A brief analysis of some of the major challenges facing Zambia and what might

be done to address these.

Understanding Extreme PovertyWhy do we refer to a poverty trap?Family child labour

Illiteracy

Lack of working capital

Uninsurable risks

Debt bondage

Lack of information

Understanding Extreme Poverty - 2Under-nutrition and illness

Low skills

High fertility

Lack of science

Farm erosion

Lack of collective actionCriminality14. Mental health15. Powerlessness16. ALL make life very difficult17. What else should be on this list? Please share your thoughts

and experiences.

Poverty - 3CriminalityMental health

Powerlessness

Others

ALL make life very difficult

End resultPeople are trapped in a vicious cycleThey have few, if any assets‘poverty is like heat you cannot see it you can

only feel it and to understand it you have to experience it’.

They have little, if any, access to capabilitiesAlas, they have some common characteristics

wherever they may be.We need to think WHAT these are HOW they

might be addressed.

Does it really matter? Poverty adds to a sense of hopelessness

Poor often can’t seek meaningful employment, or acquire the minimum ‘needs’ as perceived by their society/community.

How do they acquire capital without collateral? What of health, life span, ability to use talents, communal quality of life?

Much of this is what economists call ‘spillovers’ and these are negative and cost society in may ways. However, positive externalities also exist and need to be explored when and wherever possible

To do this we now have to add that in the opinion of many failure to address these inequalities leads to a ‘breeding ground for terrorists’ and the asymmetric enemy

So, none of us can afford to ignore the wide disparities that exist within our societies

Does it really matter - 2Much of this is what economists call ‘spill-overs’

and these are negative and cost society in may ways.

However, positive externalities also exist and need to be explored when and wherever possible

To do this we now have to add that in the opinion of many failure to address these inequalities leads to a ‘breeding ground for terrorists’ and the asymmetric enemy

So, none of us can afford to ignore the wide disparities that exist within our societies

The keys to capability Health and Nutrition – so allowing adults to

work and children to grow Over 800 million are chronically hungry

across planet. Takes relatively small sums to bring many out of this, a well fed person is creative and need not be apart of the formal economy BUT they are contributing to growing prosperity.

Recent spikes in food and fuel prices caused over 100,000 more people to become VULNERABLE

Health and Nutrition - 2We need to increase the PURCHASING POWER

of poor and so increase their CALORIE intake. Also, CLEAN WATER, as to boil all supplies takes

up precious resources BUT not to do so increases poor health.

Some possible ideas – simple BUT effectivePHC in teacher training – ‘peer group’ education.Let’s use radio, newspapers, teachers, youth

workers etc.What of plays, role models and other ways of

informing the young

Basic EducationLarge numbers speak indigenous and

tribal languages only and this reduces their chances of learning how to read and write in a language that has little, if any similarity to their own. What of reading to gain information, filling in forms, demanding food services and any welfare benefits owing? 113 million not attending school – UNDP 2002. This is especially common amongst girls – Millennium Goals

Credit Micro credit is a powerful tool for reducing

poverty. Let’s aim to open VILLAGE BANKS. But too many schemes focus on the richer rural population. The VULNERABILITY ratio is higher as you move down the income levels of the poor. By having access to credit they can build income and send children to school e.g. women and chickens in Ghana. By spreading risk they can gain from diversification but with a ‘core’ of requirements they can gain economies of scale

What of women only banks, or schools that open in the evening?

Credit - 2Need to move from subsistence to cash crops

and generate surplus of income. That can allow them access to:

Better seedsDifferent strainsPrice and weather insuranceBetter means of distributionCollateral

Access to Functioning Markets ‘everyone has the right to own property

alone as well as in association with others’ – article 17 of the Declaration of Human Rights, UN General Assembly, December 1948.

The right to start a business, gain economic power and not have these in the hands of the elite. De-regulate markets, encourage enterprise

What of land reform? Across developing world half a billion have not land security over what they farm.

Functioning Markets - 2When secure land rights exist farmers treat land

as long term and NOT short term resourceLand prices – too high? In hands of few and they

have political power. Where it has worked e.g. Taiwan and South Korea it has aided the boost in manufacturing productivity – a growing primary sector boosts secondary sector.

What of feeder road construction and highway building that allows access during all seasons

The price mechanism working smoothly was central to western economic growth

Though its excesses lead to social reforms in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries

Access to the benefits of technologyThis is NOT just for business! What of

contraception, medicines, high yielding crops, electrification, cell phones (Africa!!), job skills training and computer assisted learning.

The poor need access to ways of learning new skills and seeing that they are capable of lifting themselves out of poverty. Self belief is an amasing human quality but it’s fragile and easily destroyed.

Sustainable Environment and Development

We have met the enemy and he is us. Walt Kelly

Rapid population growth Rising sea levels High rates of fertility Depletion of resources Urbanisation Empowerment is essential if living standards

are to improve without huge negative externalities

Personal EmpowermentPoverty doesn’t produce unhappiness – it

produces degradation – George Bernard Shaw

It’s pernicious – poor have no say and feel inferior

Poverty and powerlessness are two sides of same coin

Too often local elites work to reinforce this vicious cycle.

Personal Empowerment - 2 When elites benefit from the poverty of others or their

powerlessness then they tend to perpetuate both. Coercive exploitation, sometimes enforced with terror Mental health problems, stress and a lack of self

esteem are known effects of poverty and not the sole property of affluent societies

The Aids pandemic is adding to the plight of the poor The forces causing poverty are often too large for

individual empowerment to be sustainable. So, individual empowerment must take place in a context of a much broader empowerment of COMMUNITIES and this is the final part of our analysis.

Look at the work of such groups as 50/50 in Sierra Leone

Community Empowerment - 1‘powerlessness corrupts. Absolute powerlessness

corrupts absolute – apologies to Lord Acton.Those who feel powerful are more likely to

empower others – organisational power grows when it is shared

Are poor as listless as the rich often say, or is it that they too would like to be; self critical, take control of their lives, take advantages of situations and to move out of poverty?

So, what is power? Access to resources and information, the support needed to get things done and most importantly to get the co-operation of others to achieve what is the will of the majority.

Community Empowerment - 2Poor communities need a legitimate voice

that is listened to by those in power, the ability to defend their rights and the ability to assist those they want to help – love is not reserved for those with power!

Accountability, transparency and the involvement of all in the democratic process

Community Empowerment - 3 Arbitrary application of laws and regulation

continue to be a factor driving poverty. What of a relatively simple document such as a

birth certificate? How does one move forwards, claim entitlements

without such a document? Even if they try might the encounter bribes, rudeness etc?

The poor need democracy, human rights just as much as the rich. Amartya Sen argues that famines do not occur in functioning democracies because of the power of a free press BUT the democratic process and the freedom of the press to inform gives those in power the responsibility to do something.

They are your elected representatives and do not hold power by a divine right

Community Empowerment - 4Empowerment supports the other keys to

capability. These are:Access to markets and landAccess to education and health careAccess to those with the funds to change

things e.g. road buildingALL the others we have touched on todayPractical and effective poverty programmes

don’t just deliver a range of services – they build capabilities and sustainable assets