Thursday, March 28, 2024
Ephraim Nsingo interviews PATRICK MUCHELEKA, executive director, Civil Society for Poverty Reduction
Mucheleka, who heads Civil Society for Poverty Reduction, a network of more than 140 pro-poor develompent organisations in Zambia, says the economic growth figures have to be discounted against the growth in the country’s population. Further, the sectors that have driven growth are capital-intensive, creating relatively few new jobs.
Zambia will be among the countries participating in the United Nations Fourth Conference on Least Developed Countries in Istanbul beginning on May 9. The conference – along with a forum on the U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act which will be hosted in Lusaka in June – offer fresh opportunities to recalibrate Zambia’s approach to development.
Q: What issues with Zambia’s economic performance and governance record do you think should be addressed at the LDC conference in Istanbul to ensure that development benefits all Zambians? A: There are a number of issues. Zambia should address the need for targets on human development and be able to state by what percentage we shall reduce poverty in particular years.
The country should also discuss stimulation of economic growth in rural areas.
The government should also address the empowerment and active participation of the poor in the governance on one hand and the accountability of public institutions to the poor on the other hand. This constitutes a critical platform for human development and poverty reduction.
Q: What specific recommendations would you make in relation to the energy, mining and agriculture sectors as we ready for the conferences? A: Emphasis should be placed on the agriculture sector as it is the provider of livelihood for majority of the population and has a direct link to poverty eradication. The sector needs substantial investment in infrastructure and research as well as effective farming practice, sustainable technologies, access to financing and marketing mechanism.
The Zambian government has to think broadly about agriculture, for example the focus on maize production to the neglect of other sub sectors like fisheries and livestock development is not helping the development of agriculture in Zambia.
In the mining sector, the country needs to enhance revenue collection from minerals so that they benefit Zambians and generations to come. As a country we need to move away from copper dependence, long-term and large-scale formal investment in minerals such gemstones, manganese, uranium and other precious metals.
Zambia needs a minerals policy – this policy should state the development of mineral resources taking into consideration the national and strategic considerations.
Energy still remains a challenge across the country. People in especially in rural areas still rely on traditional sources of energy [like firewood and charcoal]. Lack of adequate energy has constrained the development opportunities in Zambia. It is therefore important to expand power infrastructure and increase capacity for energy generation, especially renewable energy.
Q: There has been the suggestion from certain quarters that not enough is being done to attract foreign investment. A: We first of all have to deal with our governance challenges – corruption and constitutionalism.
We need to have a clear roadmap for foreign direct investment. It should be handled in a way that ensures Zambians benefit. For examples investors should be told about the “dos and don’ts” in Zambia, this will help guide them for example on issues of casualisation of labour.
Q: The 2011 African Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA) forum will be held in Zambia in June, under the theme “Enhanced trade through competitiveness, value addition and deep regional integration”. How can Zambia enhance its own economy and pro-poor development in light of this theme and of AGOA itself (ten-year old U.S. legislation intended to offer support and incentives to African countries trading with the U.S.)?
A: The theme itself summarises key issues in enhancing trade – and i would say nothing can be more important than addressing competitiveness, value addition and regional integration – all isues that continue to be a challenge for Zambia. Often our products are not competitive at the regional and world markets.
Generally Zambian products face challenges of low value addition to meet international standards. The theme therefore represents Zambia’s trade challenges and solutions.
What Zambian traders need is access to finance and market information. Access to loans with reasonable interest rates will help trades produce competitive products able to compete at an international level. Access to information would help them to find market for their produce. Traders will then gain in terms of profits.
Q: What should be done to ensure that Zambia gets the best out of the two upcoming conferences?
A: Firstly Zambia should provide a truthful analysis of development efforts with their challenges that we are going through as a country. It should not try and paint a picture which is does not exist. The government needs to be open to criticism.Conferences such as the AGOA and LDC-IV will come up with very good recommendations. The challenge has always been the implementation part of it. It is our hope that this time we shall see real changes in the implementation system in Zambia.