The name is absent

194

VIII. Desertion of settlement schemes

The information of rate of desertion of settlement schemes is scanty though several references
are made to the fact that some people originally settled left the schemes. Also, there is little
information about why people left the schemes, and what encouraged those that remained to do so.
The only time series data on desertion identified (Mbulo 1983) refer to seven rural reconstruction
centers in the Southern province. According to this study, in 1975, the combined settler population
was 1,985. By 1982, the number of people still settled in the seven schemes was only 278. See table
6.11.

Table 6.11: Desertion rate from resettlement centers

Source: M.P. Mbulo, "Some Issues in the Development of Settlement Schemes in the Southern Province"
(1983).

IX. Type of production on schemes

Nowhere in the data available to the researchers is there detailed information on types of
agricultural activities, output, exact amounts of input or incomes of the settlers. From the vague
information gathered, maize was the main crop grown. Other crops included sorghum, tobacco,
sugarcane, and vegetables. Livestock included cattle and poultry. This should be an area of research
during future study of settlement programs in Zambia. The information would give better insight into
issues of desertion, level of enrollment, and why some schemes were abandoned by the government
or nongovernmental funding agencies. The best source of such information is a report on the
agricultural settlement schemes compiled by Mpenda, Jaboni, Mtonga (1983), which, except for its
size (109 pages), would have been attached to this report as an annex. The report, however, is readily
available through the University of Zambia Library and should be consulted by researchers carrying
out future study.

X. Settlement schemes and conservation issues

Very little is recorded on land resource conservation issues as they relate to settlement schemes
in Zambia. What the available information seems to suggest is that those areas for which detailed farm

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