Potential Utilization of the Kafue Flats of Northern Rhodesia

IN ITS location, climate, and soils the vast expanse of the Kafue Flats of south-central Northern Rhodesia presents a challenge to man. A practically level plain extends as far as the eye can see, almost entirely grasscovered, but with occasional trees along the streams and isolated palms on the higher land; along the lagoons and in the other low areas there may be papyrus. Beyond the Flats the land is covered with what is commonly designated as "bush," with tall grass among the trees.' The Kafue Flats proper are about I50 miles long from east to west and about 50 miles widle at the widest point. The elevation is some 3000-3200 feet above mean sea level.2 The Flats are surrounded by relatively low hills and ridges, which rise to 4000 feet or so above mean sea level.3 The Kafue Flats seem to be an old lake bed or swamp that has been filled in by sediment of the Kafue River and its tributary streams. There are in this part of Africa numerous examples of both lakes and swamps that have been formed by general uplift. In the Kafue watershed itself there are two notable examples of swamps: the large Lukanga Swamp, in the northern part of the watershed adjacent to the main stream; and the Busango Swamp, on the Lufuta River, which is a tributary entering the Kafue upstream of the Flats (Fig. i). The Kafue River rises in the extreme northern part of Northern Rhodesia, near the border of the Belgian Congo. It winds in a general southeasterly direction to a point southwest of the town of Ndola. Thereafter its course