Law and Development Association

The Economic Empowerment Program was started in 1999 in response to the ever-
escalating poverty levels besetting the entire rural communities where our membership is
based. The program utilizes income-generation activities (IGAs) to empower vulnerable
women and children both economically and socially. Beneficiaries are identified by the
community in consultation with a LADA program officer. The types of IGAs include goat and
poultry-rearing and supplying farm inputs such as seed. In 2004, our seed multiplication
project received a 2nd place award at the Southern Province Agricultural Show.

-- Rural population accounts for 72% of the overall
poverty level in Zambia.

-- Zambia's HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is 16%. (18%
women; 13% men)

-- Southern Province HIV infection rates: 16.7%
(men) and 20.2% (women)

-- Life expectancy is 33 years old.

-- Over 78.5% of Zambians live on less than $1 a
day.

-- 94% of Zambians live on less than $2 a day.

Extreme poverty is worse in rural areas of Zambia than in urban areas. The Southern
Province, where LADA predominantly operates, is ranked fourth out of the twelve provinces
in terms of having the highest concentration of extreme poverty. Once the breadbasket of
Zambia, the Southern Province is coping with changing weather patterns that have caused
massive flooding and severe drought in areas throughout the region. Peasant farmers face
extreme hardship as a result of poor maize yields.

Women and children are most vulnerable to poverty. Traditional norms and customs
contribute to their disenfranchisement as they are denied property rights, have limited
opportunity to seek formal employment and are more at risk for contracting HIV/AIDS.

The average cost of:

--Primary education school fees is 50,000 ZMK ($US 12.5)

--Secondary education school fees is 150,000 ZMK ($US 37.5)

--One bag of mealie meal (used for nshima, the staple food) is 40,000 ZMK ($US 4)

Impact of IGA:

--Selling price of 1 goat = 80,000 ZMK ($US 20)

--Selling price of 1 chicken = 8,000 - 16,000 ZMK ($US 2 - 4)