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Zambia, Africa

ZAM16 - Chaba Christian Care Group

• View report dated: July 7, 2015

• View report dated: December 23, 2015

• View report dated: July 28, 2016

• View report dated: November 10, 2016

• View report dated: August 21, 2017

• View report dated: December 19, 2017

• View report dated: May 14, 2018

• View report dated: March 29, 2019

• View report dated: May 5, 2020

• View report dated: October 28, 2020

• View report dated: February 17, 2022

• View report dated: August 15, 2022

• View report dated: May 16, 2023

• View report dated: February 13, 2024

• View report dated: August 14, 2024

• View report dated: March 27, 2025

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Report Date: July 14, 2025

Report from BHW Zambia Partnership Facilitator Following Visit 23rd June

Key People: Amos Chomba, Peter Chomba

I travelled 70km across Lake Bangelwu on a boat that took 6 hours each way with Peter Chomba and Amos from Samfya, so was able to use the time to talk. We visited with all the CCCG executive, to discuss the partnership and the future.

Recent Events

Peter Chomba

In November 2024 Peter suffered an event that meant he couldn’t talk or walk. He has since been receiving medical treatment in Samfya and Lusaka.

Peter came with us on the boat, and I was very surprised as to how well he was. They tell me he has shown a lot of improvement in the last two months. He still has problems with names and words, and walking is difficult.

He has his home in Samfya that he has been building since 2011 which is a good size. Also on the plot is a house for his son Philemon and they are building a block of two flats to have passive income. His farm has gone well with his wife spending time there.

His agriculture supply shop is nearing completion with three shops built side by side. He will lease two of the shops to have passive income. 

Rice Mill (ZAM16a)

The rice mill has been out of action since 2023. It was installed in 2011 and had been working well providing the local rice farmers a milling service and providing a little income for the partnership activities (approx. 1,000zmk per year). There is still no other mill in the area.

In 2023 they found that the two employed workers were in fact stealing the funds. They sacked them and Brown Chomba worked in the mill himself. Then they had a breakdown with the cylinder seals. They gave some funds to a “travelling man” who was going to get the new parts from Lusaka, but two years later and he has not returned.

Meanwhile, thieves broke into the mill and stole more parts from the mill. It has been a bit of a disaster. 

However the group is very keen to get the mill repaired, and Brown will run it. Farmers in the area are always crying “why can’t you restart the mill”. Brown will put together a budget of what is required to present to BHW for consideration. 

Church Extension Discipleship Programme

They were about to start another two-year course in Chilubi, a neighbouring province where they go each month to be with a group of selected church members. However, due to Peter's illness, it was agreed to postpone this in 2025 and reconsider the programme once the new leadership has become more established. A possibility is to run the programme through Samfya Bible School who originated the programme.

Rice Trading Programme

Due to Peter's illness, it is unclear what has happened to this programme. The executive members will continue to investigate to see what has happened to the initial capital fund of US$2,200.

Farming Trainings and Loans

These programmes (cassava, maize, rice and soyabeans) continue to run each year, with a farming training held in August for both previously trained farmers and new farmers. After the training, loans are given to purchase farming inputs, and then the trainers also make at least one follow-up visit to each farmer during the season, as well as going to collect the loan funds.

Judas says that after some problems with people defaulting around Covid time, people have been very faithful as they see the loan as a way to ensure they can get funds for inputs again the following year, i.e. the loan is used more as a revolving credit fund. Some of the interest gained is used to help give the trainers and loan officers a stipend to complete the work as it has become quite a large task, but any funds left over means they can add more people to the programme.

The cassava is a little different, as people are just given seed sticks and as explained below, this programme has gone amazingly well.

They are due to have another training in August 2025 but in talking with the executive, since Peter will not be attending there is a need to send three people to be trained firsthand in Foundations for Farming. This is being investigated at the Mukishi centre in Zambia. 

Executive Leadership

The Executive leadership team consists of:
Amos Chomba (see personal story)
Daruis Kalima (see personal story)
Brown Chomba
Judas Chomba
Grace Chomba
Eunice
Gertrude
Peter Chomba
Philemon Chomba (Peter's son based in Samfya who oversees the bank account) 

 

Personal Stories

Amos Chomba (Judas' son)

Amos got married to Irene in 2015 and has three children, Barnabus, Amos Junior and Misach. He is very thankful for his wife who he calls a helper and friend.

He is a qualified teacher after attending college once Judas was able to raise funds but has been waiting for placement and a job for two years. Currently he has a farm of five hectares which takes him two hours to cycle to. They grow two hectares of maize and 1.5 hectares of cassava on the farm.

Growing up his family was poor and although he passed grade 7 exams, they couldn’t afford to send him to grade 8. Thankfully CCCG came in and sponsored him through to grade 12. Amos attended Samfya Bible School in 2011.

He received salvation “when he was a little bit young”. The preacher talked about the love of God in John 3:16. Everything in creation was given to us then sin came though Adam and Eve and brought death. But in Christ we can have life. He realised he wanted the life that is in Christ. 

Amos is an Elder in the church and an evangelist.  

Elitah Mulenga

Elitah is a cassava farmer and has been in the CCCG farming project for five years. She started in 2020. She used to grow some cassava for home consumption, but the yield was not good as the variety could only be harvested every three years. In the training she was taught to space the plants 1m by 1m but decided to plant out at ½ metre spacing. She learnt to do no ridges, apply mulch, and weed more than just once.

Last season she planted a total of 3 lima (3/4 ha) with plants that mature in one season, so when planted in November she can harvest the following November. She harvested 35 bags of pounded cassava and uses 12 bags per year to feed her family. The rest she sells for 400zmk in Chaba, or up to 600zmk in the surrounding islands. This has given her household an income of around 13,000zmk (US$600) that she uses to buy uniforms, books, pens and other school requirements. She has three children and one grandchild that she looks after. 

She is very thankful for this programme as she no longer fears poverty and is able to provide well for her family. 

Darius Kalima 

Darius is 26 years old and is trying to finish his secondary education. Last year he sat his final grade 12 exams but ended up failing one paper, so this year has to re-sit. His plan is to go to an education centre in Serenge district called Malcom Moffat to study to be a primary teacher. His uncle used to help support him through school but is now not around. His parents are around but do not help him at all with his schooling. 

He is not married but has a two-year-old daughter called Memory. 

To help get himself through school he has been part of the soyabean programme since 2021. He was trained where they showed him how to cultivate to prepare the land, plant, apply fertilizer and weed the field. He planted 1 lima each year after receiving a loan of 1,000zmk for farming inputs. He has faithfully paid back the loan each year to receive another loan.

In 2024 he harvested 3 bags which he sold to locals by the gallon. He received a price of 110zmk per gallon, with 8 gallons in a bag. His total income was 2,500zmk (US$107) which enabled him to repay the loan and put some funds aside to help pay for his school fees. 

Simon Mwansa 

Simon was marred in 2022 to Florence, the daughter of Judas Chomba. They have had one daughter who is now 3 years old. Simon used to go to the fishing camps, living there for up to 10 months of the year, even when he was a child with his father, but the fishing industry is very difficult to make a living from now.

CCCG helped him with his schooling requirements from grade 6 to grade 12. He passed his exams and then went to a teacher training college in Kasama. He has qualified as a teacher in science but has not been placed into a job yet. 

He heard about the maize training and loan programmes in 2023 and thought it was good idea. He has seen improvement in life as he is able to manage his family. In 2023 he planted 2 lima and harvested 15 bags of maize. There was a struggle with drought, but he managed to make 5,000zmk (US$215) from the sale of the bags to help with life.

In 2024 he has planted 3 lima and the harvest is looking great. He will harvest everything in July. He made compost (Findikila) and weeded three times. He was visited during the season at planting time by the farming officers. 

Sara Mwansa 

Sara is a rice farmer who has been growing rice for 30 years. She has a role in CCCG as the rice farmers' coordinator. She started in the Chaba farming and loan programme in 2020. Before that she used to just grow to feed herself and family but now is able to sell some. She used to harvest only two bags but now harvests over 10 bags. The reason for the increase is a loan for capital and the training techniques she has learnt. These include use of fertilizer and lime, no burning of the field and use of mulch instead.  

She planted 2 lima last season (2024) and harvested 10 bags. The current season she planted 3 lima but there has been some drought which will affect her harvest. Each year she has received a loan of 400zmk which she has always repaid July /August with 10% interest. She also grows bananas, sugar cane, maize, and cassava. Her husband Benjamin works with her in the fields. They have three children in grade 8, grade 5 and grade 4.  

 

Partnership's Influence within the Community

The impact of the CCCG over the past two decades has been immense. In discussion with the beneficiaries, it is obvious that in many ways severe poverty has been alleviated. The farming programme helping to increase yields for maize, cassava, rice and soyabeans has provided the means for families to be self-sustaining.

Chaba used to be a fishing village, where many people would go to the fishing camps with their children (who then wouldn’t be educated) for ten months of the year, but now the lake is very over fished, and that business is very hard so many people are turning to farming.

The cassava programme has really benefited a lot of people. After training, a farmer receives cassava seed stick to plant ¼ of a lima. The seed sticks are a better variety that matures in one year. After a year, the grower gives back enough seed sticks for two more farmers to plant ¼ lima. After starting with 20 farmers in the first year, the group now has over 600 farmers in the group. Most have multiplied to over 2 lima of cassava, which provides enough food of 12 bags for consumption and more than 20 to sell for household income. The price per bag they receive for pounded cassava is 400zmk to 600zmk (US$20 - $30).

People are also very thankful for the church extension discipleship programme and are saying that it has had such an influence in the community with church members having an educated understanding of the bible.

 

Ideas for the Future

We are currently look at getting three people trained at the Mukushi Foundations for Farming training centre, prior to running more trainings in Chaba and Mwinsa. The course costs 3,700zmk (US$160) per person, plus 1,200zmk (US$50) transport per person. 

Regarding the church extension discipleship programme, the plan is to redirect the funding to Samyfa Bible School and let them run these trainings from now on. 

Potential youth programme: They are keen to send some school leavers to trade schools who would commit to coming back to Chaba and setting up a business / training centre in Chaba. I am awaiting more information on this. 

There is also the possibility of including a new farming crop of ground nuts.

 

Comments

It was good to spend some time with Amos and get to know him. He seems to have taken over being the leader of the group, which was obvious when we were all together with the executive. I walked to his home to meet his family. His children came running out to see him and he very much engaged with them which I find great as many Zambian men just ignore their children.

We talked a lot about how Bright Hope World partners with local people to achieve their own vision, which he seems to understand. 

I think it is good to carry on with the farming trainings and loan programme as Judas mostly runs those. I am keen to send three of them for FFF training as soon as possible to learn firsthand and hopefully Amos, Simon and Daruis will go.