Chilubi District lies on latitude 11° 07′ 24″ S and Longitude 29°59′ 28″ E. The District shares boundaries with Luwingu in the north, Kasama in the East, Mpika in the South East, Samfya in the west and south. The district lies between attitudes 0m – 900m above the sea level.
It is endowed with several water bodies, numerous rivers, lagoons and one lake shared between Luwingu, Chilubi and Samfya. The District administration is situated at Chilubi Island about 750 km in the south west of Kasama and about 25km south of Chaba a port of entry when accessing the District HQ from Luwingu District.
POPULATION
According to Central Statistics (CSO,2010), Chilubi District has a population of 81,248 people with about 51% females and 49% males and an estimated growth rate of 2.0%. The District has about 16,716 Households with a population density of 17.5 persons per square kilometer.
CONSTITUENCIES AND WARDS: Chilubi District comprises twenty two (22) wards distributed across one (1) Constituency.
Chilubi District is located in Zone 1 of the Ecological Farming System with an area of 1,696 square kilometres. The District experiences a warm tropical climate with adequate rainfall above 1000 mm from November to April annually. Generally from the month of May to July it is fairly cold with temperature ranging from 8° – 22°Celsius. In the months of August to October it is usually cool – warm, humid with partial rainfall at times with average temperature ranging from 21° Celsius to 24° Celsius.
SOIL AND VEGETATION
Chilubi District is endowed with a unique biodiversity, mineral and forestry resources, and rich soils conducive to agriculture.
It has savannah woodland on highland while the flat land has scattered thick miombo forest with shrubs and grass on its main land. The land is generally characterized by dambos, shrubs and grass.
Chilubi district has one tribe predominant being Bisa. The extended family system and clanship are quit prevalent. The communities are organized on the basis of villages led by village headmen or persons. Traditional authority is vested in chiefdoms. There are two chiefs in Chilubi namely Matipa and Chiwanangala.
Agricultural sector: The major economic activity in Chilubi District is fishing. Over 70% of the people are engaged in fishing activities. Fishing is done on a large scale, mainly in Lake Bangweulu, swamps, rivers and dambos. People from the surrounding districts and the Copperbelt come to trade in fish. Though there has been a significant reduction in the fish stocks.
Farming is done on a small scale mainly by peasant farmers who grow cassava and other food crops for household food security.
Education: Chilubi district has one High School, eight basic schools, thirty-four middle basic schools and 20 community based schools. Illiteracy in the district is still high. There are few people who have attained basic secondary school education and worse still the schools are under-utilized due to several reasons related to distance of the schools, unavailable boarding facilities with pupils squatting in the villages making the girl child more vulnerable.
Energy: The district is divided into the Island and the Main land. The island is connected to the ZESCO grid though only covering the District Administrative Centre while the mainland is not connected to power.
Communication: The district is accessed by road, air and water transport. The Airstrip is situated at Santa Maria on the Island. The road infrastructure is in a poor state. The district depends on vessels from Samfya in Luapula Province which do not go to the district frequently. The network service providers are Airtel and ZamTel landline though does not cover the whole district.
Communication: The District depends on vessels in Samfya district which do not come to Chilubi regularly a situation which is not conducive if we have to foster socio – economic development.
The non-availability of good roads has greatly affected the trade and the economy of the district with its neighbouring districts. It equally lacks a reliable passenger vessel to ferry goods.
Agricultural sector: The major economic activity in the district is fishing.
Financial Sector: The District has a commercial bank namely, NATSAVE, which is offering banking services to clients in the area.
The district has one tribe predominant being Bisa. The extended family system and clanship are quit prevalent. The communities are organized on the basis of villages led by village headmen or persons. Traditional authority is vested in chiefdoms. There are two chiefs in Chilubi namely Matipa and Chiwanangala.
The Provincial Administration - Northern Province is an extension of Central Government (Cabinet Office) at Provincial level and has a mandate to provide administrative secretariat and coordinate effective implementation of national programmes and policies in the Province.
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