Zambia
Rachel Garvey
Aoife O’Dwyer
Caroline Walsh
Country Profile
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Zambia is a landlocked country in south sub-Saharan
Africa.
It has a tropical climate with a rainy season from
October to April.
Arable land only accounts for 6.99% which has
contributed to the high rate of poverty in the country.
Population is approx. 12million
Approx. 80% of the population is literate.
The capital of Zambia is Lusaka.
Two thirds of the population live under the national
poverty line.
Irish Aid donated €27 million to Zambia in 2008.
Goal 7: To ensure environmental
sustainability
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The challenge with this goal is in the term
‘sustainability’.
Assessed by factors including proportion of people using
an approved water source, proportion of urban
population living in slums and CO2 emissions per capita.
Environmental problems include air pollution, acid rain,
chemical run-off into watersheds, poaching,
deforestation and soil erosion.
Zambia is so far, unlikely to reach this goal by 2015.
Goal 7: Zambia’s Progress
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The CCFU was set up by the
government to raise awareness
of climate change and measures
to respond to its challenges.
Efforts to protect biodiversity
have also been made through
setting up special projects.
At the 6th Annual MDG Race in
Zambia, books and brochures
were distributed to the general
public in an effort to raise
awareness of Goal 7.
A vicious cycle is taking place
with those living in poverty in
rural areas using natural
resources to survive, thereby
depleting them and worsening
the environmental situation.
It is this link that is a major issue
with Goal 7 and its targets not
being achieved by the deadline.
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However target 10, which
outlines improved water and
sanitation services, has the
potential to be reached by 2015.
73% of the population had
access to improved drinking
water sources in 2005/2006, a
rise of 15% from 2004/2005.
An improvement in the lives of
slum dwellers depends on the
proportion of the population with
access to improved sanitation.
Unless bold measures are taken
by the government, Zambia is
unlikely to achieve this goal by
2015.
Goal 6:Combat HIV/Aids, malaria and
other diseases
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It is believed that around
42million people worldwide
are living with HIV/AIDS.
HIV/AIDS is number four in
the Top 10 Causes of Death
worldwide killing a total of
4.9% of people.
Malaria terminates the lives
of over one million people
yearly and Tuberculosis kills
two million people yearly.
In Zambia, there were more
than a million people infected
with HIV/Aids in 2007, as
well as 630,000 children
orphaned by the disease.
 There are 75,000 new infections
per year. By 2000, 749,000
people had died from AIDS and
the projected AIDS death is
estimated at 2.8 million by 2015.
 According to the Zambian
Ministry of Health (2005), the
following are the main reasons
for the spread of HIV in Zambia:
 High levels of Poverty, Migrant
workers, Cultural beliefs and
practices, Stigma, Information,
education, communication,
Gender issues and Prison.
Goal 6: Zambia’s Progress
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According to the Zambian Progress Report
(2008), the Zambian government believed
that it is likely that they will accomplish
halting and begun to reverse the spred of
HIV/AIDS by 2015. They also stated that
they will potentially achieve in halting and
reversing the incidence of malaria and other
major diseases.
The number of infected adults aged 15 to
49 years has decreased from 15.6 percent
in 2001/2002 to 14.3 percent in 2007.
The government is showing a supportive
environment by introducing different
initiatives and policies such as:
The development and implementation of
supportive health policies such as the
National HIV/AIDS/STI/TB Policy.
Training of more medical staff to administer
ART. In 2005, 700 medical personnel were
trained.
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The establishment of more ART centers. The
centers increased from two in 2004 to 84 by
the end of 2005. Further the number of
people accessing free ART increased from
16,000 in 2004 to 44,000 by the end of
2005 and about 110,000 in 2007.
Training of more medical staff to administer
ART. In 2005, 700 medical personnel were
trained.
The number of women who took antimalarial drugs during pregnancy increased
from 35.8 percent in 2001 to 86.5 percent
in 2007.
The number of children under-five that
sleep under bed nets treated with
insecticide rose from 9.8 percent in 2001 to
28.6 percent in 2007, and for pregnant
women, this rose from 7.9 percent in 2001
to 32.7 percent in 2007.
They are putting a lot of effort into
declining the amount of HIV/AIDS deaths in
Zambia. They are doing little to combat
tuberculosis: it is not even mentioned in
their progress report. The cost of supplying
everyone with mosquito nets is very
expensive but they are making a positive
move to increase the use of them and
reduce the malaria death toll.
Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Hunger and
Poverty
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There have been marginal improvements in the
incidence of extreme poverty from 58% in 1991
to 51% in 2006-still along way from MDG target
of 29%. As the supportive environment is strong,
Zambia has however the potential to reach this
target.
On the target of halving the proportion of people
who suffer from hunger, the prevalence of
underweight children declined from 22% in 1991
to 14.6% in 2007. Thanks to the strong
supportive environment it is likely that the target
will be achieved.
Target 1: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the
proportion of people living in extreme poverty
Will target be met: POTENTIALLY
Supportive environment:STRONG
Target 2: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the
proportion of people who suffer from hunger
Will target be met: LIKELY
Supportive environment: STRONG
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The incidence of extreme poverty has
consistently been higher in the rural
than in the urban areas. This may
reflect the historical biases of public
expenditure in favour of urban areas.
Extreme poverty is more prevalent
among female-headed households
than among male-headed
households.
Zambia’s Progress
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Inefficient management of available resources in the
agriculture sector has hindered rural economic
infrastructure development and other programmes intended
to integrate the smallholder farms into mainstream
agricultural and general economic development.
Severe income inequalities arising from inequitable labour
and ineffective wage policies.
Poor access to business finance and seed capital for small
and medium enterprises including small scale mining.
Historical public expenditure biases in favour of urban
areas.
Inadequacies in essential vocational skills which constrain
productive deployment of youths in both wage and self
employment.
Lack of strategy to address the special circumstances of
female-headed households that are particularly vulnerable
to extreme poverty.
Good periods of rainfall resulting in successive years of
good crop harvests have contributed to Zambia’s food
security. Moreover, targeted interventions in health and
nutrition have also resulted in the improvement of
underweight children. The prevalence of underweight
children declined from 22 percent in 1991 to 14.6 percent in
2007 against the MDG target of 11 percentby 2015.
However, food poverty still exists and foodsecurity still
remains a challenge in pockets around the country
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Targeted interventions and ef fective delivery in health and
nutrition. The percentage of children under six months who
are exclusively breastfed increased between 2001 and
2007, coupled with a decrease in the percentage of children
under five who are stunted.
The adherence by the Ministry of Finance and National
Planning to the full disbursement of budgeted resources for
the social sectors.
Government’s commitment to releasing in full, the social
sector budget was reflected in releases of 98.6 percent for
all social sectors in 2007 as compared to total releases of
84.2 percent in 2006. In the 2008 Budget, the shares of
education and health have risen from 15 percent and 10.7
percent in 2007 to 15.4 percent and 11.5 percent
respectively.
Reaching Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) completion
point and the resultant debt cancellation along with that of
the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) is expected to
create the fiscal space required for increased expenditures
for poverty reduction programmes.
The enhanced resources from the mining sector that can be
anticipated as a result of the mineral tax reform proposed in
the 2008 Budget are also expected to significantly enhance
the fiscal space or the Government to address the
challenges posed by poverty.
Significant agricultural policies and programmes such as the
irrigation credit fund.
Current large investments in the mining and the tourism
sector are expected to stimulate formal sector employment.