Kafue

Kafue
Country	Zambia
Province	Lusaka Province
District	Kafue District
Elevation	700 ft (200 m)
Population  (2000)
• Total	162,262

Kafue is a town in the Lusaka Province of Zambia on the north bank of the Kafue River, after which it is named. It is the southern gateway to the central Zambian plateau on which Lusaka and the mining towns of Kabwe and the Copperbelt are located.

Site

Kafue is at the south-eastern foot of a range of granite hills rising 200 m and extending over an area of about 250 km², and occupies a shelf of land between the hills and the river, just high enough to avoid its annual flood. The town extends along some shallow valleys between the hills. A 400 m wide strip of small farms and gardens separates the town from a bend of the river which is about 300 m wide in the dry season and 1.3 km wide in the rainy season, sometimes inundating a floodplain 10 km wide on the opposite bank, which consequently is uninhabited save for a few small villages or farms on higher ground.

Transport links

The Kafue River's 50 km wide floodplain, the Kafue Flats, is a 240 km long east-west barrier to road and rail connections between the centre of the country and the south. Kafue lies at the eastern end of the floodplain where the river enters the Kafue Gorge and flows down the Zambezi Escarpment into the middle Zambezi rift valley. Consequently it's strategically located at the only place where north-south road and rail can easily cross the Kafue River and squeeze through the gap between floodplain and escarpment. The Kafue Railway Bridge on the Lusaka–Livingstone line is at the south end of the town, and the Kafue Bridge 9km to south-east carries one of the busiest sections of the Great North Road across the river and brings it through the town, from where it continues 50 km north to Lusaka. In the other direction the road connects to the Zimbabwe border at the Chirundu Bridge, and the main southern highway to Livingstone, Botswana and Namibia branches off it just south of the Kafue Bridge.

The river is not used for commercial water transport. To the west it is too shallow and meandering and does not go near any centres of population, to the east is not navigable due to the Kafue Gorge and dam. However, subsistence fishing and recreational boating and sports fishing takes place on a 60 km stretch of the river above the dam.

Population

According to its 2000 Census, Kafue has a total population of 162,262, of which 83,421 are males and 78,841 are females.

Religion

Among people aged 15 years and above, 73.11% are Protestant, 11.08% belong to other religions, and 15.80% are not affiliated with any religion.

Industry

Agriculture and fishing are the traditional occupations of the area, and a commercial faming area extends along the edge of the Kafue Flats for 35 km north-west of the town. Commercial fishing operations of any size are limited to fish farming. Kafue has a larger proportion of manufacturing industries than most other towns outside the Copperbelt, having an industrial estate with housing and services called Kafue Estates. The industries there include:

• Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (agricultural fertilisers)
• Bata Tannery (shoe leather)
• Textiles

Other industries in or near the town:

• Kafue Fisheries Ltd was first established in 1981 with a five hectare pilot scheme. Over the succeeding years, the project has grown to its present size of 60 hectare ponds situated in the centre of 1800 hectare wildlife and cattle scheme. The whole aquaculture system is based on an integrated pig and fish enterprise with annual production of Tilapia exceeding 700 tonnes and 4000 pigs of the ‘heavy hog’ class.

For many years the system relied on the natural process of fertilization by the pig manure thus creating a dynamic and complex spectrum of micro life (algae, phytoplankton and zooplankton) on which the fish feed.

The dominant species have been Tilapia’s, using both indigenous O.Andersonii and imported O.Niloticus. The hatchery has evolved from using natural propagation in earthen ponds to selected brood stock in polytunnels, and the production of all male progeny using both super males and MT technology.

Intensification and yield increases have steadily been seen over the years with the introduction of aeration and the manufacture of a unique supplementary “green water floating pellet”. The formulation of the pellet was developed with cooperation of an international feed company and a UK based researched institute.

Historically the project has incorporated and tested several other species of fish (other Tilapia, Carp and Barbel) as well as trialling further aspects of integration (other livestock forms, vegetable varieties, rice and banana production).

The pedigree pig herd has over the last 15 years used some of the top bloodlines in Europe including genetic lines which originate as far away as Norway and Finland. The sale of breeding stock throughout Zambia has contributed significantly to the national herd and thus the domestic pork industry as a whole.

Finally KFL in 1988 was the first enterprise in Zambia to trial game-farming and its commercial potential. All aspects of game farming have been used including tourist facility, live sale, venison production and international hunting. At the time of writing the project carries approximately 1000 head of game with 16 different species of antelope utilizing the broad range of habitats. The Kafue Lechwe, which is unique to the floodplain on which the farm is based, has thrived as well as a range of other species which are rare in other areas of Africa. The bird count of 444 species recorded over the years is testament to the diversity and conservation of the habitats found within the property.

• Kafue Quarry produces construction aggregate for road building and general construction.
• Kafue Gorge Dam generates hydroelectricity 30 km downstream from the town, and at the end of the rainy season its reservoir extends back to the town.

• a cement works is proposed.