What is Zambian fashion?

When you look around you see that Zambians like an army of ambassadors, with fashion from every corner of the world. We see the Nigerian Boo-boo, the Congolese Chitenge, the Italian pointed shoes, the Rockers tight jeans, the Rumba baggy trousers, the Cowboy hat, the Indian Sari, the Che Guevara t-shirts, not to mention tattoos, dreads, pierced noses, ankle chains, Alaskan boots...

So what is the Zambian fashion? Some go to traditional ceremonies and say "there it is!", and we all pretend it is modest and acceptable while people who are more covered in mini-skirts are condemned! Somehow watching "Shaka" is a family activity, but not "Baywatch". What do you think, what is Zambian dressing, and why the double standard?

The bottom line is we seem to have parallel systems of dress and modesty. Newspaper front page pictures of a traditional ceremony with bare chested women is modest, but a picture of women in a night club in the Friday Post is unacceptable. You find teens who are ready to wear swimsuits around their friends, but would flee for cover if their guardians showed up. Why be ready to dress like that with strangers but not around family?

 Stemming back to colonial times, parallel systems of dress, education, belief and lifestyle were perfectly acceptable. This has resulted in both good and bad in society.

People effectively marry three times in Zambia even when they marry once; that is, traditionally, by civil law and in church. But any one of the three would be acceptable for it to be considered a real marriage (not one third of a marriage!)

Similarly, people seem to accept having three different types of "morality", freely choosing to live by traditional, Christian or post-modernist thinking. (Post-modernists believe there is no right and wrong, no taboos and moral limits, but 'whatever makes you happy' is acceptable). It is more common for people to switch between the three according to what is "convenient" at any one moment.

There are no easy answers to this situation. In some ways it has made us very tolerant and accommodating people. But at the same time, we need to rethink our worldviews, to actually believe something and stand for something. Otherwise, we are living the life of a shadow, changing shape according to who is around. Sometimes we have to stand for or against something. Our reputation as peace loving is not a bad thing, as long as it does not mean we throw principles out the window in the name of expedience.  We need to find answers for these hard questions. There is a saying, "If you do not stand for something, you will fall for anything."

So the question of fashion is part of a wider questions of values and worldview. Then the fashion can reflect that identity. Values are, after all, a question of what we prize and promote, and what we find offensive. But then again, perhaps but unique blend of everything in the global village might be a true reflection of where we are.

Are the days of Nshima numbered? Is it time to change our staple food?

  Year after year farmers watch the skies, wondering if there will be enough rain (or too much) for the maize crop. While lack of maize could threaten food security, other crops like Cassava and Sorghum, which are more resistant to weather changes, are largely ignored. What if we changed our staple food, and all our nshima was made for Cassava meal or Sorghum or Millet? Why not?

  One historian says that maize was only introduced in sub-Sahara Africa in 1889 (in Zimbabwe) and from there it was introduced in Zambia along the line of real. Before that,Millet and Sorghum were used for our nshima. That means for hundreds of years we had a different flour for our food, and maize is in fact a new comer on the scene!

  This may sound shocking, but the source points out a number of 'clues' to the fact that maize was a latecomer on the scene. There are many areas where the maize is soaked by being dried again and pounded. This is what is done to Cassava before it is ground, otherwise the Cassava is poisonous. The same soaking is done with Cassava leaves. So how did people start the practice of soaking maize as well? The logical assumption is that people who used to do this for Cassava transferred the practice to maize when it was introduced, even though maize does not have the poisonous properties when consumed directly. Many of the traditional grinding tools point to the fact that millet was more common at some point. Unfortunately, the challenge is that all of this is oral history.

  And besides, we are so used to maize that we almost have drug withdrawal symptoms when we go without it for too long!

  Of course, this just means we are used to heavy nshima, and our culture has adopted it. There was a time when we would have rice and chicken on Christmas (special days) and nshima was the daily diet. Imagine a day when rice is the norm and nshima is for special occasions! In a hundred years Zambians may be saying "How did we ever live without millet?" What is a hundred years in the grand scheme of things? Does this seem impossible? All it would take is another decade of unpredictable rain, and shifting our main food will be a matter of pragmatics. What do you think about the future of Zambia's favourite food?