Quarterly Bulletin

Bulletin 81 3rd Quarter 2009

ZAMBIA’S HUMAN CAPITAL: AN UNDERRATED RESOURCE?

“This is such an amazing country! You have such an amazing staff here! Where did you find all these people? Why can’t you form a cabinet to develop the country from people like your staff? ”These remarks were made recently by two sets of foreign visitors that recently visited our offices here at the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR). The remarks came at the end of a series of meetings with our staff who explained the work of the JCTR to them. While accepting the compliment, it struck me that such remarks can be made in many an office throughout the country. This country is blessed with a well trained, competent and passionate cadre which is well informed and well intentioned. I have been to many meetings, forums and public events and experienced an amazing feeling when I listen to so many of our people speak about some of the challenges this country encounters and propose solutions that if implemented to their logical conclusion would bring prosperity to this country. However, the question still remains, why this country is still underdeveloped when it can boast of such amazing crop of skilled personnel.

The notion that we have an amazing crop of trained manpower was reinforced in my mind while on a visit to one rural district this year I attended what was referred to as a stakeholders’ meeting. This meeting brought together government officials, civic leaders, community workers and local people. The discussions on the agenda concerned the development challenges of the district which is located in a remote part of the country.

I was very struck by the professionalism by which the conversations revolved around the table. Each stakeholder spoke from a position of authority and competence and the exchange was very intelligent and quite constructive. As I sat in that meeting I just wondered what the problem with Zambia’s development challenges could be. Here was a crop of highly trained and experienced people who appreciated what the problems were and what the solutions could be.

When I consider the bigger picture, a country with abundant natural resources, favourable climate and forty-five years of uninterrupted peace, I was further intrigued and puzzled as to why the challenges the country faces are there in the first place. This country possesses abundant productive land and ready supply of labour. Some of this labour is amongst the most competent in the world. The country may lack capital of its own; however; it receives plenty of financial aid to invest in productive ventures to create jobs and wealth. One can state that the necessary ingredients to prosperity are present; land, labour and to a large extent capital.

Much has been said about the potential of this country. And many reasons have been advanced as to why this country remains underdeveloped in spite of the enormous potential. Factors such as wrong state policies, poor governance, mismanagement of public resources and similar shortcomings are well documented. However, not much attention in my view has been placed on the abundant human resource that this country possesses. We have heard of the brain drain of skilled manpower to other countries. But we have perhaps forgotten there is still an amazing pool of talent and skilled manpower   in   the country. These are people who are not only well trained but are passionate about contributing to the development of the country. It is not for lack of resources. Neither is it lack of ideas nor the manpower (or womanpower) that has kept this country so poor for such a long time. Good plans are there and a well trained labour force is in existence. So what could be the missing link?

To return to the aforementioned visit, the area I was visiting with some colleagues from the JCTR is certainly underdeveloped. However, this underdevelopment is not due to lack of natural resources. Neither is it because of lack of a well educated labour force.

The area is located near one of Zambia’s biggest and famous natural park. Further, this place is located along one of Zambia’s biggest rivers. One would think that it makes intuitive sense to suppose that to lift people out of poverty in this area it is imperative to develop livelihood strategies around the resource base of the place. It would rationally follow that an area richly endowed with wildlife enjoys comparative advantage in the tourism sector. However, even though the tourism industry is fairly well developed in this area it does not benefit the local people living just a few kilometres from the game park.

Also, it would seem very clear to me that the local people would benefit from the abundant water resources available from this river for fishing and irrigation purposes. Alas! It is not the case. What is even more disturbing is to read reports from recent research findings that the country imports fish to meet its domestic demand. Why should this be the case when the country possesses abundant water bodies that can supply the country with the fish it needs?

From JCTR’s research, we discovered that people depend for their livelihoods on rain-fed agriculture. And not surprisingly, the yields from their fields are low because of the problem of poor infrastructure and poor soils. This  area is cut off from many supply points and marketing centres. Therefore, for a significant part of the year, neither production inputs nor market facilities are available on time because the area is inaccessible. The above scenario begs the question: Why is such an area so poor when it seems as if it is sitting on gold? The same question can be repeated in many parts of the country.

The people we spoke to in this area know the potential only too well. They were able to articulate what needs to be done in order to take advantage of the potential that exists. They know the challenges, they also know the solutions. That is because they are well trained to know these things and they have been assigned to this area to work out the best solutions to resolve the high levels of poverty affecting the local people.

If this country is endowed with a well trained labour force, plentiful arable land and other natural resources, why is it poor? Is the government of the day truly interested in bringing the much needed development to all parts of the country? How do we explain the fact that most of rural Zambia remains underdeveloped and is home to some the poorest people in the country?

Some people have suggested that this country remains underdeveloped because there are people who want it to remain so. There is a notion that goes around many development discourses that the ruling elite is in fact interested in keeping the majority of the citizens poor and uneducated in order to easily canvass votes from them at elections times whereas an enlightened and fairly prosperous electorate would see through the empty promises. This is probably a controversial position but one wonders whether there could be some truth in this position. A State that seeks to reduce poverty surely must pay attention to areas where such poverty is pervasive. As things stand one could be forgiven for agreeing with those who hold the view that it is in the interest of the ruling elite to keep the majority of the citizens poor in order to exploit their vulnerability and win votes easily. Perhaps this scenario might explain why such an amazing country with an amazing population residing in an amazingly rich country possesses an amazingly high number of poor people.

In JCTR’s work for social justice we always maintain that the development of a nation is seen in the commitment that the leadership makes towards improving the lives of the poor. In this country, such commitment is mostly seen or heard in government speeches and rarely seen on the ground. The church social teaching (that body of teaching derived from the Christian scriptures, the teaching of popes, bishops and theologians) invites us always to side with the poor and most vulnerable. The same body of teaching expects the State to work for the common good.

If we were to apply the above principles to this country we will be left with no alternative but to infer that the leadership of this country does not seriously side with the poor and is not working for the common good.

If such an inference were correct then we would be left wondering who the State works for. Clearly, the State must show that its commitment to development and rural development for that matter is not merely a rhetorical activity but one that can be discerned through its policies and actions. Otherwise we would be left to conclude that the State has made an option for the rich and only works for individual good as opposed to opting for the poor and working for the common good.

One of the missing links in our development efforts might be located in the lack of sufficient appreciation of the human resources at our disposal. There are many instances as witnessed fairly recently when some workers have aired their grievances through industrial action because they are under remunerated or lack the necessary equipment to carry out their work. Such issues are rampant in this country. We spend a lot of resources training our labour force and then fail to appreciate their contribution or potential contribution to national development by either underpaying them or depriving them of what they need to carry out their work to the best of their abilities.

While acknowledging that some factors beyond our control are responsible for lack of development, it is nonetheless becoming increasingly plausible that some people have chosen to deliberately frustrate many people who can meaningfully contribute to national development. We have learnt of leaders who refuse to accept constructive criticism because they believe that as adults they should not be challenged by young people because this practice is against certain traditional norms. For example, some national leaders have been heard to say that young people should not criticise older people even when it is patently clear that some of these older leaders have erred. Critics who may have some contribution to make are easily called names or dismissed as disgruntled or misguided people.

To return to the question of the missing link it would seem that the problem in this country has very little to do with lack of resources both natural and human. It seems to me that the missing link is found in the manner we go about appreciating the gifts, talents,     skills,   competences    and  experience   of the many people we have managed to train in various fields. People like this frequently reach a point when they feel that their expertise is not needed in this country and chose to go where such expertise is properly appreciated. Those who remain behind frequently fail to put in their maximum efforts in their work because they receive very little in turn.

Consequently, if we are serious about developing this country we should first look within its borders and begin to value what we have and seek to take maximum advantage of the resources at our disposal. With respect to human resources it is imperative that we take good care of this endowment if we are to reap the maximum benefits that at the minute exist in potentiality rather than actuality. As one of our leading civil society leaders is wont to say this country’s potentials outweigh its problems. Let us exploit those potentials to the full in order to resolve our problems.

Leonard Chiti, S.J.
JCTR Staff
Lusaka, Zambia

Related Links

• Bulletin 81 Main Page