. Shamenda

By JUDITH NAMUTOWE –

UNEMPLOYMENT and poverty have for a long time been issues of grave concern to past and present governments with a permanent solution not presenting itself.
Youths graduating from various learning institutions have joined long queues of many that are seeking employment.
On the other hand poverty levels have equally remained significantly high with an estimated 60 per cent of the population living below the poverty datum line.??This is despite the positive macroeconomic indicators the country has recorded over the recent years.
However, in the quest to improve the living standards of the people, Government has taken steps to address the challenges of unemployment and poverty, particularly in rural areas.
Creation of jobs has a direct impact on reducing poverty as noted by Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba, who said this action provides income to people and enables them to have access to basic needs in life.
To this effect, efforts to promote pro-poor growth with focus on job creation, skills training, creation of self employment opportunities and improving the quality of jobs in the country, have been prioritised.??“In addition, a number of policies and strategies have been put in place aimed at addressing the challenges of high unemployment across the various sectors,” Mr Yamba says.
Notable of the policies that target to tackle unemployment are the employment and labour market policy, the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) development policy and national youth policy among many.
Agreeable to Mr Yamba’s sentiments, Labour Minister Fackson Shamenda said it is unfortunate that many people still live in abject poverty due to lack of decent employment despite the recorded economic growth in Zambia.??Mr Shamenda says Zambia’s economy has during the last decade shown massive growth and development but that positive trend has not been sufficiently inclusive.
Large investments have reinvigorated the capital-intensive mining sector and there is rapid expansion in manufacturing, trade and finance.??Mr Shamenda says such economic growth has at the same time seen the country’s demographic situation changing with a growing youth population and ongoing urbanisation.
“This means that meeting the growing expectation for good employment opportunities is a challenge.?Although economic growth has led to increased income and wealth for some, the growth has not been sufficiently inclusive to create enough employment opportunities for all Zambians. This is perhaps best illustrated with the large number of citizens who continue to live in abject poverty,” he said.
The Government and cooperating partners recognise the challenge of creating inclusive growth that not only ensures a continually growing economy but also creating more employment opportunities for the large part of the population that had been left behind.??In its quest to create decent employment, the Government will ensure that the jobs created were free from casualisation because this will ensure sustainable development in the lives of the people.
On this premise, the Government and 20 of its Cooperating Partners Group (CPG) organised the high level stakeholder conference with the, “Job Creation to Promote Inclusive Growth”.
The objective of the conference was to develop a shared understanding for inclusive growth and job creation and what could be done to promote people-centred growth and development in Zambia to reduce poverty.
The conference was further designed to bring policy perspectives and practice together and in an innovative and compelling way to develop a joint understanding of the multiple dimensions and concepts of job creation.
The event also provided an opportunity to inform Government on what is really working in terms of job creation and to explore possibilities of scaling up such initiatives.??Among the specific issues were Zambia’s job challenge and opportunities are, is achieving pro-poor structural transformation in the agriculture sector and the viability of the Cash Transfer System as an alternative to subsidies.
Others were financial inclusion, growth and inequality, productivity in Zambia, utilisation of public service human resources and performance of the public technical education and vocation training colleges.??During the conference, participants were presented with one key challenge: ‘Make something happen’.
There has been few results as regards realizing inclusive growth despite different policies being put in place by the Government and the many ideas from stakeholders.?The rapid economic growth that has been experienced in the past 10 years has not improved conditions for a large segment of the Zambian population.
Despite the positive growth rate in the past, the poverty rate in Zambia still remains high at above 60 percent.?Therefore reducing poverty and promoting broad based growth while maintaining macro-economic stability remain the main challenges for the Government.
Participants did not only have the opportunity to discuss and deliberate with national and international experts on what it would take to improve productivity, increase employment, and promote inclusive growth, but also had a chance to learn from practical examples of where jobs have been created in Zambia in a Jobs Marketplace.
It was agreed that most jobs will need to be created in the private sector while Government needs to foster an enabling environment which requires consistent policy creation and implementation based on rigorous analyses and productive dialogue between stakeholders.
Key areas of deliberation during the conference were action plans for areas such as education and skills development, infrastructure development, agricultural development, and access to finance.?In its continued effort to alleviate poverty and address high unemployment the two parties, Government and the CGC, agreed to improve infrastructure, better rural roads and access to electricity.?A well-trained workforce has been in shortfall hence the observation to ensure improved personnel to meet the demands of the labour market and improve productivity.
The participants also agreed to raise agricultural productivity, which is critical for improving incomes for the majority of Zambians dependent on the sector.?The issue of reform involving the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) and Farmer Input Support Programme were also highlighted while the Cash Transfer Systems and the e-voucher were seen to add impetus and provide alternative to subsidies.
The meeting observed that access to finance also has to be broadened, this because the majority of Zambians do not have access to credit or financial services more generally.?Poverty was highlighted by Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda as the biggest impediment to higher and meaningful sustainable growth of any country.
“You cannot grow the economy with people who have no purchasing power,” he says.??The International Labour Organisation (ILO), a key stakeholder on labour, represented by assistant director general and Africa regional director Aeneas Chuma, pointed at the extractive industries as being a key catalyst for job creation.
“Generally inclusive growth has been described as broad-based economic growth, which entails not only  the expansion of  economic activities reflected  in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth figures, but also processes and policies  that provide economic opportunities?for people in all sectors through the creation of sustainable and decent  jobs for all,” he said.
Results from the conference are key to addressing unemployment and poverty and its offshoots but this will continue to remain in vein if such deliberations ended up as talking-shops.