ZAMBIA: Food problems persist despite growth

While the economic crisis is playing a role in reducing life expectancy in Zimbabwe, there is little doubt that the spread of HIV/Aids across Southern Africa is the main cause.

The Zambian economy has begun to prosper over the past couple of years, partly on the back of rising commodity prices

Although the next Zambian harvest should be a plentiful one, the full effects of last year's drought are still to hit home. Food supplies have fallen and a large proportion of the population is relying on food aid. The minister of agriculture, Mundia Sikatana, says: "We are giving fertiliser and seeds to 150,000 farmers but that is not enough. It is a drop in the ocean, as one million small farmers need assistance. We hope to improve on our numbers in this year's budget because it's much cheaper for the country to support the farmer than to import food."

Like neighbouring Zimbabwe, Zambia was once one of the biggest food exporters in Africa but the economic upturn of recent years has largely been concentrated in urban areas and the mining sectors. Rural poverty is still a major problem and poor transport infrastructure and marketing strat?gies mean that many people lead a virtual subsistence lifestyle. However, the key difference between today and 10 years ago seems to be the human cost of HIV/Aids.

The virus has robbed some rural areas of their most productive workers, so that the population structure is heavily tilted in favour of older people and children. There are fewer people to plant, tend and harvest crops and so national production of many crops has fallen. The lack of food has weakened many people making them still more prone to the effects of HIV/Aids.

This bleak picture provides the backdrop to a series of major advances for the economy as a whole. High copper prices have boosted GDP, while government finances are being freed from the deadweight of massive debt. The country's overseas debts have already been cut by over $1bn but it is expected that the national debt will be slashed by about S6.5bn to just $500m, leaving far more money available for productive and social investment.

Whether any of this money can be used to lessen the human cost of HIV/Aids on rural areas remains to be seen but it is to be hoped that greater investment in the rural economy will at least improve food security across the country.