Investing Directly in The Poor: A Demand For Social Protection in Zambia

“There are a lot of problems in our society that need to be addressed by the government but no efforts have been made to address these issues. It is as though there is no government. People who are in power, people who are in government are selfish. They only work to better their lives, forgetting the people who put them into power and the reason why they are in power.” - Resident of Chawama Compound in Lusaka- June 2005 This provocative quotation provides an entry-point into a JCTR Report that in many ways aims to explore the relationship of the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) with the poor and vulnerable in Zambia. This perception of one Chawama resident raises a serious question that all policy-makers need to take seriously: How is it that while the GRZ spends trillions of Kwacha each year through implementation of the National Budget, some members of society feel so excluded from government programmes that they even perceive that "there is no government”? In terms of macro-economic indicators, Zambia appears like a country that is positioned to make a break-through in national development: the economy has achieved positive economic growth for many consecutive years, inflation levels have fallen into single digits for the first time since economic liberalisation, the staggering international debt of over US$7 Billion has been reduced to just over US$500 million, and yes, the 2006 Budget Speech by the Minister of Finance and National Planning proposed an impressive total expenditure of 10.2 trillion Kwacha.1 Linking macro-economic indicators to issues of poverty reduction, economists usually limit their analysis to empirical models predicting that sustained economic growth over 6% or 8% per year will ultimately lead to poverty reduction. This economic thinking almost suggests that “trickle down” poverty reduction is an eventual and automatic result of economic growth, regardless of who participates in this growth and what social policies are in place. If this narrow growth paradigm is allowed to shape government policies and priorities, then Zambia dangerously risks leaving behind in development the 2/3 of its population (67% poor) who face real, identifiable, daunting but surmountable challenges to break out of situations of poverty. In other words, Zambia is a country in need of pro-poor growth, growth that is inclusive, equitable, just and transforming, growth resulting from the productive efforts of each and every Zambian person, including the poor, the vulnerable, the destitute, the low-capacity, the HIV positive, the disabled, other marginalized groups and each and every member of society. But what interventions can the Zambian Government utilise to not only restore and protect the human dignity of all Zambians, but also to inclusively uplift the creative and productive potential of all members of society, especially the poor? This JCTR Report presents the moral and economic case for the formulation and scaling-up of a wide-array of “social protection” initiatives in Zambia, in order to take government programmes, services and investments directly to the marginalized and to make development work for the poor.