February 2023 Basic Needs and Nutrition Basket: Message for International Women's Day; Embrace Equity in Addressing the Cost of Living

The cost of living for a family of five, as measured by the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) Basic Needs and Nutrition Basket (BNNB) for the month of February 2023 in Lusaka, stood at K9,278.06. This reflects a K230.75 increase from the K9,047.31 recorded in February, 2023. The upward movement in the basket is attributed to increased prices in food items such as 14kg of other fruits which went up by K320.82 from K108.75 (K7.77/kg) to K429.57(K30.68/kg), 16kg bananas which went up by K90.26 from K226.90 (K14.18/kg) to K317.16 (K19.82/kg), 1kg kapenta which went up by K88.68 from K267.99 (K267.99/kg) to K356.67 (K356.67/kg), 6kg cassava flour which went up by K66.34 from K65.04 (K10.84/kg) to K131.38 (K21.90/kg) and 4kg rice which went up by K24.15 from K97.65 (K122.07/5kg) to K121.80 (K152.25/5kg). The non-food basket item of particular interest noted a significant decrease in the price of two, 90kg bags of charcoal, which dropped by K313.33 from K1,090 (K545.00/90kg bag) to K776.67 (K388.33/90kg bag), which amongst other factors could partially be attributed to the reduced load shedding in the country.