenges with access to sanitation. High urbanisation levels, lack of equipment, and shortage of skilled persons in sludge management are attributed to compound sanitation challenges. Current estimates place pit latrine usage in peri-urban areas at 90% while 10% are either connected to the sewerage network or use septic tanks. Unlined pit latrines are the ones mostly used in peri-urban areas and emptying them is done by household members or informal-empting individuals.

Broadly, peri-urban communities use improperly managed pit latrines and flushable toilets with poorly designed septic tanks. Illegal empting companies are often engaged when their faecal sludge facilities are full. The sludge tend to be thrown in pits dug next to toilets or thrown into the environment. Faecal sludge dumped into the environment is harmful to ground water. On average, five cubic meters truckload of untreated faecal sludge thrown into the bush is equivalent 5 000 people practicing open defecation and can result in surface or ground water and soil pollution thereby causing water born disease outbreaks. Recently, more than 4000 cholera cases were recorded in Lusaka’s Kanyama, Chipata, Matero, Bauleni and Chainda townships. Most of these townships have high ground water tables polluted by faecal sludge from pit latrines and poorly constructed septic tanks.

Government formulated the Urban Sanitation Strategy for effective management of on-site sanitation facilities in line with the Lusaka City Council (LCC) on-site sanitation catalogue. The LCC is also working on by-laws towards on-site sanitation and faecal sludge management, whilst National Water Supply and Sanitation Council and Zambia Bureau of Standard are developing an on-site sanitation regulatory framework, guidelines and standards. Other programmes such as Lusaka Sanitation Programme (LSP) have been put in place to scaling up sanitation. The LSP aims at improving sanitation services using an integrated approach involving rehabilitation, upgrading, and expanding sewerage. The LSP further focuses on improving sanitation in peri-urban areas, informal settlements, and raising citizens’ awareness around sanitation, public health and environmental protection. Therefore, it is necessary to have suitably skilled and qualified staff to lead and manage the on-site sanitation services business.

TEVETA Manager Curriculum Development, Kennedy Bowa said the training programmes in FSM will ensure full integration of faecal sludge personnel in guiding faecal sludge plant operations. The skilled persons in this area will be responsible for operational excellence in the overall chain including capturing, containment, emptying, transportation, treatment and safe re-use or disposal of faecal sludge. Government and cooperating partners considered decentralised faecal sludge treatment plants as an important component of a comprehensive and efficient FSM chain as they ensure safe treatment of faecal sludge and the subsequent safe disposal of faecal sludge and by-products of on-site sanitation systems. Performance of faecal sludge treatment plants depends on proper operation and maintenance, conditions largely reliant on the availability of relevant skilled human resources deployed for the required operation and maintenance works.

Currently, managing faecal sludge treatment plants in the country experiences major challenges mainly due to lack of adequately trained and qualified staff. Existing skills and knowledge acquired by practitioners in the field are self-taught as there are no formally established institutions for capacity building in this area. The situation jeopardizes public health as practitioners offer services according to their own knowledge and experience in the industry. The training programmes entail systematic emptying of faecal sludge pits, ferry the faecal sludge to designated waste stabilisation ponds for separation and treatment. Public health enforcers of quality faecal sludge management will be up-skilled for them to ensure sanitation standards are adhered to in the whole value chain of faecal sludge management.

Solutions for effective and sustainable FSM presents a significant global need. FSM is a relatively new field, however, it is currently rapidly developing and gaining acknowledgement. Effective management of faecal sludge systems entails transactions and interactions among a variety of people and organisations from the public, private and civil society at every step in the service chain, from the household level user, to collection and transport companies, operators of treatment plants, and the final end-user of treated sludge. Sewer systems and FSM can be complementary, and frequently do exist side-by-side.