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Rural poverty in Zambia

Zambia was once classified as a middle-income country. Three decades of economic decline and neglect of infrastructure and services have turned it into an extremely poor country. Presently three out of four Zambians live in poverty and more than half of them are extremely poor and unable to meet their minimum nutritional needs. For poor rural people, ensuring food security is a constant preoccupation.

In comparison with some of its neighbours, Zambia is relatively sparsely populated, particularly in the more remote areas to the west and east, and most of the population is concentrated in the central part of the country, close to the urban areas that grew up around mines and related industries. In rural parts of the country about 83 per cent of the inhabitants are poor, and 71 per cent of them are extremely poor.

Who are Zambia's rural poor people?

Many of the poorest people live in households headed by women and households in which one or more members are chronically ill, generally with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis or malaria. Since the early 1990s poverty has been exacerbated by the impact of HIV/AIDS, which has been a factor in lowering life expectancy to about 38 years. The incidence of HIV/AIDS has now stabilized, but the number of those manifesting infection and falling sick continues to rise, leaving many farm households more vulnerable to poverty and many farms without adequate labour.

In terms of access to health and education there are major discrepancies between men and women in Zambia . Across most of southern Africa prevailing land heritage systems discriminate against women. Yet women are largely responsible for food production and many other income-generating activities in the household, while men often migrate to urban areas in search of employment, leaving women to cope with farming as well as domestic tasks.

Where are Zambia's rural poor people?

North-western province is one of the poorest, most remote and least developed parts of the country. Eastern and Southern provinces also have a particularly high concentration of poverty. In general the broad central section of the country is more fertile, while in the north the soils tend towards acidity and in the south the climate is drier.

Why are they poor?

Historical, geographical and social factors are at the roots of severe rural poverty in large parts of Zambia. The country suffers from geographical isolation, which limits access to services, markets, technical knowledge and productive assets. The incidence of rural poverty is highest in areas that are far from the rail line. At present the country is undergoing a difficult period of transition from a state-led to market based economy. The government is in the process of reorienting and improving management of public institutions and delivery of public services. Economic decline has made it impossible for the government to maintain previous levels of public services. The agriculture sector, once supported by the government, has been neglected for several decades. Without effective extension services and access to inputs such as fertilizers and seed stock, small-scale farmers have fallen back onto subsistence farming, often struggling to meet their food needs.

Neglect of agriculture also led to the spread of cattle diseases in the 1990s. In the past the government ensured that preventive measures, such as cattle dipping, were taken to protect the country's livestock from disease. These services were withdrawn when the economy was liberalized in the 1990s, and diseases that originated in neighbouring countries crossed the borders and spread throughout large parts of the country, destroying about half of the country's livestock. The loss of livestock affected small-scale farmers as much as herders since many farmers depended on draught animals to prepare soil for cultivation, and on their manure to fertilize the land. Farmers who have to till the soil by hand can plant considerably less and are often chronically food insecure.

Agricultural productivity in the country is held back by lack of access to input and services, as well as to transport, markets and other social infrastructure. Investment in the sector is needed to stimulate the cultivation and commercialization of agriculture. At present small-scale farmers do not have access to financial services, and even larger enterprises lack access to long-term finance. The largest sources of agricultural credit are contract farming operations producing cotton, horticulture and tobacco. Rural finance and marketing are generally poorly developed.

When drought hit the country in 1991 and 1992 it became apparent that much of the rural population was extremely vulnerable. When crops failed because of drought, large numbers of rural poor people found themselves facing economic devastation and chronic hunger.

Source: IFAD