LUSAKA, ZAMBIA – Government has commended Zambian Breweries’ Manja Pamodzi project for creating employment and helping reduce the disease burden by keeping the environment clean in the areas where it is operating.
Vice President Inonge Wina, during the second Manja Pamodzi anniversary celebrations held at Southern Sun Hotel in Lusaka, also pledged government’s support to progressive projects that were complementing government’s efforts and uplifting the standard of living for citizens.
“The project is in line with the government’s Keep Zambia Clean campaign. We as a government are happy with projects that are aimed at complementing our efforts. I am glad to hear that the project has about 400 collectors in the nine areas it is operating. This is good and commendable especially that almost 80 percent of these are women and they have started small businesses,” she said in a speech delivered on her behalf by as Minister in the Vice President Office Hon. Sylvia Chalikosa.
“This project has not only made the communities better to live in, it has created opportunities for the collectors and processors. I am informed that the project has partnered with some schools in Lusaka and it is educating pupils on the waste management and how to keep the environment clean. As government, we are glad to note that through the Manja Pamodzi project, Zambian Breweries is helping to create jobs for people in line with government’s efforts to create more employment opportunities for people and allow them to uplift their standard of living. I commend Zambian Breweries for this effort.”
Mrs Wina expressed happiness that the project had helped minimise the amount of littering in the communities through its environmental health education, and this had also helped reduce the drainage blockages.
She called on the project to expand to other parts of the country and urged more stakeholders to partner with the project.
Earlier outgoing Zambian Breweries country director Annabelle Degroot said the project had recorded considerable success and had collected over 2,500 tonnes of recyclable waste.
She said the project was working with partners, among them the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) Zambia, which has put in US$842,000.
Mrs Degroot said: “Since some of our products are packed in PET plastic bottles, cardboard cartons and HDPE plastic bottles we saw it fit to work towards a solution for waste management to reduce the impact on our communities. We saw this as an opportunity to generate employment opportunities in our communities while collecting this type of waste generated from many different companies.  We are pleased that we have managed 97% of our beer production into returnable glass bottles to reduce the impact of glass waste on our streets. Mrs Degroot urged government to consider a ban on plastic bags as some of our neighboring countries in the region have done.

Currently the project is in Mtendere, Chawama, Kalikiliki, Kalale, Matero, Chunga, N’gombe Chibolya and George compound, and has a total 399 collectors and eight aggregators. Of the 399, 79 percent – 314 – are women who have even started small businesses and are improving their lives.
In a speech read on her behalf, MCA Zambia CEO Pamela Kasese Bwalya said the Manja Pamodzi project fitted well with MCA’s agenda of improving sanitation in communities and also reducing drainage blockages.
“As you may be aware in the past years much money was being used in unblocking the drainage systems because people were just dumping their garbage in the drains. Now people know where to take the garbage and that the drainages are not bins. We are happy with the sensitisation campaigns on the importance of keeping both the environment clean and collection of recyclable waste,” she said.
Minister of Water Development Sanitation and Environmental Protection Hon. Lloyd Kaziya commended people for adopting a better way of disposing off the garbage. He urged people to adopt the keep Zambian Clean starting from their own homes because that is the starting point of making the nation clean.  About Manja Pamodzi
Manja Pamodzi is a community-based initiative that is helping to clean up post-consumer packaging waste in Lusaka, improving sanitation and hygiene as a result.
The project is achieving this by supporting a network of collectors and aggregators – initially in Chunga, Chawama and Kamwala – thus generating enterprise and alleviating poverty
The Manja Pamodzi is supported by Zambian Breweries plc, National Breweries and Heinrich’s Syndicate in partnership with the Lusaka City Council and others. About AB InBev in Zambia
Zambian Breweries Plc, along with its sister companies National Breweries and Heinrich’s Syndicate, is part of Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), the largest brewer in the world, with more than 400 beer brands and some 200,000 employees in over 50 countries. It is also one of the world’s largest bottlers of soft drinks.
Zambian Breweries was established in Zambia in 1968 and its product range has grown to include clear beers such as Mosi Lager, Castle, Carling Black Label and Eagle beer, as well as the Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta and Schweppes brands.
National Breweries produces the Chibuku brand opaque beer, while Heinrich’s makes the popular Maheu Super Shake range.