The Good, The Bad And The Ugly: 10 Years of Poverty and Inequality Under The PF
Before the Patriotic Front (PF) came into power, the country had experienced 15 years of significant socio-economic progress and were able to achieve middle-income status in 2011.
However, since the 20th September 2011, when the PF were voted into power, the country has experienced a downward trend of socio-economic development.
As a result, over 700,000 people have been put into poverty, in spite of the PF’s promise to put “more money in our pockets” in their electoral campaign.
The poverty rate is above the average within Africa, with more than 58% of Zambians earning less than the international poverty line of $1.90 per day, compared to an average of 41% across Sub-Saharan Africa.
The JCTR anticipate that the scale and depth of poverty within the country is under-estimated by official poverty lines, subsequently contributing to the inadequate attention given to addressing the needs of the poor.
What has caused an increase in poverty?
When Edgar Lungu opened parliament in 2017, he promised to reduce inequalities. In spite of this, Zambia remains one of the most unequal countries in the world, with the bottom 50% of the population sharing 7.3% of national income, whilst the top 1% share 23.1% of national income.
Where large disparities exist within a population, poverty is hard to reduce. As a result, if there were greater equality within the country, poverty would be both easier and faster to reduce.
Inflation within the country has also increased the poverty rates. With inflation has come high fuel and commodity prices, making these goods less available to the country’s poor than ever before. Inflation has been a result of the government printing more money to fund higher public service salaries, coupled with an unstable exchange rate this has had a negative spiral effect on the general price of goods in the country. Adding to this, erratic water and power supply has also increased poverty levels.
With almost 90% of individuals who live in poverty residing in rural areas, a lack of investment from the government in sectors such as farming has caused the situation to deteriorate for longer than is necessary.
Of the 75 million hectares which the country covers, more than half is classified as medium-to-high-potential for agriculture production. In spite of this, only 15% of this land is currently under cultivation. For a number of years, the government have recognised that agriculture and agribusiness must be developed to help improve incomes and food security, which would help to reduce poverty and create a more diversified and resilient economy. In spite of this, the government are yet to act.
In spite of increased copper production, high commodity prices and significant foreign direct investment, commensurate change in income, poverty levels and employment have not been seen.
When will the situation stabilise?
Experts predict that, if nothing changes, it will take over 50 years to reduce poverty to impact only 15% of the population.
Photo: World Bank Group