Pillar 5: Climate & Environment

Planetary Health. National Resilience.

Climate change is not just an environmental crisis—it is a health crisis. From climate-smart agriculture to disease surveillance in flood zones, we build the systems that protect Zambia from the shocks of tomorrow.

From Soil to Survival.

A hungry population is a sick population. We integrate climate-smart agriculture with nutritional support to break the cycle of poverty and disease.

Climate Change & Environmental Health | Coalition Health Zambia

The Climate Shock

The CHZ Solution

Stopping Cholera at the Source.

Climate change is making water scarce and unsafe. We replace vulnerable shallow wells with deep, solar-powered water schemes that ensure safe hydration for clinics and communities, regardless of the weather.

Solar Capacity: Continuous pumping even during grid blackouts.
Filtration: Chlorination at source (Cholera Prevention).
Monitoring: Remote sensors for water levels.

Commercial Ag Needs a Healthy Workforce.

We partner with agribusinesses to integrate health screenings, nutrition support, and WASH into their supply chains. A healthy farmer is a productive farmer.

Input

"Resilient Seeds & Water" (Climate Smart Ag)

Asset Protection

"Vaccinated Livestock" (Zoonotic Control).

Human Capital

Malaria-Free Workforce" (Farmer Health).

Output

"Higher Yields & Market Access" (Economic Growth).

Ready to Scale Resilience?

Whether for the ZADS consortium or the Green Climate Fund, CHZ brings the "Human Capital" component to your agricultural investment. Let’s engineer the future of Zambian food security together.

Climate-Resilient Health Logistics & Solar Infrastructure

Severe climate fluctuations—such as prolonged droughts, extreme heatwaves, and seasonal flooding in river basins—directly threaten medical supply chain integrity and rural clinical service delivery. In response, Coalition Health Zambia integrates climate adaptation into health infrastructure:

Solarized Cold Chain Systems: Deploying off-grid solar-powered refrigeration units to maintain the cold chain for temperature-sensitive vaccines, insulin, and biologics during national grid load-shedding and power interruptions.
Flood-Resilient Commodity Pre-positioning: Utilizing predictive seasonal weather modeling to pre-position essential medicines in flood-prone districts (such as Western and Luapula provinces) before seasonal rains cut off road access.
Digital Low-Power Logistics: Engineering eLMIS mobile applications that operate asynchronously with minimal energy draw on solar-charged tablets in off-grid rural clinics.

Learn how our logistics backbone integrates with environmental health in our detailed Health Systems & Supply Chain overview.

Surveillance of Climate-Sensitive Epidemics

Rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns alter the transmission dynamics of waterborne and vector-borne diseases across Zambia. Our programs strengthen community-based integrated disease surveillance to detect and contain climate-sensitive health threats:

Early-Warning Cholera Surveillance: Enhancing water quality testing, rapid antigen screening, and oral cholera vaccine (OCV) distribution in high-density urban settlements and flood zones.
Vector-Borne Disease Tracking: Monitoring shifting malaria mosquito breeding zones across higher-elevation districts previously unaffected by endemic transmission.
One Health Cross-Sector Collaboration: Partnering with environmental agencies, veterinary departments, and local municipal councils to monitor zoonotic disease spillover risks.

Explore our integrated epidemic containment strategies on our Health Security & Surveillance page and Disease Prevention & Control pillar.

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) in Healthcare Facilities

Resilient healthcare facilities require continuous, reliable access to safe water, sanitation, and infection prevention controls. Coalition Health Zambia works with health center committees and local leadership to upgrade healthcare facility WASH standards, install solar-powered borehole water extraction, and enforce medical waste management protocols.

Read our latest environmental health field briefings in the Knowledge Hub, or explore institutional alliances on our Partner With Us page.