MUCHINGA EXPANDS CARBON PROJECT

Three more districts join World Bank-backed programme as province seeks to protect forests, boost local benefits and speed up implementation.

By Francis Maingaila ♥️

Lusaka, Zambia24 — 15 October 2026 — Muchinga Province has added Chinsali, Nakonde and Shiwang’andu to a World Bank-backed emissions reduction programme, bringing the number of participating districts from five to eight as Zambia looks to protect its forests while unlocking their economic value.

The expansion comes as the provincial administration pledges greater support for the Transforming Landscapes for Resilience and Development (TRALARD II) project, with the World Bank urging stakeholders to move faster and ensure that communities see real benefits from protecting their natural environment.

Mary Kasoka Mwiikisa, Communication Officer for the TRALARD II Project under the Ministry of Green Economy and Environment, said the three districts had been brought into the programme as efforts to strengthen implementation continued.

Muchinga Province Permanent Secretary Dr Tuesday Bwalya said the project had come at an important time, as President Hakainde Hichilema’s Grow Zambia agenda placed renewed emphasis on national development and economic growth.

Dr Bwalya said Muchinga had an opportunity to use its forest resources to support development and called on government departments to play their part in implementing the programme.

He stressed that the project must be managed responsibly, with accountability to its financiers and the communities whose lives and livelihoods could be affected by its activities.

Dr Bwalya was speaking during the TRALARD II Implementation Support Mission currently taking place in Muchinga Province, where the project is implementing an Emissions Reduction Programme (ERP).

The programme seeks to reduce emissions associated with forest loss and land degradation while encouraging more sustainable use of the landscape. For communities that depend on forests and land for their livelihoods, its success will also depend on whether conservation efforts translate into meaningful local benefits.

World Bank TRALARD II Task Team Leader Ambroise Brenier said implementation needed to pick up pace in the coming months, calling for stakeholders to work together rather than approach the programme in isolation.

Mr Brenier said restoring degraded landscapes was central to the project and that the World Bank wanted communities in Muchinga to benefit from the work while the country pursued broader economic growth.

He urged all stakeholders to remain committed to the programme so that its plans could translate into results on the ground.

World Bank Group Global Manager for Carbon Finance Solutions Olivier Mahul commended the Zambian Government for the progress made in developing the Muchinga Emissions Reduction Programme.

Mr Mahul said the World Bank wanted to ensure that the programme maintained its integrity, particularly when carbon trading began.

Carbon trading can generate income from verified reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by allowing carbon credits to be sold under an approved system. However, the credibility of such a programme depends on proving that the claimed reductions are genuine and that the process is transparent.

Meanwhile, TRALARD II National Coordinator John Katongo Banda said the implementation support mission would examine project activities and assess whether they were delivering on the programme’s development objectives.

Mr Banda said the mission would also establish how far implementation had progressed on the ground.

He said the addition of Chinsali, Nakonde and Shiwang’andu had increased the number of participating districts from five to eight, extending the programme’s reach across Muchinga Province.

Mr Banda said the mission would help identify the progress made so far and determine how the project’s activities were moving towards their intended objectives.