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The SAM Project enables local enterprise in communities in Southern Zambia who have been affected by HIV/AIDS. It aims to increase access to primary education - one of the fundamental building blocks for sustainable growth - while at the same time enhancing schools to become the focal point for HIV/AIDS awareness, greater nutritional support, and catalysts for sustainable local enterprise. The SAM Project provides the access to resources and expertise so that villages can build local enterprises, which in turn provide the cash needed to sustain a lunch program for primary-school students. The cash-generating activities are controlled by stakeholders within the community. The projects are easy to set up, they are cost effective, and the results (revenues generated, number of meals served, increase in enrollment and attendance) are easily measured. Once established, the projects do not require further financial inputs from outside sources. Zambia is one of the world's poorest countries. While most countries of the world have enjoyed increased prosperity in the past three decades, Zambia has seen its per capita income drop by 5% annually in the past thirty years, and its average life expectancy fall from 54 years in 1980 to 37 years today. Nearly 70% of Zambians live below the poverty line which is set at US$1 per day. Poverty and food insecurity are widespread in both rural and urban areas, and the country remains extremely vulnerable to recurring natural disasters, including floods, drought and animal disease. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has exacerbated food insecurity levels and contributed to a decline in socioeconomic activity. According to UNAIDS, Zambia's national HIV prevalence rate is 17 percent. The challenge for many impoverished communities is to keep their children in school in the face of dwindling local resources. One of the most effective tools for this is a School Feeding Program (SFP). SFPs provide a wholesome and nutritionally balanced lunch, which in many cases is the only proper daily meal a child will receive. Poor rural families make a tremendous commitment and economic sacrifice to send their children to school, and the certainty of a school meal increases attendance and individual student performance. Studies have shown that HIV/AIDS prevalence rates drop dramatically when children have had access to primary education. |
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