The poorest rural households in Zambia

In Zambia at least 25% of the population aged between 15 and 45 living in rural areas are infected with the HIV/AIDS virus. No effective treatment is available. But it is only part of the problem in huge swathes of a country that is also infected with extreme poverty. What does this mean to those affected most?

The immediate conclusion is that they will have poor health and need medical care that is often unavailable. Poor health leads to death. But infected people can live for years. They need support from their families who then, because they have little money, have to produce more food from their small land holdings to feed the dependents. They need to till the land but most of the draft animals have been wiped out in epidemics, there are no tractors and labour is not available. The soil is heavy. So how do they till the land and plant the seeds on an area sufficiently large to meet the needs of their family?

Of course, they don’t, they can’t. Instead they have to hope that the crop on the small area of land they have planted is very good. But it often is not. For security they plant a lot of drought resistant crops such as cassava. Alas, they do not realise that this contains a lot of bad chemicals that can only be removed by cooking techniques they are largely unaware of. So more become sick. The poorest end up with both insufficient quantities and quality of food.

The result is that they spiral into worse health, become more malnourished and increasingly desperate. HIV/AIDS never shows any mercy. They get stuck in a vicious circle.

Where is the local agricultural extension officer and government resources to help the poor farmers. It is not there. The extension officers are not immune from HIV/AIDS. They too become sick and die. Their offices are left with few human resources, little money and no facilities. They too form part of the same vicious circle.

What good is debt reduction under such circumstances? Where can aid money be usefully invested? How can this vicious circle be broken? How can the odds be changed in favour of the poorest?

The answer is to find ways in which the vicious circle can be broken. This requires detailed but fast investigation. It is rare that blanket solutions are effective. What is needed is a well thought out package that will address the pertinent issues.

This is where the PEGS approach is critical. We first clearly determine what the affected people would like to achieve – then we all together identify the constraints and develop strategies to overcome them; we next look at opportunities and develop strategies to achieve them – finally we facilitate their achievement.

It sounds good, but it is also what everyone would say. So what are the strategies that we proposed for people such as these described above in rural Zambia?

First - tackle subsistence problems through addressing the problem of labour shortages for land preparation and stabilising crop production through labour saving technologies such as mechanised cultivation and pumping. Second – carry out market research to find out how local producers could achieve sustained cash incomes. Third – introduce seed capital to stimulate small scale market oriented industrialisation and value addition to crops in identified areas. Fourth – promote through appropriate organisations the provision of improved health services.

PEGS prepared the policy to implement this programme. Some NGOs opposed it. They thought mechanisation was bad because it was environmentally harmful. But they had no viable alternative. Others introduced supplementary income generating activities like bee keeping. But at best they kept hunger a little under control. Yet others thought prayer would solve everything. If only this was the case.

We at PEGS know that everything will not succeed. However, we always aim to leave behind a community with an economy that is more vibrant, has built in safety for periods when there are serious problems, and has the chance to develop further economically through its own actions.

Finally, let us not forget that economic security gives choice to pay for health services, to buy school books and above all else to have more control over ones own destiny.