Poverty and Wellbeing in Zambia: Pandemic Update

Abstract

This study attempts to provide a descriptive assessment of the reasons behind the increase in poverty witnessed in Zambia between 2015 and 2022. Although poverty in Zambia is more pronounced in rural than urban areas, the increase in poverty was much higher in urban areas. This increase may be at least partly explained by a confluence of factors, including load shedding, the Covid-19 pandemic, which considerably negatively affected businesses and employment, and the effect of rising prices, which also put pressure on households’ purchasing power. There were also dramatic increases in certain provinces (Lusaka, Southern, and Copperbelt) in the share of household heads who were not working due to pandemic-induced business closures in 2020, which is likely to have put a strain on pathways out of poverty, given the positive relationship between non-farm enterprises and resilience before the pandemic.