As a result of a land acquisition deal in northwestern Zambia, almost 1,000 families, most of them subsistence farmers, were relocated to Shinengene, or Southern Settlement, and to Northern Township, some 18 kms (11 miles) from their original village.
The villagers, who used to live in traditional compounds with separate huts for each generation of a family, were given simple brick houses, one for each extended family, in the new settlement. Other villages are due for relocation soon.
As a result of their relocation, women lost access to forest resources like mushrooms, caterpillars and firewood, and waterfrom local rivers that they need to process cassava.
Beans and nshima, another Zambian staple made of maize, turn black when cooked in the yellow water from the new wells.
Some 370 km (230 miles) east, women trying to cope with the harm caused by another mine would love to move, fed upwith cracking walls in their houses and sulphur dioxide emissions that they say makes them sick and stops food from growing.
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Rontina Alesi Muke, 66, (C) sits inside a village church with other residents of Shinengene, or Southern Settlement, in Zambia's North Western province, 09 August, 2015. THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION/Magdalena Mis
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A bedroom inside one of the homes in Shinengene, or Southern Settlement, in Zambia's North Western province, 09 August, 2015. THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION/Magdalena Mis
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A cooking area is seen near one of the houses in Shinengene, or Southern Settlement, in Zambia's North Western province, 09 August, 2015. THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION/Magdalena Mis
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A bucket with water from one of the wells in Shinengene, or Southern Settlement, in Zambia's North Western province, 09 August, 2015. THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION/Magdalena Mis
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Nshima, a Zambian staple made of maize, turns black when cooked in the yellow water from the wells in Shinengene, or Southern Settlement, in Zambia's North Western province, 09 August, 2015. THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION/Magdalena Mis
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Margaret Mupanga, 40, stands next to her house in Kankoyo, Mufulira, Copperbelt province, Zambia, 10 August, 2015. THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION/Magdalena Mis
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Margaret Mupanga, 40, walks on a cracked floor of her house in Kankoyo, Mufulira, Copperbelt province, Zambia, 10 August, 2015. THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION/Magdalena Mis
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Abel Mupanga, 16, has an eye condition caused by sulphur dioxide, according to his mother Margaret, Kankoyo, Mufulira, Copperbelt province, Zambia, 10 August, 2015. THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION/Magdalena Mis
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A painted motto on a board hangs on a wall of 40-year old Margaret Mupanga's, house in Kankoyo, Mufulira, Copperbelt province, Zambia, 10 August, 2015. THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION/Magdalena Mis
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