Civic Education

On todays pupils forum in Civic Education will look at a topic : Poverty Reduction in Zambia. This topic is at grade twelve (12) level of the Zambian Syllabus. At the end of this lesson,learners should be able to:

Describe poverty

Outline how poverty can be measured Explain the causes of poverty

Identify the effects of poverty

State poverty alleviation strategies

POVERTY REDUCTION IN ZAMBIA Poverty

Poverty maybe described as the insufficient access to food and nutrition, education, Health, care, inadequate shelter, clothing, inadequate income, literacy, safe water and Sanitation.

Note: This kind of poverty is referred to as absolute poverty which is defined as a condition of life limited by malnutrition, illiteracy, poor surrounding, high infant mortality and low life expectancy.

How poverty can be measured

Poverty can be measured using the following three (3) perspectives. i. Income Perspective: A person is poor if his or her income falls below a defined money or metric poverty line. For example: a person living on one dollar a day.

ii. Basic Needs Perspective: A person is poor if his or her requirements for a minimal acceptable fulfilment of human needs are not met.

iii. Capability Perspective: A person is poor if he or she lacks certain capabilities to function such as adequate food, clothing, shelter and ability to participate in community activities.

Measures used by the UNDP to measure poverty

The UNDP measures poverty in terms of deprivations. Namely; a) Deprivation of a long and healthy life expectancy of about 40 years

b) Deprivation of knowledge measured by illiteracy levels c) Deprivation of economic provisions measured by people’s access to food, clothing, shelter among others.

The causes of poverty in Zambia.

Debt Burden: This means that more money is spent on servicing the debt at the expense of investing in social and economic development.

External Dependence: Inadequate economic growth and huge debt burden have made external funding a necessity. Zambia has continued to borrow from partners to invest in social and economic development.

Changes in Agricultural Policies: The negative changes in agricultural policies especially between 1992 and 2001 contributed to high levels of poverty especially in rural areas. For which families were offered fertilizer on pay back basis.

Climatic Variation: The changing climatic and environmental conditions are also causes of poverty in Zambia. Example, rainfall patterns are increasingly erratic and droughts are a common feature and this has led to low food production, hence, food insecurity.

Morbidity (illness) and Mortality (deaths)

The increase in illness and premature death that was experienced due to HIV/AIDS pandemic has contributed to poverty. Many families have lost productive members or bread winners. Also the cost of caring for a chronically ill family member makes the family poor.

Orphans: The increase in the number of orphans requiring care and support from relatives causes a strain on families‟ resources.

Inequalities: In Zambia, it has been observed that the gap between the rich and poor is widening. This inequality in terms of income, education, wealth and access to assets has led to high poverty levels.

Low Pay: People with low pay fail to meet their basic needs, hence, depend on borrowing.

Conflict: Conflict is also a cause of poverty. For example when there is conflict in a society, less time is spent on economic activities. Sometimes people lose their lives or they are forced to flee their homes. There will be no time to create wealth.

Poor Work Culture: When people have a negative attitude towards work and lack initiative, this can lead to poverty (dependency syndrome).

Individual Weakness: Laziness and lack of responsibility can lead to poverty and dependence syndrome.

High Unemployment levels: People with no employment will lack income to support their welfare; hence they will depend on others to support them.

Corruption: Rampant corruption makes the few privileged benefit while the majority are denied the chance to prosper hence, remain in poverty.

The effect of poverty

The effects of poverty are interrelated and the following are some of them.

Hunger or food insecurity.

High unemployment levels.

Increase in crime rate.

Conflicts in the society.

Increase in corruption and vandalism.

Lower life expectancy due to low standard of living. Increase in prostitution, resulting in the increment of unwanted pregnancies and high levels of HIV and AIDS. Breakdown of extended family system one of Zambia’s cultural practices.

Increase in child labour and other violations of child rights. Depletion of natural resources due to more people exploiting the same inadequate resources, such as water, forest and soil.

Poverty alleviation strategies.

Poverty alleviation is the process of lessening the suffering of the poor by meeting their immediate pressing needs.

The following are some of the ways in which poverty in Zambia can be alleviated.

Improving the provision of education as education is a very powerful tool for poverty reduction.

Improve food production and empower small scale farmers.

Improve health status of people of Zambia especially the poor.

Reduce the incidence, infection and socio-economic impact of HIV and AIDS.

Increase access to safe water and sanitation.

Promote agricultural sector which will be able to export and ensure increased household income and food security.

Promote rural electrification to attract investments and reduce unemployment in rural areas.

Increase access to factors of production such as land and farming implements.

Poverty alleviation strategies and their implementation in Zambia

Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) is the overall framework for national planning and development focusing on interventions for poverty reduction.

The overall national goal is to achieve sustained economic growth and employment creation.

The following are some of the main areas addressed by the PRSP.

Macro Economics: To achieve a high sustained real

GDP growth.

Agriculture: To promote a self-sustaining export led agricultural sector which ensure increased household income and good security.

Tourism: To enhance the Tourism Sector’s contribution to economic growth and poverty reduction.

Mining: To promote investment in the Mining Industry and ensure the development of self-sustaining mineral based Industry.

Industry: To promote growth of an export led Industry leading to employment creation and poverty reduction.

Health: To improve the health status of people in Zambia especially the poor.

Education: To provide relevant equitable efficient and quality education for all.

HIV/AIDS: To reduce the incidence, infection and socio-economic impact of HIV and AIDS.

Gender: To promote gender balance to ease the burden of poverty especially of women at the household, community and national levels.

Environment: To formulate good policies on the protection of the environment, management and development of natural resources.

Energy: To ensure optimum supply and utilization of energy.

Water and Sanitation: To contribute to poverty reduction through increased access to safe water and sanitation, increased food production and food security.

Transport and Communication: To create and efficient transport and communication system that will promote economic growth and poverty reduction.

Roads: To expand, rehabilitate and invest in the road sector so as to improve accessibility and mobility.

Exercise

1. Describe poverty

2. State five (5) poverty alleviation strategies 3. State four effects of poverty

4. State and explain five (5) causes of poverty