Keywords

Zambia gained its independence on the 24th of October 1964. The population of Zambia was estimated to be at 3.4 million at independence and has since grown to an estimated 18.3 million in 2020 (World Bank, 2019). After independence, Zambia had inherited a thriving copper economy and had the fourth-highest GDP per capita in Africa. After independence, Zambia continued to rely greatly on the mining sector (Whitworth, 2015). The mining sector accounted for 49.6 percent of Zambia’s total GDP (Jenkin, 2018). Additionally, at independence, copper constituted 93% of Zambia’s export and accounted for 71% of the government revenue. In essence, the copper industry determined Zambia’s economic trajectory (Whitworth, 2015). A decade after independence, the world copper prices fell significantly; it is estimated that between 1974 and 1975, copper prices fell by 40 percent while import prices increased by 16 percent annually (Shaw, 1982).

The falling copper prices reduced government revenues and exacerbated the fiscal deficits (Chirwa and Odhiambo, 2017). To finance government expenditure, the Zambian government increased taxes which led to an increase in inflation; between 1975 and 1980, the inflation rate increased from 8 percent per annum to 16 percent per annum (Andersson et al., 2000). In 1978, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) assisted the Zambian government financially to restore Zambia’s balance of payments and reduce the inflation rate. During this period, a short-lived increase in copper prices enabled the Zambian government to meet the conditions stipulated in the IMF Action Programme, which had come at the expense of partially losing economic policy autonomy (Andersson et al., 2000). In 1983, challenges related to maintaining the momentum from the 1978 IMF Action Programme led to the adoption of a new comprehensive structural adjustment program. The new structural adjustment program aimed to strengthen production incentives, foster economic growth, and diversify the export industry (Andersson & Kayizzi-Mugerwa, 1989).

Additionally, as part of this new program, the Zambian government was required to deregulate the interest rates and prices and mandated to reduce tariffs. Moreover, under this program, the tax systems, trade industry, and the parastatals were to go through a reformation process (Andersson et al., 2000). The implementation of the new structural adjustment program did not produce the intended results; the Zambian economy further dwindled into a quagmire, which ultimately led to the abandonment of the adjustment by the Zambian government in 1987. The Zambian government went from liberalized economy to a command and control economy. Which entailed that adjustment and economic growth were to occur through the country’s resources (Andersson & Kayizzi-Mugerwa, 1989).

Additionally, in the years that followed independence, the GDP per capita remained relatively low. As shown in Fig. 3.1, for much of the period between 1960 to about 2003, the GDP per capita remained below 500 USD. It was only after 2000 when Zambia experienced a sharp increase in the GDP per capita; there was a sustained increase from 480 USD in 2000 to about 1900 USD in 2017. Additionally, the GDP per capita in Zambia followed a similar trajectory as the average of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Fig. 3.1
A double-line graph compares the evolution of G D P per capita in current U S D in Zambia and sub-Saharan Africa versus the years from 1960 to 2020. Both lines first rise gradually until 1985, followed by significant rising trends.

Evolution of GDP per capita in Zambia and Sub-Saharan Africa 1960–2019. (Source: World Bank (“Figure caption (from [x.y], licensed under CC-BY 4.0)”))

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Education in the Post-Independence Era

At independence, Zambia was faced with the challenge of having an uneducated workforce; it is estimated that in 1963, there were fewer than a hundred Zambians with a university degree and less than 1000 Africans with secondary school certificates (Martin, 1972). The Zambian government had also inherited a gender unequal education because the provision of education by Christian missionaries was biased towards boys (Kelly, 1999). Essentially, after independence, the Zambian government invested heftily in education in an attempt to increase its skilled workforce and close the gender gap in education. Moreover, in the development plan adopted by the government at independence, the government had planned to expand its education system such that, by 1970, every child of school-going age would have attained at least four years of primary education (Kelly, 1999). Figure 3.2 shows the primary school gross enrolment rates from 1970 to 2017 in Zambia. As can be seen, from 1970, there was a steady increase in primary school gross enrolment rates. The increase may have responded to the schooling expansionary policy adopted in the post-independence era.

Fig. 3.2
A line graph of the gross enrollment versus the years from 1960 to 2020. The line starts at 85 in 1970, rises, falls to a trough in 2000, then rises steeply to 115, followed by a fluctuating decline.

Primary school gross enrolment in Zambia 1970–2017. (Source: World Bank (“Figure caption (from [x.y], licensed under CC-BY 4.0)”); Around 2001, there is a pronounced spike in gross enrolment, the literature does not document any significant event during this period that may have led to this spike. The spike could be as a result of data mis-reporting)

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Despite the efforts made by the post-independence government to increase the quality and access to education, to date, there remain huge disparities in education with regards to gender, region, and social class (UNESCO, 2015). Approximately about 27 percent of females and 18 percent of males in rural areas have not had any access to schooling (Masaiti & Chita, 2014). Additionally, females are more likely to drop out of school after their first year of primary schooling relative to males (Nkosha & Mwanza, 2009). Various studies have shown that education for girls is also linked to broader societal benefits such as later marriage, lower fertility, better health care, and improved education for their children (Klasen, 2002; Lloyd et al., 2000; World Bank, 2017). Other studies have shown that female education empowers women to have significant autonomy over their sexuality and is linked to lower HIV infection among females (Alsan & Cutler, 2013; Brent, 2006).

Healthcare in the Post-Independence Era

In the post-independence era, the Zambian government had inherited an unbalanced public health system. The British colonial government had not invested greatly in developing the public health system but rather depended on the Christian missionaries to meet the health care demands of the majority of the local population in the rural areas. The public health facilities were unevenly distributed at independence, with most well-developed health centers located in administrative and principal towns. The new government was faced with the challenge of redressing the public health care inequalities that had characterized the region during the colonial era. In the years that followed independence, the Zambian government invested heftily in developing the public health care system; for example, in 1964, the Zambian government-operated 19 hospitals across Zambia (Freund, 1986). By 1990, there were 42 government hospitals. The new government also began to expand the rural health care facilities; between 1964 and 1990, the rural health facilities increased from 187 to 661 (Kamwanga et al., 1999).

The Zambian health care system has undergone several transformation stages; for example, in the early 1980s, the Zambian government decentralized the health care system, which entailed that the responsibility of managing health care in the various districts in Zambia was entrusted to the district health boards and hospitals rather than the Ministry of Health. Additionally, in a bid to continue expanding the health care system during times of economic austerity, the Zambian government introduced primary health care fees in the 1990s. Eventually, the introduction of health care fees has created barriers to access for poor people (Hjortsberg & Mwikisa, 2002). In 2006, the Zambian government abolished the health care user fees (Masiye et al., 2008). Though remarkable progress has been made since independence, the health care system in Zambia still faces a few challenges: (1) there are still huge disparities in access to health. It is estimated that only 46 percent of the population lives within a 5 km radius of a health facility. At the same time, the greater majority travel a distance of about 50 km to have access to a health facility. (2) There is a shortage of trained health workers, which has led to some facilities being operated by unqualified workers (ACCA, 2013).

The fractured health system in Zambia has also diminished its capacity to deal with the HIV epidemic. A report by ARHAP (2006) indicates that Zambia is among the Southern African countries most hard hit by the HIV epidemic. It is estimated that about 20 percent of adult deaths are attributed to HIV. The prevalence among young people stands at 6.6 percent, with HIV prevalence higher among females than males (Nakazwe et al., 2019).

This section has highlighted that Zambia inherited an uneven education and health sector at independence; however, since independence, Zambia has made considerable strides in developing education and health care. Though significant progress has been made, education and health are still unequally distributed and underdeveloped; therefore, the fundamental impetus of this study is to understand how the historical Christian missionary investments in education and health have shaped current educational and health outcomes in Zambia.