Zambia : Poverty and Vulnerabiltiy Assessment

Abstract

The report documents poverty in Zamia along a number of dimensions, including material deprivation, human deprivation, vulnerability, destitution, and social stigmatization. The report identified a number of basic actions to facilitate growth in the rural sector; these include (1) a (revived) system of regular manual maintenance of rural roads; (2) simple systems of animal disease control; animal movement control; health inspection of abattoirs, etc.; (3) a revival and refocus of agriculture extension services and research, with an emphasis on promoting diversity of production and a de-emphasis on the mono-cropping of maize; and (4) a revisiting of the Government's approach to the maize sector, including whether there is still a need for Zambia to be self-sufficient in maize, to provide inputs on arbitrarily changing terms, or to ban exports. The report begins with a discussion about the public sector and poverty reduction. At the heart of Zambia's loss of economic momentum has been the loss of effectiveness of the state administration, which has led to a business environment not sufficiently supportive of private investment and growth, and to poor performance in the delivery of social and infrastructure services essential for growth, security, and poverty reduction. The second chapter describes the nature and evolution of poverty in Zambia. A profile of the poor in Zambia is presented in Chapter 3, which analyzes poverty along three critical dimensions -poverty of private resources, poverty of access to public goods and services, and poverty of social relations. Chapter 4 then turns to an examination of the economic environment. Chapter 5 examines the links between health risk and poverty, identifies the major risks in Zambia that affect the poor, and describes the strategies used by households and communities to manage these risks. Chapter 6 looks at vulnerable groups and destitution, and finally chapter 7 explores the links between HIVIAIDS and poverty.