PRESS RELEASE
February 2000

THE SOCIAL DIMENSION OF THE FOOD BASKET

Release of GRZ Budget 2000 has stirred considerable analysis and debate in the past week.  An important focus for the national debate is the social dimension of the budget, this highlights government's actual commitment to poverty reduction as a top priority in 2000.  The importance of this commitment is underlined when we look at the cost of living faced by ordinary Zambian today.  In its on-going analysis of the cost of the living, the Jesuit Centre provides each month an "estimated food basket for a family of six in Lusaka".  For January 2000, the estimate is K263,370, up from K257,480 for December 1999.

 Widening the range of the survey, the JCTR undertook a study in December 1999 to compare the cost of various food commodities in Lusaka's low, medium and high density locations.  This study was meant to assess the factors behind price differences of the same commodities in different locations of the city.  Our comparative study covered Kanyama, Chibolya, N'gombe and Matero as high density locations; Chabama, Chilenje, Kabwata and Chelston as medium density locations; and Kabulonga, Woodlands, Roma and Avondale as low density locations.  Prices vary from one location to another.  This depends among other factors on the distance involved in transportation of goods from place of production to the final consumer.  For instance, our study in December 1999 showed that the average prices of mealie - meal (25 Kg bag - Breakfast/Simba) in the locations around Lusaka ranged from K15,550 - K18,000 as can be seen from the table below:

 25 Kg Mealie - meal (Breakfast/Simba) - December 1999

In some cases the distance factor obtains when you compare the average prices of mealie - meal between locations closer to the city centre and those further away from it, i.e., Chibolya (K16,500) and Ng'ombe (K18,000).  The study established that the average prices of mealie - meal tend to be on the lower side in the low density locations because the demand for this commodity is slightly lower as families in these locations supplement their dishes with other starch food stuffs, i.e., rice, potatoes, pasta, etc.  The other factor that affects the variations in prices is the purchasing power of the consumer communities found in the given locations.  For instance, the same study showed that the average prices of meat (Brisket) 1 Kg were higher in the low density locations than they were in the high density locations as can be seen from the table below:

 1 Kg meat (Brisket) - December 1999

This was also the case with the average prices of vegetables which were more on demand in the low density locations than they were in the high density ones.  Higher levels of income in the low density locations of Lusaka yield higher demand on food items like meat and vegetables resulting in higher average prices of the commodities in question in these locations.  The study established that beans and kapenta were the common food commodities in the high density locations.

 Food consumption and meeting minimal nutritional requirements are a foremost basic need for all human beings.  The proportion of the total expenditure spent by families on food has been suggested by economists as an indicator of poverty.  As a norm, households spending more than 35 percent of their total expenditure on food could be deemed to be poor.  According to the 1996 Living Conditions Monitoring Survey Report (LCMS) published by Central Statistical Office, the average share of food in total expenditure for Zambian households was 53 percent.   This indicates quite a high level of 'food poverty'.  The recently published LCMS 1998 report shows that the average share of food in total expenditure for Zambian households was 59 percent.  This indicates that household economic welfare declined between the two periods. 

 There are a number of factors behind the rise in the level of household food poverty between 1996 and 1998 and beyond.  One factor is that between 1996 and 1999 prices of food commodities have steadily risen in correspondence to macro-economic factors, such as inflation and exchange rates that affect fuel prices and transport cost.  For instance, the cost of the overall food basket has risen from K170,592 in January 1996 to K263,370 in January 2000;  the cost of mealie - meal (25 Kg bag) has risen from K7,500 in January 1996 to K18,270 in January 2000; and the cost of a Kg of meat (Brisket) has risen from K2,500 from January 1996 to K5,990 in January 2000.     

 Another factor behind the rise in the level of household food poverty between 1996 and 1998 and beyond is that during the same period wages of most Zambians have either remained constant or declined in real terms.  For instance, because of reduced public expenditure, incomes for civil servants have declined.  The situation was worse in 1998 when inflation rose to 30.6 percent from 18.6 in 1997 and wages for civil servants and other public workers were frozen. 

 The level of household food poverty promises to rise even higher this year, especially since instead of increasing the workers' salaries to cushion them from the macro-economic factors, the government has done just the opposite by reducing its allocation on civil servants and public service workers' wage adjustment from K79 billion in 1999 to K58 billion in 2000.  Food consumption levels necessary to meet minimal nutritional requirements have been declining as can be seen in rising incidences of stunted children aged 3 to 59 months which has risen from 50 percent to 53 percent from 1996 to 1998 (LCMS 1998).  With the continued diminishing of wages for most Zambians, incidences of malnutrition are likely to rise even more. 

 In a situation of scarcity of resources like ours -- a situation that even obliges us to have a deficit budget for 2000 -- what matters are priorities.  Priorities of a democratic government can never be right if its budget is no where close to being people-centred, and no where close to enhancing its social dimension.  The disturbing picture presented through the periodic JCTR "food basket" reports, offer a strong justice challenge to our government, NGOs, churches, and indeed, to all citizens.

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