Kafubu
Kafubu River (Haut-Katanga) is located in Democratic Republic of the Congo
Kafubu River (Haut-Katanga)
Location
CountryDemocratic Republic of the Congo
ProvinceHaut-Katanga
TerritoryKipushi Territory
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationShimpauka village (Kaponda chiefdom)
MouthLuapula River
 • location
Kanga village (Kinama chiefdom)
 • coordinates
11°31′03″S 28°23′33″E / 11.5175°S 28.3924°E / -11.5175; 28.3924
Length135 kilometres (84 mi)

Kafubu is a river in the Haut-Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It gives its name to a health zone.

Course

The Kafubu River is the main river of Kipushi Territory. It is about 135 kilometres (84 mi) long. It originates in the Shimpauka village (Kaponda chiefdom) and runs through the territory from east to west to join the Luapula river at Kanga village (Kinama chiefdom).[1] It forms near the city of Kipushi, passes through the south of Lubumbashi and then runs eastward through the Kafubu health zone to the border with Zambia where it joins the Luapula River.[2]

Labeo polli, an edible carp, is found only in the Kafubu River and the Kanshéle River (Kivu), both in the Upper Congo River basin.[3] Villages in the Kafubu Valley include Chileuge, Kibulu, Mwenda, Kiponda, and Kamankanga. The farmers mainly grow corn as a cash crop. They plow and sow the corn by hand, but are unable to afford fertilizer, so yields are low.[4]

Pollution

In 2002 and 2003 World Bank consultants at SNC-Lavalin International studied 32 copper and cobalt mining sites in Katanga.[5] They found that waste from the Luiswishi cobalt mine being processed Kipushi in was discharged into the Kafubu River and surrounding fields. A sample of the waste showed high levels of arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead and zinc. These cause damage to humans and to the river fauna.[6]

Health zone

In July 2015 the rural health zone recorded a case of poliovirus derived from the vaccine strain (VDPV) type 2. In March 2016 Dr Yokouidé Allarangar, World Health Organization representative in the DRC, visited the district to encourage the management team of the health zone to improve vaccination coverage.[7]

Notes

    1. ↑ Territoire de Kipushi CAID.
    2. ↑ Relation: Kafubu (10786592).
    3. ↑ Labeo polli.
    4. ↑ Coordination Technique Pour Le Développement.
    5. ↑ Nordbrand & Bolme 2007, p. 40.
    6. ↑ Nordbrand & Bolme 2007, p. 41.
    7. ↑ Visitant la zone de santé rurale de Kafubu.

    Sources

    • "Coordination Technique Pour Le Développement (CTD)", Pledge, retrieved 2021-09-25
    • Labeo polli (a carp, no common name) Ecological Risk Screening Summary (PDF), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, March 2012, retrieved 2021-09-25
    • Nordbrand, Sara; Bolme, Petter (November 2007), Powering the Mobile World: Cobalt production for batteries in the DR Congo and Zambia (PDF), SwedWatch, retrieved 2021-09-25
    • "Relation: Kafubu (10786592)", OpenStreetMap, retrieved 2021-09-25
    • Territoire de Kipushi: Données géographiques, Cellule d'Analyses des Indicateurs de Développement (CAID), retrieved 2021-09-25
    • Visitant la zone de santé rurale de Kafubu ... (in French), 1 April 2016, retrieved 2021-09-25
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