Keywords

While previous literature in the colonial legacies discourse has focused on broader colonial identities and institutional variations, this study takes a novel approach by examining the contributions of Christian missionaries and their investments in human capital as key determinants of long-term development. Specifically, the study focuses on the case of Zambia, a region that experienced a significant influx of missionaries and remains highly Christianized.

In Zambia, the post-independence government made efforts to address the uneven education and health systems inherited from the colonial era, although the country still lags behind in providing adequate human capital development compared to other regions of the world. Furthermore, Zambia has been heavily impacted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, primarily through heterosexual transmission. Given that missionaries played a pivotal role in education and healthcare provision during the colonial period, studying their impact on current educational attainment and health outcomes in Zambia provides valuable insights.

This study contributes to the existing missionary discourse in several ways. Firstly, it adopts a detailed case study approach, utilizing localized data to highlight the contributions of Christian missionaries in fostering long-run development. Unlike previous studies that rely on single-point references, this research collects new annual colonial and missionary data, enabling a comprehensive understanding of historical development. Additionally, the study combines historical and contemporary data through novel geo-referenced datasets to examine the impact of missionary investments in education and health on present-day outcomes.

Moreover, while qualitative literature on healthcare development in Africa exists, this study stands out as one of the few quantitative studies examining the colonial healthcare system’s development in Zambia. By employing a quantitative approach, this research enhances our understanding of the colonial healthcare system’s dynamics and sheds light on its historical significance.

The findings of this study emphasize the importance of considering history as a process rather than a single event when analyzing its significance for long-run development. The first paper analyzes the determinants of missionary settlement in Northern Rhodesia, demonstrating that the establishment and expansion of Christian missionaries were deliberate and strategic decisions. Subsequently, the second paper investigates the historical development of formal education in Northern Rhodesia, highlighting the unparalleled role of missionaries in providing education throughout the colonial period. This research also reveals gender disparities in access to education and shows that historical access to mission education positively influenced long-term educational attainment and reduced the gender gap.

Additionally, this study uses newly collected colonial medical data to establish that missionaries, with the assistance of Africans, pioneered the Western-style healthcare system in Northern Rhodesia and continued to provide the majority of healthcare services during the colonial era. The study further demonstrates successful collaboration between missionaries, African auxiliaries, and the British colonial government in combating epidemic diseases.

Lastly, the study examines the long-term effect of missionary exposure on HIV infection and related sexual behaviors in Zambia. The findings indicate a significant and enduring impact of proximity to historical missionary churches on HIV infection rates, emphasizing the complex relationship between missionary history and contemporary health outcomes.

In summary, this book significantly contributes to our understanding of the long-term impact of historical processes on human capital development. By focusing on the investments of Christian missionaries in education and health, the study uncovers the lasting influence of these investments on Zambia’s human capital development. While this study focuses on specific aspects of the long-run impacts of missionaries, the rich Christian historical data presented here lays the groundwork for further exploration of their influence on various other developmental outcomes. One potential area of investigation is the potential impact of Christian missionaries on long-term fertility, as their influence on proselytes’ perception of contraceptives may have had an effect. Research has shown that regions with a higher presence of missionaries also experienced greater development in terms of education and healthcare. It would be intriguing to explore whether these regions are now more prosperous compared to areas where missionaries did not establish themselves.