32
%
of the population of Zambia don’t have access to safe water, that’s 6.4 million people.
64
%
of the population of Zambia don’t have access to sanitation, that’s 12.8 million people.
82
%
of the population of Zambia don’t have access to basic hygiene facilities, that’s 16.4 million people.
Our Work in Zambia
In Zambia we work with country partners in communities, schools and health centres in the Central, Eastern, and Copperbelt Provinces. Here we do work ranging from rehabilitating and drilling new boreholes to installing piped water networks, building latrines, and providing hygiene training.
We encourage community members to form WASH committees, who are responsible for maintaining boreholes and collecting user fees to help pay for small repairs if things break down. This helps to encourage community ownership. WASH committees work with local Area Pump Mechanics, our country partners, and District Government to maintain boreholes, and strengthen the sustainability of our projects.
Zambia Background
Zambia is a country of 20.72 million people in southern Africa.
Zambia’s economy has been one of the world’s fastest growing in recent years, but despite this strong growth, 3 out of 4 Zambians still live in extreme poverty. The country faces major challenges: high unemployment, low agricultural productivity, inadequate infrastructure, poor educational outcomes, and the impact of HIV and AIDS. We work with remote rural communities relying on subsistence agriculture and including livestock such as cattle and goats.
Zambia is currently undergoing the worst droughts in 100 years, causing major crop and livestock losses. According to ongoing reports from the UN, 84 out of 116 districts in the country have been affected by this crisis in 2024, with many households struggling to meet their basic needs, including access to food. The decreased access to water has also led to outbreaks of water-borne diseases, and food shortages. In the absence of safe water and food, hygiene practices are compromised, increasing diarrhoea cases, including the cholera outbreak in October 2023 with over 21,000 reported cases, which Zambia is still recovering from. Zambia has one of the highest malnutrition and stunting levels in sub–Saharan Africa: 32% of children are stunted and 3% of children are acutely wasted (Have low weight for height) according to Demographic and Health Survey 2024.