Zambia

Country Profile

Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa covering 752 614 km2 populated with 11.8 million people. After gaining independence in 1964 with the election of Kenneth Kuanda, Zambia was ruled by one party, the United National Independence Party (UNIP). Kuanda remained in power until 1991 when, following years of unrest and economic decline, multi party elections were held and trade unionist Frederick Chiluba came to power.

Since 1991 the Zambian economy has faced many challenges; although commendable progress has been made at stabilising the economy at the macro-economic level, the country’s social and economic indicators reveal that much work remains to be done if the poverty levels are to be reduced. Approximately 67% of Zambians live below the poverty line, and 46% of these are classified as being extremely poor. Zambia ranks 165th out of 177 countries measured on the current United Nations Human Development Index (2007/08).

Poverty in Zambia has been exacerbated by persistently high unemployment levels, and further aggravated by the HIV and AIDS pandemic. Although GDP growth has been on average approximately 4.5% annually, this growth has not been accompanied a commensurate increase in the number of jobs. Of the 6,184,000 people in the labour force, only about 700,000 are formally employed, and the remainder of the workforce is either engaged in the informal economy or unemployed. Many of these are women, young people and people with disabilities. Employment creation, therefore, remains a high priority for the Zambian Government, as reflected in the National Employment and Labour Market Policy (NELMP) and in the title of the Fifth National Development Plan (2006-2010) – “Achieving broad-based wealth and job creation through technological advancement and citizenry participation”. HIV and AIDS prevalence is estimated at about 15.6% of the population between the ages of 15-49 years,  and young women proportionately more infected and affected than young men. As this age group is the most productive segment of the population, the impact of HIV and AIDS on the individual workplace and on the economy as a whole is devastating, leading to further worsening of the poverty situation. Furthermore, the disproportionate impact of HIV and AIDS on women as workers, as entrepreneurs, as carers and heads of household requires immediate and supportive actions in relation to prevention and mitigation.

Cooperative situation

The importance of the cooperative movement in Zambia is underlined by its structure. 15,929 registered cooperatives country wide as of March 2008 structure the cooperative movement in a four tier system. The majority of cooperatives are primary cooperatives, mainly composed of agricultural-oriented small scale farmers. The other types of cooperatives include savings and credit cooperatives and an increasing number of cooperatives have been registered in several sub-sectors such as fisheries, livestock, arts and tourism. 

Some of primary cooperatives have united to form 65 district cooperatives unions which are then affiliated to 9 provincial cooperative unions. The fourth level is the Zambia Cooperative Federation as the national cooperative federation where all the provincial cooperatives unions are affiliated.

In accordance with the ILO Recommendation 193 and the 2004 Ouagadougou Summit, Cooperatives in Zambia are identified as a strategic avenue through which socio-economic development can be accelerated and poverty reduction achieved. Thus, by putting in place a framework for cooperative promotion and development, Zambia is contributing to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.

Challenge Fund

The Challenge Fund facility of CoopAFRICA is concerned with three main areas of cooperative development: services, innovation and training. So far, CoopAFRICA held three calls for proposals under this facility. In the first call which closed in June 2008 a total of 145 proposals were submitted to CoopAFRICA. Eight proposals were selected for funding totaling USD 301,354. In the second call 141 project proposals were received in December 2008 from 6 countries, of which 22 projects have been selected. The projects for the second round are worth an estimated sum of USD 1, 330, 000. Applications submitted during the third call, held in May 2009, are currently being processed. Small grants of up to USD 20,000 are considered and selected throughout the year without a special call.

The following projects from Zambia have been selected for funding through the CoopAFRICA Challenge Fund:

Monze Dairy Farmers Cooperative Society - (pdf file, 1.22MB) : Dairy Animal Restocking Program  The aim of this project is to reduce poverty and increase the food security of targeted member smallholder farmers in Monze and part of Choma Districts.

Twatasha Multipurpose Cooperative Society - (pdf file, 589kb) : Sanitation management of refuse & garbage collect The project will provide quality service in terms of collection of litter, garbage and refuse for their disposal in Mansa town, while providing the cooperative members with sustainable employment and incomes.

Focal Point