ZAMBIA:
Agriculture tops development agenda
JOHANNESBURG, 23 October (IRIN) - Officials in Zambia reiterated the
government's commitment to agricultural development on Thursday, saying
sustained investment in the rural economy could prove critical in
tackling widespread poverty.
"The government is convinced that, by making agricultural development
the main thrust of current economic policy, we can bring poverty levels
down. Poverty reduction is a serious matter for the government, and it
does occupy the top of the country's developmental agenda," Minister of
Agriculture Mundia Sikatana told IRIN.
According to a recently released report by the UN Development Programme
in Zambia, "poverty and hunger" had deepened since the 1990s, and
Zambians today were more vulnerable than a decade ago.
"Poverty in Zambia is widespread, with no area left untouched. Whereas
69 percent of Zambians in 1991 were classified as poor, the figure rose
to 73 percent in 1998," the report noted.
Moreover, it was estimated that up to 69 percent of poor households
across the country had difficulty in accessing important social services
such as education and health care.
The 2003 Zambian Human Development Report, "Eradication of Extreme
Poverty and Hunger in Zambia: An Agenda for Enhancing the Achievement of
the Millennium Development Goals", said that while poverty was
predominantly rural, it has been rising "faster" in urban areas. The increase in
the number of urban poor households was attributed to economic
liberalisation policies in the 1990s, which, the report noted, had failed to
create jobs.