Escalating youth unemployment in

Zambia; What is the remedy?

The Tragedy of a Youthful Population In Zambia

(African Media Agency)

Zambia’s Youthful Population, a blessing or a curse? What is the determinant factor? According
to the United Nations Development Program, the youth in Zambia constitute approximately 60%
of the total population ( UNDP, 2015). A youth according to the National Youth Policy is
defined as a person aged between 15 and 35 years old (National Youth Policy, 2015). In this
vein, It is also estimated that 36.7 % ( 4.8 Million) of the total population in Zambia is between
15 and 35 years the largest population of young people ever recorded in Zambia’s History
( UNFPA,2016). The bitter truth is that the youthful population is extremely high and will
continue to grow year by year and with it comes a lot of challenges and opportunity hence it can
either be a curse or a blessing depending on the response of the Nation to the demands it comes
with. Some of the challenges it comes with includes; more demands for jobs and social services
and the pressure exerted on the economy. On the other hand, we see a rise in the workforce as
many young people with a lot of potential to be innovators, creators, builders and leaders of
sustainable development enter the job market. A youthful population can be a curse if its needs
are unattended to such as lack of employment opportunities, access to quality education and
opportunities to contribute to the growth of the economy and decision making bodies. If the
youthful population is to be a blessing, on the other hand, there is a need for measures to be
taken in order to cater to the needs and demands it comes with.

Youth Unemployment: A TickingTime Bomb to the Zambian economy.

( The Mast)

Unemployment can be defined as the number of people that have no jobs in a given settlement.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) considers that the “unemployment rate conveys the
percentage of persons in the labour force who are unemployed”. Therefore, the youth
unemployment rate can be considered to be the number of youths in the youth population that are
not employed( ILO, 2013). Issues of youth unemployment have been a world concern for a long
time now. These issues seem to be endless as they are steadily increasing daily from one area to
another. Zambia is amongst countries that have experienced the effects and problems caused by
unemployment, especially among the youths. Despite the steps and measures that have been
employed to curb levels of youth unemployment by world organizations, national government
and individuals, problems of unemployment are predominant especially in rural settlements of
Zambia. The youth unemployment rate in Zambia is currently at 21.41 per cent and the country’s
unemployment rate is at 12. 1. Where the combined unemployment rate was at 44.1 for the entire
country ( Statistica, 2020) ( Zambia statistics Agency, 2019). The population is growing rapidly
at 2.8% per year, partly because of high fertility, resulting in the population doubling every 25
years. ( Zambia statistics Agency, 2019). As more youths enter into the working-age, more
pressure is placed on a need for more jobs to cater for the rapidly growing population, especially
among the youth.
Agriculture; a remedy for youth unemployment in Zambia.

(Yapasa Zambia)

Agriculture a Potential driver for Job creation in Zambia

Zambia has 42 million hectares of cultivable land, but just 14% of it is cultivated. Lakes and
rivers, for example, are largely untapped opportunities. Zambia's irrigation capacity is only used
11.8 percent of the time. Given the richness of its agroecological areas, Zambia has a resource
endowment for the production of a wide variety of crops, animals, and fish (UNFPA,2016).
Owing to this, if Agriculture can be given the necessary attention it requires, it can cut down the
unemployment rate especially among the youths and contribute massively to the economic
growth of the country.
As part of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency-funded five-year Yapasa
Project, FAO, ILO, and the Zambian government partnered in 2013 to establish decent
employment for rural youth in Zambia by promoting sustainable micro, small, and medium-sized
enterprises (FAO,2019). Yapasa used a business structures approach to target the soybean,
aquaculture, and horticulture value chains concentrating on joint acts, such as strengthening
collaboration between various value-chain players and connecting young agripreneurs with
private businesses Access to quality inputs, structured markets, and capability creation were also
discussed in the programme, as well as strengthening stakeholder collaboration to improve the
enabling atmosphere for youth engagement. The initiative was a huge success, creating nearly
3000 youth jobs and improving the performance of more than 5 000 youth-led enterprises
(FAO,2019).
Diversification; From Mine to Field.

(GFAR)

Zambia's economy has depended on copper mining for decades, a capital-intensive sector that is
subject to market fluctuations and employs just 2% of the population (Wordbank, 2004).
Agriculture, on the other hand, employs almost half of the population and contributes just 8.2%
of GDP. Despite 40 million hectares of arable land, an abundant supply of groundwater, and
nutrient-rich soil, and low population density, Zambia’s agriculture sector has not yet reached its
full potential. ( Worldbank, 2004). The government recognizes that increasing agriculture and
agribusiness are critical for improving incomes and food security, reducing poverty, and creating
a more diversified and resilient economy. However, the agriculture sector in Zambia has not
been fully harnessed for massive job creation.

As it can be observed from the Vision 2030, it seems the Zambian government is realising the
Value of Agriculture as far as youth unemployment is concerned. However, the approach in
exploiting the potential of Agriculture to curb the unemployment rate in Zambia has not been
very realised. Currently, most individuals express their desire to work and yet they are unable to
find jobs, especially in rural areas. Most of these individuals are youths and young adults. Due to
the scarcity of jobs in Zambia, the levels of unemployment are at an increase in most parts,
especially in rural areas. In most cases, most countries continue to face problems of youth
unemployment due to their failure to recognize and utilize natural resources that are readily
available, especially agricultural resources. “Youth involvement can increase the sustainability of
the business as they are searching for ways to improve their welfare and build their financial
lives” (Machina, H 2018). If countries such as Zambia and other nationalities that have high rates
of unemployment would make use of the available agricultural features and resources, issues of
unemployment would have been a thing of the past in that the agriculture sector has the ability to
accommodate most of the youth population and thus transform the power of youth into an
industry which is a key benefit to the economy.

Making Agriculture attractive to the youth

(African Farming)
In most parts of Zambia, the agricultural sector is occupied by the older generation. This has
been a source of youth unemployment in that even though the youths are born and bred in rural
areas where agricultural activities are a driving force of life and at times, the only source of
income for most families. Most youths prefer settling in urban areas to rural areas. This results in
unemployment for most of the youth population. Also “many young people are reluctant to
engage in agriculture as they see this sector as being laborious and backward, causing agriculture
to be dominated by the older part of the population” (Chander, M. 2016). The agricultural sector
is a large sector and in Zambia, it has proven to be abandoned by economically active individuals
and yet it is the key to curb unemployment levels for the country.

The youth population, especially the population of those that are below the age of thirty-two
years are most not considered in the agricultural empowerment by the government. In Zambia,
the youth are targeted recipients of subsidised inputs channelled through the Farmers Input
Support Program (FISP), but subsidies are accessed through youth associations, requiring
formalisation and membership fees that are beyond many poor households. Historically, two
major features of the Zambian economy have shaped agricultural policy: the dual structure of
agriculture, where large-scale estates co-exist with a smallholder sector and the dominant role of
the mining sector and the need to provide the latter with affordable food. State involvement in
both input and output markets is strong. Thus taking the opinions of youths in rural settings
would help to come up with youth entrepreneur activities that will help reduce youth
unemployment levels. In terms of budgetary allocations, agricultural policy has for many years
been focused on providing smallholder farmers with input subsidies and more recently providing
above-market output prices for maize (Andersson Djurfeldt and Hillbom 2016).
(REFERENCES.
1. Adesugba, Margaret and George Mavrotas. (2016). Youth Employment, Agricultural
Transformation, and Rural Labor Dynamics in Nigeria. IFPRI Discussion Paper No.
01579. Washington,DC:IFPRI.
2. AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa). (2015.) Africa Agriculture Status
Report: Youth in Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa. Issue No. 3. Nairobi: Alliance for a
Green Revolution in Africa.
3. Machina, H., A. Chapoto, and J. Sambo. 2018. Youth Employment and Agriculture in
Zambia. Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute Working Paper (forthcoming).

4. Chander, M. (2016). A day out at Nikki’s farm—a Youth Agripreneur in Action [online].
Rome, YPARD. https://ypard.net/news/day-out-nikki%E2%80%99s-farm%E2%80%94-
youth-agripreneur-action

5. Machina, H., Namonje-Kapembwa, T., & Kasoma, A. (2018). Youth Employment in

Zambia: What Opportunities Does Agriculture Offer? .
https://www.evalforward.org/sites/default/files/files/Discussions/Youth%20Agriculture
%20Employment%20Opportunities_wp%20138_Machina_Kapembwa_Kasoma.pdf

6. CTA. (2018). Promoting agricultural entrepreneurship among rural youth in Zambia.

Www.cta.int.https://www.cta.int/en/project/promoting-agricultural-entrepreneurship-

among-rural-youth-in-zambia-sid06a445ee6-e775-49fb-ac94-260231f374c2

7. UNFPA (2016). Zambia’s Young People and the Road to 2030. [online] UNFPA
Zambia https://zambia.unfpa.org/en/news/zambia%E2%80%99s-young-people-
and-road-2030.
8. ZAMBIA STATISTICS AGENCY. (2019). Labour Force Survey Report 2019 First

Quarter.https://www.zamstats.gov.zm/phocadownload/Labour/Labour%20Force

%20Survey%20Q1%20-%202019.pdf

9. WorldBank. (2018). Zambia: Harvesting Agricultural Potential. World Bank.

https://www.worldbank.org/en/about/partners/brief/zambia-harvesting-agricultural-

potential
10. FAO. (2019). The issue. http://www.fao.org/3/ca3857en/CA3857EN.pdf