We have successfully built a number of new schools, and improved existing community schools, assisted by kind donations from like-minded partners.
Projects undertaken to date include:
Community:
Health, Education & Livelihoods
Overview
Our operational sites are based in remote locations, surrounded by small, rural communities.
We work collaboratively with these communities to develop and fund projects that will deliver long-term benefits for local people in health, education and livelihoods.
We build schools, provide health clinics and establish farming cooperatives, including women’s chicken farms, to empower and provide independence for local women.
We are careful to ensure that the projects we support are those that, once established, the community and local government will be able to sustain and develop on their own into the future. We think it is important that communities have ownership of their means of income-generation, independent of the company.
Process of Implementation
Gemfields’ community liaison team speaks with communities to develop project ideas based on what has been requested, and then presents these to the relevant government authorities for approval.
The process undertaken then depends on the project in hand.
Health
Addressing health issues in the developing world is a serious challenge. The prevalence of chronic diseases such as HIV/AIDs and malaria can destroy communities.
We are proud of our track record in improving access to basic health services in the remote areas in which we operate. We recognise that in more remote locations, the state cannot always provide the services, transport and reliable infrastructure to give people access to healthcare. Our primary focus is on improving healthcare infrastructure, outreach and education, either through rehabilitating existing clinics or building new ones with the support of local government. We have also launched innovative services, such as mobile health clinics and an ambulance, which are effective at reaching parts of the community that are too far from static medical facilities.
Health projects undertaken to date include:
Providing two mobile health clinics to support 10 communities in the Namanhumbir Administrative Post of Mozambique, which had previously depended on a single health facility. From March 2017 to December 2020, more than 145,000 consultations were held.
Constructing the Nkana Health Centre in Zambia, This was completed in 2016 and servi a local population of 10,000 people.
Constructing an outpatient ward for the Namanhumbir Health Centre in Mozambique.
Donating an ambulance in 2020 to assist mothers in labour and other urgent health issues in Mozambique.
Supporting Covid-19 efforts in Zambia, including the donation of disinfectants, cleaning products and public health posters to Nkana Health Centre, other medical supplies to the government for distribution, disinfectants in public places and both PPE and cleaning items to schools in the Lufwanyama area.
Distributing face masks, hygiene kits, disinfectant and awareness posters in the local communities, health centres and schools in Mozambique, as well as running local radio announcements to raise hygiene awareness in response to Covid-19.
Education
We operate in countries that have exceptionally low levels of basic literacy and numeracy. Provision of education to children is fundamental to development, but many children leave school because of the distances that need to be travelled, the quality of the teaching, the lack of infrastructure and the cost of attendance.
Schools
- Building three primary schools with 13 classrooms and six teacher houses (in Nanune, Mpene and Nseue villages in Mozambique), as well as rehabilitating one primary school with five classrooms in Nanune village. Combined, these have capacity for 2,000 students;
- Providing school tours in Mozambique with children from six schools in seven communities, which improve learning through visits to places of historic, cultural and touristic relevance;
- Constructing and equipping the new Chapula Secondary School in Zambia, which comprises 10 classrooms, two science laboratories, a computer room, library, home economics laboratory, needlework room and administrative block, as well as two ablution blocks;
- Constructing new buildings at Chapula Primary School and building teachers’ accommodation at Kapila Community School, both in Zambia.
Vocational Training Centre
We have built a vocational training centre and launched a seven-year vocational training programme in Mozambique, aimed at equipping 2,100 community members with vocational skills, such as masonry and carpentry, to improve their employability and self-employment.
Adult Education
Adult learning is an important factor in rural economic development. We have helped groups to gain access to school infrastructure for after-school classes.
In addition, we have sought partners to provide educational courses, such as courses that aim to improve financial management in family businesses and encourage entrepreneurship, as well as promoting inclusion and citizenship.
Scholarships
Gemfields is sponsoring 12 students from the geological and mining engineering departments at the School of Mines at the University of Zambia (UNZA) and Copperbelt University (CBU) over a period of eight years.
Livelihoods
A focus on livelihood development means that Gemfields funds activity that can support sustainable economic development in the community. This could be any project generating sustainable income.
In the areas in which we operate, communities tend to lack steady income to take them out of poverty. In remote areas, subsistence farming is the norm, but this is unsustainable in the long term, as farmers are only able to provide food for themselves and sell what little is left in a piecemeal way. Our approach is to invest in high-impact livelihood projects, in particular farming associations that produce year-round food crops and rear animals as a form of income.
In both Zambia and Mozambique, we have been instrumental in setting up farming associations that are recognised legally in each country and have basic governance, ensuring that all members that participate will share in the benefits.
After a period of investment and educational support, we hand over full ownership of each project to the community. While we continue to provide help should they need it, the intention is that the community should recognise the long-term benefit of the project and manage it themselves. We are particularly conscious of the importance of economic inclusion and actively seek out ways to cooperate with women’s and youth groups.
In addition, the mining operations are an immediate customer for locally grown produce – whether it’s vegetables or chickens – and we negotiate a fair market price for any produce sold.
Projects to date include:
- Establishing nine farming associations in Mozambique, which benefit more than 400 local farmers through skills training, improved seeds, pesticides and agricultural equipment, improving yield by 200%. Two of these are chicken-production projects, providing a source of regular income for women, which has produced 35,000 chickens since it began in 2016;
- Providing one tractor and agricultural implements to assist local communities in Mozambique with agricultural production;
- Providing support for agricultural projects at the Blessing, Kapila Green Farms, Twende and Twasanta projects in Zambia, including distribution of farming inputs;
Ad-hoc Projects
In 2017, our Mozambican mine was honoured for having the ‘Best Social Responsibility Practices’ by the Government of Cabo Delgado. In addition to the above, we have undertaken ad-hoc projects in Zambia and Mozambique, such as:
Distributing sports equipment to six different schools in seven Mozambican communities;
Providing 150 bicycles to improve the mobility of communities in the Namanhumbir Administrative post;
Opening 12 holes of drinking water and rehabilitating an additional four in different Mozambican villages;
Provision of a ZESCO power line in Zambia;
Donating food for displaced people in Cabo Delgado in 2021;
Rehabilitating the 18.7km road connecting Chief Nkana and Chief Lumpuma’s chiefdoms from Kandole to Kafwaya village in Lufwanyama district.
Results
Gemfields has provided education for children that didn’t previously have it, health initiatives have enhanced life expectancy and livelihood development has created year-round income for families that wouldn’t otherwise be able to generate this.
Primary age children have been able to attend school for the first time.
Seven local communities in Mozambique are now able to access vital health care each month (approximately 7,000 to 8,000 patient visits per month).
Income-generating agricultural projects have enabled farmers to open secondary businesses or send children to school.
A new school has opened in Zambia, in an area that previously had only basic facilities.
Over 300 students have graduated from the vocational training centre in Mozambique.
Five graduates benefited from the Kagem scholarship scheme, two of whom went on to have internships with Kagem.
Statistics regarding health clinic visits are provided to us by the Ministry of Health.
Information on schools is provided by relevant local education departments.
Information about livelihoods/incomes is provided by the farming association members themselves.