JCTR - Press Release June 2002

4 JULY 2002

CONSULTATIVE GROUP MEETING CHALLENGED BY JCTR TO LOOK AT COST OF BASIC NEEDS

The forthcoming Consultative Group meeting between Zambia and Donors is taking place in a context of many long-standing and current socio-economic challenges that Zambia is facing, says Muweme Muweme, Coordinator of the Economic and Social Development Research Project of the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR).

The challenges that Zambia is facing lie in almost all sectors, education, health, agriculture, mining, manufacturing, etc. For some time now, none of these sectors has performed well in ensuring that Zambia's development prospects notably and sustainably improve.

Indeed one of the other greatest challenges that has immense repercussions on education, health, etc., especially at the household level, is the ever-high cost of living that has persisted in Zambia. According to the JCTR monthly Basic Needs Basket, during the first six months of the current year, the cost of food only for a family of six in Lusaka has stood at an average of K325,043.

''Such a high demand of expenditure on food,'' says Muweme, ''means that either other basic human needs such as health are not met or if they have to be met, food intake has to be reduced with such consequences as poor nutritional status of household members.''

According to latest estimates of cost of living in Lusaka for the month of June, K827,950 is the requirement for a family of six to meet such necessities as food, decent housing and other essentials. This cost obviously is beyond reach of many households in Lusaka. Compare this with the average take home pay of primary school teachers of between K280,000 and K309,000 as well as other categories of workers.

The Basic Needs information as compiled by JCTR currently does not cover many parts of the country (extension of the research coverage is planned for later this year). However, it is discouraging to hear recent news reports from the Copperbelt Province that the price of mealie meal has continued to go up touching close to K37,000 per 25 Kg bag of Breakfast meal.

With an already massive unemployment situation in the Copperbelt Province and further threats of more people getting unemployed, a rise in cost of living means a lot of hardships on the part of the people, especially the poor and other disadvantaged groups such as women.

It is therefore imperative that these problems facing Zambia be the context in which the discussions of the Consultative Group meeting takes place. JCTR remains hopeful that the Consultative Group meeting and the recently launched GRZ Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) will indeed begin a realistic process of bringing an end to the suffering of the majority Zambian people.

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