Kazungula is a small border town in Zambia, lying on the north bank of the

Zambezi River The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...

about west of Livingstone on the M10 Road. At Kazungula, the territories of four countries (

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

, and

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

) come close to meeting at a

quadripoint A quadripoint is a point on Earth where four distinct political territories meet. The territories can be of different types, such as national and provincial. In North America, several such places are commonly known as Four Corners (disambiguatio ...

. It has now been agreed that the international boundaries contain two

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

s joined by a short line roughly long forming a boundary between Zambia and Botswana, now crossed by the

Kazungula Bridge Kazungula Bridge is a road and rail bridge over the Zambezi, Zambezi River between the countries of Zambia and Botswana at the town of Kazungula. The and bridge, which has a longest span of , links the town of Kazungula in Zambia with Botswana ...

. The ever-shifting river channels and the lack of any agreements addressing the issue before 2000 led to some uncertainty in the past as to whether or not a quadripoint legally existed. Thus,

and

share a border of about at the confluence of the Chobe River and the Zambezi River, between Impalila Island, the extreme tip of

's Caprivi Strip and

. The Chobe River, which divides Namibia and Botswana, enters the Zambezi near Kazungula. Kazungula is an important trade destination to both Zambia and Botswana.

Transport

is a road and rail bridge over the

Zambezi The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...

river between the countries of

and

at Kazungula. The bridge was opened for traffic on 10 May 2021, replacing the Kazungula Ferry. The bridge crosses the wide Zambezi river to the eponymous village of

Kazungula Kazungula is a small border town in Zambia, lying on the north bank of the Zambezi River about west of Livingstone on the M10 Road. At Kazungula, the territories of four countries (Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Namibia) come close to mee ...

, east of the town of Kasane; it was one of the largest ferries in the region with a capacity of . Kazungula_Bridge_Map

The bridge has a longest span of and links the town of Kazungula in Zambia with Botswana and is curved to avoid the nearby borders of

and

. The bridge has a single-line railway track between two traffic lanes and pavements for pedestrians. During the building of the Kazungula Bridge, Zimbabwe disputed that there was a direct border between Botswana and Zambia. Zimbabwe claimed that Botswana and Zambia do not have a direct border, but rather the border was actually between Zimbabwe and Namibia. What Botswana was claiming to be its land crossing the Zambezi was actually Zimbabwe's land and that this might lead to war. In April 2014, Zimbabwe's then Transport Minister Obert Mpofu was asked in Parliament about the Kazungula Bridge being built by Botswana and Zambia. He responded: "So, the position of government is that there is no direct border between Botswana and Zambia. If a bridge has to be constructed in that area, it will have to go through Zimbabwe, hence the stalemate." Botswana and Zambia, upon realizing their mistake, then went back to the drawing board. They asked for Namibia's permission to use its land, and Namibia agreed. The Kazungula bridge was then re-designed to curve to avoid Zimbabwean land. This was confirmed by Botswana's then Minister of Transport and Communications, Nonofo Molefi, in September 2014: "we approached Namibia and asked that the bridge pass through their territory and they agreed." Kazungula lies just from the Livingstone- Sesheke road ( M10 Road) which connects westwards to the Katima Mulilo Bridge linking

and

. The border post between Zimbabwe and Botswana, (by road) south-east of Kazungula Bridge, is also called

; it is the most direct route leading to

Victoria Falls Victoria Falls (Lozi language, Lozi: ''Mosi-oa-Tunya'', "Thundering Smoke/Smoke that Rises"; Tonga language (Zambia and Zimbabwe), Tonga: ''Shungu Namutitima'', "Boiling Water") is a waterfall on the Zambezi River, located on the border betwe ...

General administration

Kazungula was elevated to district status in September 1998. Government departments, parastatals, and NGOs operate there in

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

and

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farm ...

. The following governments and government departments operate: Council, education, health,

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

, National Registration, immigration, social welfare, community development and ZESCO.

Political system, governance and traditional leadership

The district is covered by one parliamentary constituency and fourteen political wards which include Sikaunzwe, Sekute, Nwezi, Moomba, Nyawa, Nuba, Kauwe and Chooma. Traditionally, the district is divided into five chiefdoms and these are Chief Sekute, Chief Nyawa, Chief Musokotwane, Chief Mukuni and Chief Moomba. The main tribes in the district are Toka Laya, Nkoya, Lozi, and

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

Local economy

The majority (66%) of the population within Kazungula does not receive any form of income (CSO 2010). The largest industries are peasant/subsistence farming, cross-border trading and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

. The main economic sectors in Kazungula are

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...

commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

. The informal sector is characterised by fish trading, trading in second hand and new clothes and footwear, small-scale fishing, trading in vegetables and other foodstuffs, beer

brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...

carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. C ...

, production and selling of traditional

handicrafts A handicraft is a traditional main sector of craft making and applies to a wide range of creative and design activities that are related to making things with one's hands and skill, including work with textiles, moldable and rigid material ...

, trading in groceries, restaurants, bars and

charcoal burning Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

and selling. The major activity in the secondary sector is the generation of power at Batoka Gorge located in Mukuni ward. Other secondary sector activities though of less economic significance are the production of timber and carpentry.

Infrastructure development

The following projects are at different stages of completion: * Construction of the Kazungula District

Hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

is at 90% under phase one of the project. * Construction of 30 housing units for government departments is at various stages. * Construction of

has completed. * The construction of the truck yard superstructure is completed. * Construction of 10 classroom blocks and 10 VIP toilets. * Construction of CIVIC Centre is above ring beam while the District Administration is at slab level. * The construction of the post office is at roof level. * The local court is completed and operational. * Construction of Sibandwa Dam.

Agriculture

There are currently few commercial farmers in the district. Most of the farming communities in the district are in the category of small-scale farming. There are 10,522 small-scale farmers farming a wide range of crops such as

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

sorghum ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae, grass genus ''Sorghum (genus), Sorghum'' cultivated for its grain. The grain i ...

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...

, groundnuts and

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

. Some farmers have increased their fields to become medium-scale farmers. The crops grown by these farmers include but not limited to maize, sorghum, millet, groundnuts, cotton,

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

and

vegetables Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including flowers, fruits, ...

Livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

production in Kazungula District is done on a small scale by traditional pastorals. There are a number of livestock species that are reared in Kazungula District but the notable ones include

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

goats The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the famil ...

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

donkeys The donkey or ass is a domesticated equine. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a separate species, ''Equus asinus''. It was domes ...

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...

and

pigs The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

Water and sanitation

In the area of

sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...

, improvements under the urban and peri-urban water supply and sanitation are varied, covering the areas of solid waste management and maintenance of water supply schemes. Progress has been made in the area of construction and rehabilitation of boreholes with 30 new boreholes constructed and 32 boreholes rehabilitated in 2016. Kazungula has 380 existing water points which are functional, though water supply and sanitation service coverage are still very low. The majority of the urban population rely on on-site systems.

Energy

There are no

filling stations A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...

in the district. Wood fuel (firewood and charcoal) remains the dominant source of energy in the district, accounting for almost 80 per cent of total energy consumption. Firewood is predominantly consumed by rural households while

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

is a major source of energy for urban households. The annual loss of forest cover was estimated at 1.2% due to land clearing for agricultural use rather than energy purposes.

References

{{Authority control Botswana–Zambia border crossings Populated places in Southern Province, Zambia Border tripoints Zambezi River