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GOOD AGRICULTURE YIELDS One important observation that can be made about the 2006 balance sheet of development in Zambia is the significant influence of agricultural output, especially maize production on household wellbeing, says the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR). This observation is based on the JCTR end-of-year reflection of living conditions for 2006 using the monthly cost of the Basic Needs Basket. The year 2006 started with a basic food cost of K506,250 for the month of January and closed end of December at K476,250. The Basic Needs Basket is founded on the premise of concretely monitoring people’s living conditions in relation to the performance of development programmes or policies with the objective of seeing what is truly happening in people’s daily living experiences. “It is important to realise that the Basic Needs Basket is the convergence point of all development interventions in determining outcomes and impacts of those interventions in improving living conditions of the people,” says Muweme Muweme who coordinates the Project that does the monthly Basic Needs Basket. He adds that at the centre of affordability of basic needs or lack thereof are various human wellbeing and policy implications. But above all, are serious implications of the morality of society regarding what it means to be truly human. The Basic Needs Basket measures cost of living for a family of six in Lusaka and other urban areas of Livingstone, Kabwe, Ndola, Kitwe and Luanshya. Measured against income, the cost of basic needs continues to be beyond many households. For example in Lusaka, a family of six required at the conclusion of the year 2006 K476,250 to meet costs for basic food. If we compare the above figure with the media reports on the recently released Central Statistical Office (CSO) figures of average gross earnings in formal sector employment in Zambia that range from K382,473 to K1,472,191, we see the extent of the challenge of not only creating income earning opportunities for the majority of the Zambian people but also the type of income levels that must go with those opportunities. If a huge proportion of household income is going to be spent on food, then, the obvious case of foregoing other needs such as health, education, personal care, decent housing, etc., become characteristic of daily living experiences of the people. An examination of trends in cost of basic food in 2006 -- as shown by the figure below -- reveals a sharp reduction in the cost of food for the month of June. The source of this reduction primarily relates to adequate maize availability occasioned by the good 2005/2006 maize production.
Other than the factor of agriculture, it is difficult to draw conclusions regarding the other much talked about economic gains of 2006 such as the reduction in inflation, and the appreciation of the Kwacha in relation to their positive impact on reducing the cost of food or general improvement in the lives of the people. For example, an examination of trends in the appreciation of the Kwacha during 2006 show no relationship of the Kwacha appreciation to food reduction. As a matter of fact there was some upward adjustment during 2006 in the cost of one of the foremost essential goods for human survival, water. That agriculture has been recognised as having a huge influence in people’s wellbeing for economies such as Zambia’s, there is great need to move beyond rhetorical approaches to more practical ways of addressing the challenges to agricultural development in the country. These challenges that must be addressed practically include crop diversification, improved farming methods that promote less reliance on unsustainable use of chemical fertilizers, improved marketing arrangements, improved infrastructure including irrigation, improvement in storage leading to reduced post-harvest losses, etc. According to the Fifth National Development Plan Programmes on agriculture, one, among other results is the attainment of food security for the majority of households with at least 90 percent of the population being food secure by 2010. “Now, one can easily see how ambitious this target is and the amount of work involved. At the current rate of progress it is difficult to see how the country will meet this target, especially when one takes into account the fact that household food security is predicated on various factors and therefore our situation inevitably calls for serious work,” says Muweme. In 2007, Zambia must move expeditiously towards addressing areas that have expressions of structural sin in addition to paying attention to agriculture much more and, of course, other economic fundamentals, for example, inflation, exchange rate, etc. The areas that have seen expressions of structural sin include taxation arrangements, local in relation to foreign investment arrangements, unemployment, inequality in access to social services, the constitution and its elements such as economic, social and cultural rights, etc. The dawn of true development must begin to be visible in the country as the Zambian people have constantly asked, “How much longer the night before dawn?” This question is particularly pertinent when seen in the context of debt relief and other so-called economic gains the country made in 2006. That is the challenge before the coming national budget, the challenge for the governance of this country and indeed the moral challenge for the Zambian society. The long wait for improvement in people’s lives must truly come to an end. |
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