COST OF BASIC NEEDS SHOW A MIXED PICTURE IN THE FACE OF “EXTERNAL SHOCKS”

September 2004

The Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) says that there has not been some significant change this far in prices of food as might have been expected in the face of high global fuel prices.  This is primarily due to the good agricultural production the country is experiencing.

This observation from the JCTR, says Muweme Muweme, Coordinator of the Social Conditions Research Project of the JCTR, is based on the monthly Basic Needs Basket information.  The Basic Needs Basket is a simple compilation of the average cost of ordinary food -- such as mealie meal, meat, fresh vegetables, etc., and non-food items such as housing, water, energy, etc. -- designed to relate the cost of living on one hand and incomes of households on the other.

In the month of August, the Basic Needs Basket – now at K1,100,200 compared to K1,105,100 for the month of July -- has presented a mixed picture in the cost of food.  While the cost of mealie meal, vegetables, tomatoes, onions and kapenta has declined, that of meat has slightly adjusted upwards.  Food items such as eggs, tea, milk, sugar and dry fish have shown some stability.

“This situation,” says Muweme, “can be attributed to good agricultural performance in the current year that has been able to guard against to some degree the internationally induced national economic shocks such as the recent crude oil price increases.”  According to Muweme, without good agricultural output, the impact of the increases in the price of crude oil would have been enormous.

For countries like Zambia, it is important to acknowledge conventional wisdom that a well performing agricultural sector means a lot of things.  For example, and most importantly, it means affordability of food at household level.  It also means the easing of pressure to import food and where there is some surplus and well coordinated arrangements at buying the agricultural produce, it means exporting food to other countries, to secure the much talked about and needed foreign exchange.

According to the JCTR, to enhance people’s access to food is not only a matter predicated on food production alone.  In Zambia today, households lack access to adequate food because of many factors, such as being out of employment and the realignment of household budgets to take care of the needs of HIV/AIDs treatment.

It is the view of the JCTR, that Zambia’s focus -- in addition to directing its efforts at total external debt cancellation to give the country a new start -- should be on the sectors that form the bedrock of human welfare.  These include agriculture, education and health, and employment creation.