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Food security in Southern Africa: Causes and responses from across the region
18 March 2003, Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria
A meeting hosted by the Southern African Regional Poverty Network in collaboration with CARE International and the French Institute of South Africa
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[Background and purpose]
[Programme]
[Participants]
[Papers]
[Related papers]
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Introduction
Geography:
Zambia derives its name from the Zambezi River, which rises in the northwest corner of the country and forms its southern boundary. She lies between latitudes 100 and 180 South and longitudes 220 and 330 East. Zambia is landlocked, sharing boundaries with eight neighbours: the Democratic Republic of Congo to the north and northwest, Tanzania to the northwest, Malawi to the east. Mozambique to the southeast, Zimbabwe to the south, Botswana and Namibia to the southwest, and Angola to the west.
With a land area of 752,614 square kilometers and an estimated 75 million hecters of arable land. The overall land-person ratio is one of the smallest in Africa. Most of Zambia lies on a high plateau with an average height of 3,500 to 4,500 feet above sea level.
Zambia's vegetation is of the savannah type and over half the country is covered by trees, varying from the more open conditions in the south to tall dense woodlands in the north and northwest. These woodlands contain only hardwoods. Apart from minerals and forests, the country is also richly endowed with fish and wildlife resources.
The country's climate makes possible the cultivation of a wider range of crops: maize, tobacco, cotton, rice, wheat and groundnuts. One can also grow a variety of vegetables and citrus fruit, bananas, pineapples, mangoes, avocados and grapes. Tea, coffee and sugarcane are also grown.
The People:
Zambia has a population of 9.3 million people with an annual growth rate of 2.3% (Central Statistical Office (CSO) 2000 Census of population). Zambia is a country of great diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, linguistic and religion. Such diversity provides an interesting blend of values, norms and cultural and spiritual traditions.
Zambia's cultural diversity derives from the fact that its people belong to over seventy tribes. The major tribes are: Lozi (Western Province), Bemba (Northern Province), Ngoni (Eastern Province), Tonga (Southern Province), Lunda (Luapula and Northwestern Provinces), and Luvale and Kaonde (Northwestern Provinces).
Economy:
Zambia was economically prosperous at independence (1964), due to the thriving copper industry. Zambia has the potential to expand agricultural production. However, it is estimated that only 14% of total agricultural land is currently being utilized. Agriculture generates about 22% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provides direct livelihood to more than 50% of the population. The agricultural sector employs 67% of the labor force and it is the main source of income and provides employment for women who make up 65% of the rural population. The sector is currently the main stay of the rural economy.
Zambia is one of the countries in the southern Africa sub-region faced with a food crisis attributed to a complex combination of unfavorable weather pattern, poor health standards and unfavorable socio-economic conditions and high prevalence of HIV/AIDS. The current crisis has been further compounded by reduced food production in the last two consecutive seasons (2000/2001 and 2001/2002) resulting in the country experiencing substantial deficits of the staple food.
Whilst weather and other exogenous factors may have limited the sectors' ability to grow, by and large, agricultural policies of the past, imposed limitations on growth prospects. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has also had some effect on agricultural production and productivity. Today about 80 per cent of Zambians live in income poverty and suffer from other deprivation such as little access to social services and poor quality of the services. Poverty is more prevalent in rural areas compared to the urban areas (83 percent and 56 percent respectively) but it has risen faster in urban areas lately due to failing industries and rising unemployment. Most of the rural poor are small-scale farmers followed by medium scale farmers. Their low productivity, which provides bare subsistence, largely explains their poverty.
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