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QUALITATIVE STUDY OF HOUSEHOLD LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES AND CONSTRAINTS IN ZAMBIA

Michelle Poulin

Allan Bomuhangi

May 2018

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GIRLS’ EDUCATION AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT AND LIVELIHOODS (GEWEL) PROJECT, ZAMBIA: QUALITATIVE STUDYC2

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Michelle Poulin & Allan Bomuhangi

QUALITATIVE STUDY OF HOUSEHOLD LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES AND CONSTRAINTS IN ZAMBIA

CONTENTS III

Contents

Acknowledgements .........................................................................................................................................IV

Executive Summary ..........................................................................................................................................V

A. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................1

B. Methods..........................................................................................................................................3

B.1. OVERVIEW ...............................................................................................................................................................................3

B.2. FIELD APPROACH .................................................................................................................................................................4

B.3. DATA ANALYSIS .....................................................................................................................................................................7

C. Findings ..........................................................................................................................................8

C.1. AGRICULTURE, THE MAIN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY .........................................................................................................9

C.2. STRATEGIES ADOPTED, AND EFFECTS ON INCOME GENERATION AND PRODUCTIVITY ......................... 14

C.3. CONSTRAINTS TO LIVELIHOOD PRODUCTIVITY AND GROWTH ........................................................................ 19

C.4. HUMAN RIGHTS ................................................................................................................................................................... 24

C.5. PREFERRED INTERVENTIONS ........................................................................................................................................27

C.6. COMPARING ACROSS COMMUNITIES .......................................................................................................................... 31

D. Discussion and Recommendations ....................................................................................... 34

D.1. KEY FINDINGS ...................................................................................................................................................................... 34

D.2. GENDERED LIVELIHOODS, GENDERED CONSTRAINTS .........................................................................................37

D.3. CONSTRAINTS AS REPORTED BY FARMERS AND BUSINESS OWNERS .......................................................... 39

D.4. RECOMMENDATIONS OF INTERVENTIONS ...............................................................................................................40

QUALITATIVE STUDY OF HOUSEHOLD LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES AND CONSTRAINTS IN ZAMBIAIV

Acknowledgements

Qualitative Study of Household Livelihood Strategies and Constraints in Zambia was

prepared by Michelle Poulin and Allan Bomuhangi. We are grateful for the invaluable

contributions from: Ioana Botea, Shubha Chakravarty, Rachna Nag Chowdhuri, Arthur

Lagrange, Towela Ndhlema, Muleya Sonde, and Emily Weedon. Shubha Chakravarty,

Rachael Pierotti, and Gwendolyn Heaner also provided insightful comments and

advice to improve the report.

We express our sincere thanks to the Ministry of Gender and Ministry of Community

Development and Social Services for their leadership in the areas of gender and

empowerment programming and guidance on the development and execution of

this research.

The research was financed through the generous support of the Nordic Trust Fund.

ExECUTIVE SUMMARY V

This Qualitative Study sought to understand (a) the key livelihood strategies used by women and men in Zambia,

(b) the key constraints that women and men face, (c) how these constraints shape the strategies that are

available, and (d) what women and men understand about human rights. The research had a specific focus on

identifying responses that could help to increase women’s economic empowerment. These themes were explored

through talking with both women and men, as well as to probe gendered inequalities in work.

The research was motivated to inform the Girls’ Education and Women’s Empowerment and Livelihoods (GEWEL)

Project and the broader policy dialogue within the Government of Zambia to improve coverage of empowerment

and livelihood programming. Historically, public spending on social safety nets for the poor and vulnerable was very

low by international standards; however, recent policy shifts suggest the Government’s commitment to reform. The

Government is scaling-up its largest social assistance program to cover roughly two-thirds of the extreme poor by

2018. Articulated in its Seventh National Development Plan, the Government’s longer-term vision aims to encourage

the graduation of beneficiaries through empowerment and livelihood support. This research seeks to inform how

Government programs could be reformed and expanded to achieve this target.

The qualitative nature of the research allowed community members to describe their experiences in their own

words and in detail. The research was conducted in five provinces in the country, Central, Copperbelt, Southern,

Eastern, and Western. The research consisted of one-on-one, conversational, semi-structured interviews with key

informants (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) with women, men, and community leaders. While many

Zambian women and men both farm and are small business owners (or aspire to be small business owners), the

research differentiated the two groups based on the more predominant source of a person’s income. This distinction

was made to learn how microentrepreneurs and farmers similarly and differentially interact with policy, market

associations, other vendors, as well as in their livelihood strategies.

Across the interviews and focus groups, the study found that women and men expressed a set of specific ideas

for how best to achieve success but face repeated setbacks toward these ends. They emphasized the importance

of educating their children, feeding themselves and their families, saving and earning money, farming productively,

and growing their businesses. Holding these aspirations in mind, Zambians enact a range of livelihood strategies,

most common of which is diversifying into various streams of work to increase and stabilize their incomes. Women

and men are visibly frustrated with the constraints they face, having little access to capital, dealing with high

competition, and repeatedly experiencing exogenous shocks. This combination of strategic diversification, along

with real, persistent constraints, suggests that Zambians in this study hold in their minds specific ideas about the

best way to achieve success within the context of the challenges faced. People perceive their lives as slowly working

toward a goal, but often suffer setbacks given shocks and a lack of savings or support services to mitigate them.

Executive Summary

QUALITATIVE STUDY OF HOUSEHOLD LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES AND CONSTRAINTS IN ZAMBIAVI

The key findings are highlighted below:

AGRICULTURE

• The main sector activity among participants in this study is agriculture. Everyone is engaged in farming,

including those who primarily identify as small business owners.

• In this study most farmers are small-scale, and most farmers own livestock.

• Crop farming is affected by seasonality.

• Mechanization is very low; farms are dependent upon rain-fed growing cycles.

• Women more than men are more likely to sell produce and livestock within their communities than in

neighboring communities.

• About half of farmers thought that farming (as separate from “jobs”) is better “now” than in times past, meaning

more profitable, because in part of better record keeping.

• Not everyone believed that farming productivity had improved, and close to half said that it had worsened.

JOB OUTLOOK AND SELF-EMPLOYMENT

• Formal employment is scarce, and women and men are well-aware of this fact.

• Perhaps because of the scarcity of jobs, women and men expressed a preference for self-employment.

• Farmers stated that farming is the best livelihood activity; business owners said that business is the best activity.

• As among farmers, women and men are divided as to whether they view business as better now compared to in

the past. Some thought business was better today, and some thought business today is worse.

LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES

• Diversification of income streams, hard work, and good business planning emerged as perceived contributions

to a person’s success.

• Participants in this study saw business ownership as necessary for survival. Although nearly all households

engage in farming for livelihoods, given its inherent risks and uncontrollable exogenous shocks, working in side

businesses helps to diversify income from farming and weather such setbacks more easily. Many people also

enjoy the entrepreneurial endeavor of running their own business.

• Often, improved profit is synonymous with diversification into different businesses. Many women and men

talked about the necessity of “multi-tasking,” or diversifying their range of income-generating activities, in order

to sustain livelihoods.

• More successful women and men told stories about how they had built their businesses slowly, increasing their

profits through incremental steps, such as savings and adding to their business when they could, over time.

• People often stated that high competition and limited markets negatively affected their earnings, requiring them

to strategize around the problem. Women and men often responded by selling their goods in other communities.

Reducing the price of their goods is another, if reluctant, strategy.

• Social networks also influenced people’s livelihoods strategies, such as borrowing money from a known,

reliable person in order to pay for transport costs, but also to gather information about the prices of goods in

another community.

ExECUTIVE SUMMARY VII

CONSTRAINTS TO LIVELIHOOD PRODUCTIVITY

• Despite recent advances in Zambia, much scope remains for deepening rural financial markets. Women and men

want access to financial services and capital, stating specifically a desire for low-interest loans and banking services.

• Poor road conditions were noted repeatedly as a constraint impeding geographic mobility, particularly during the

rainy season when flooding in low-lying areas is common. Business owners were specifically concerned about a

lack of access to a market, or low demand for what they sell or serve.

• Transport costs were also commonly reported as a constraint.

• Many small business owners bemoaned a lack of demand for their goods or services and perceived high

competition; identical businesses co-exist in the same communities (e.g., lots of women selling tomatoes).

• Among farmers, the main concerns include exogenous shocks, such as drought or flooding, and crop and animal

disease. Farmers also lamented a lack of water, and raised the need for irrigation systems.

• People want interventions to improve infrastructure, to access financial services, to improve business know-

how and practices, and to access important farming inputs, as these interventions would directly contribute to

improving their productivity and livelihoods.

HUMAN RIGHTS

• Women and men are aware of the basic notions of human rights, and noted that people’s ability to realize their

rights is dependent upon gender. Women and men reported that in public gatherings women are often not free

to speak up, as their voices are silenced. Many men reported that this “silencing” is because women get “sidelined.”

• Yet men (but not women) expressed concern that if women became business owners and made more money

than their spouses, women would stray and disrupt the marriage.

• Women and men acknowledge the different opportunities and constraints that women and men have and face.

Women reported themselves to be capable of performing “men’s work,” but men reported the opposite—that

some jobs are beyond the capabilities of women, and that certain jobs are “women’s work,” such as making

clay pots.

• Many people spontaneously identified certain crops as women’s or men’s, although a few said that these gender

divisions around work and crops are changing.

• Women are not constrained by a requirement to stay at home, and many travel alone (or with other women) to

markets. Both women and men acknowledge without debate the ability for women to move outside of the home.

• Women and men reported wanting more “empowerment” training.

• Men reported that economic inequality is a problem in their communities.

QUALITATIVE STUDY OF HOUSEHOLD LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES AND CONSTRAINTS IN ZAMBIAVIII

COMPARISONS ACROSS COMMUNITIES

Similarities

The growers of high-value cash crops, such as maize and soya, generally fall within the domain of men, who are

the primary buyers and sellers of these crops. Women tend to farm crops that generally yield lower profits, such

as groundnuts, beans, sweet potatoes, and pumpkins, as well as small livestock such as local chickens, goats, and

sheep. Men held the view that women are incapable of work that requires a good deal of physical strength, whereas

the women said they could in fact do the same work as men, and often better. In terms of farming, some women

stated they do the actual work, whereas the men delegate work. Others, however, stated that men and women work

equally.

A vast majority of respondents described myriad constraints to selling their produce, citing, for instance, high

competition as well as poor road networks, which reduced the accessibility to markets. Although some men and

women travel to other markets to expand opportunities, women and men also bemoaned high transport fees, with

some choosing not to travel outside of their communities as a result.

Women and men in this study strategize in ways they believe will minimize the risks from the constraints they face.

Among business owners, this includes developing multiple businesses, hard work, and planning. Education and skill

development were also seen as important means through to navigate constraints. Farmers yearn for access to water

to help mitigate uncertainty in weather.

Respondents in all sites acknowledged the presence of gender-based violence and other intrahousehold

dynamics related to the earnings of men and women. Women and men stated that cases go unreported, with some

stating that women remain silence to preserve their marriages. Others stated that men are victims, too, but would

not report the cases out of embarrassment. Intrahousehold dynamics between husbands and wives also came up in

discussions across communities as related to women’s success in business. Many men expressed disapproval around

the possibility of women earning more money than the men, proclaiming that a woman who is financially successful

would become too independent and would likely cheat on her husband.

Differences

Trading and market activity are more pronounced in the urban communities compared to those rural, with the

semi-urban dwellers more likely to trade with people in neighboring communities, compared to those living in

rural areas. The latter are more likely to sell and buy within their own environments, with the level of activity visibly

smaller in scale; for instance, a woman might sell a few chickens to raise money for school supplies, yet, in the semi-

urban communities, women are better equipped to sell more profitable livestock, such as goats, and on a larger scale

in a more business-oriented manner. While goats are occasionally sold in rural areas, and certainly chickens are sold

in semi-urban and urban communities, this study found that rural markets tend to be able to support cheaper goods,

such as chickens.

The research identified differences in communities that are historically matrilineal in their tracing of land and kin,

as compared to patrilineal societies. In matrilineal communities, men were less resistant to women doing business

or engaging in a meaningful economic activity.

ExECUTIVE SUMMARY Ix

RECOMMENDATIONS OF INTERVENTIONS

• The findings from this study suggest that cash benefits from Government should continue, with many

respondents noting benefit by growing their businesses and achieving secure livelihoods. Cash support

programming could be tailored to further these outcomes.

• Interventions should focus on business skills and agricultural planning: e.g., how much to set aside for household

consumption, how to maximize excess for sale, ways to anticipate production and access inputs, how to overcome

constraints, and to maximize opportunities.

• Communities would benefit from improved communication networks and external linkages. Business owners and

farmers, women in particular, need support to link up with markets outside of their communities.

• Women stated an explicit desire to learn what is perceived (by men) as men’s work.

• Interventions should help farmers to improve productivity, navigate natural disasters, such as drought, as well as

to combat crop and animal disease.

• Interventions could also encourage people to form cooperatives, as many respondents (and particularly women)

saw them as an opportunity to maximize profit.

• Training could encourage men to uphold equal rights for

all in their communities, including women, such as in

income equality, decisions made in the household,

and in encouraging women to speak their

minds in public spaces.

“Government should send some people to teach women on the types of work that men do, so that they also have the knowledge on how to go about it.”

QUALITATIVE STUDY OF HOUSEHOLD LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES AND CONSTRAINTS IN ZAMBIAx

INTRODUCTION 1

A. Introduction

Despite consistent economic growth in Zambia, rural poverty is on the rise, and most poor rural

households struggle and work in low-productivity, informal jobs. Zambia has grown at an average

of 7 percent over the last decade and a half, yet rural poverty increased slightly from 72 percent to

75 percent between 2010 and 2015. Over 90 percent and 70 percent of Zambians in rural and urban

areas, respectively, work in the informal economy. Employment in the informal sector is directly

correlated with the country’s lowest incomes; the average monthly earnings in the informal sector

is only about a third of that in the formal sector. The low productivity of this work is a significant

constraint to the country’s economic development of the country.

Inclusive growth and poverty reduction requires

an understanding of the constraints to increasing

productivity of the informal sector, which employs the

majority of Zambians. Zambians working in this sector

are poor, have little education, die young from avoidable

diseases, and live predominantly in rural areas. Even if

more opportunities for formal employment currently

existed, this population would not be qualified for these

jobs. Their productive inclusion in society, and making

sure they can invest in their children’s futures to break

the intergenerational transmission of poverty, requires

rural investment that can help unlock constraints to

informal sector productivity.

Likely in response to a lack for formal employment

sector, self-employment is common. In addition,

compared to every other region in the world,

women’s participation in entrepreneurial activities

is higher in Sub-Saharan Africa. Yet women-owned

businesses significantly underperform those owned

by men.1 A recent review of the constraints that

women face, relative to men, reveal that women’s

business performance is affected by a combination

of “contextual factors (such as legal discrimination,

social norms, and gender-based violence) and gender

differences in… preferences…” (Campos and Gassier

2017, page 2).2 Campos and Gassier (2017) argue

that additional research, including that which uses

qualitative methods, is needed to further uncover the

constraints that women face, as well as how women

attempt to navigate through them. This Qualitative

Study is one such project. Conducted in five provinces

in Zambia, it aims to shed light on what those

constraints and their consequences are, using women’s

own words. This research also includes men, as well as

farmers. Agriculture is critical to some of Africa’s largest

goals in development, and farming alone accounts

for 60% of total employment in sub-Saharan Africa.

A broad goal of this study has been to identify what

gender and social relations look like, and their causes

and consequences. Using in-depth, unique, narrative

analyses across an array of social and economic groups,

this gender-specific research aims to transform policy

in Zambia.

In this Qualitative Study we report on the key findings

from data we collected with agriculturalists and small

firm owners, both women and men.

1. Average sales of women-owned firms in sub-Saharan Africa are 13 percent lower than those of firms owned by men, as found by Bardasi, Elena, Shwetlena

Sabarwal, and Katherine Terrell. (2011). “How Do Female Entrepreneurs Perform? Evidence from Three Developing Regions.” Small Business Economics 37(4)17.

2. Campos, Francisco and Marine Gassier. (2017). “Gender and Enterprise in Development in sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Constraints and Effective

Interventions.” World Bank Policy Research Working Paper. WPS-8329.

QUALITATIVE STUDY OF HOUSEHOLD LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES AND CONSTRAINTS IN ZAMBIA2

The specific, key research questions for this study are

the following:

(a) What are the key livelihood and income strategies

that women and men use?

(b) What are the key constraints that women and

men face, and how do these constraints shape the

strategies that people use?

(c) What do women and men know and understand

about human rights?

We employed Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and

Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) in the study, as there is

value in asking questions to groups of people as well as

one-on-one. Key themes in both the FGD and KII guides

include livelihood activities, perceptions of formal and

informal employment, aspirations, constraints, visions of

success, farming activities, among others.

“We have been educating our husbands on gender awareness, on our rights ... to grow and be independent. When we develop, our families will be better.”

METHODS 3

3. Recent data show that 41% of Zambia’s population resides in urban areas. Much of sub-Saharan Africa is becoming increasingly urban. In 1986, approximately

25% of sub-Saharan Africans resided in urban areas (as defined by national statistics offices), compared to 38% in 2016. Data represent a weighted average, and

are collected and made available by the United Nations Population Division. They are available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS.

4. The community sites selected were those in which the study team spoke the local language. The sites were also those that had previously established

connections with key leaders, easing the research process.

Table 1. Community characteristics

District Community Pop. (est) ProvincePeri-Urban, Rural

Proximity to Major City

Tribes / Ethnicities

General Accessibility

Kabwe Mpunde 26,832Central Province

Peri-Urban1 hour drive from Kabwe

Lenje, Bemba Very Poor

Mpongwe Kanyenda 8, 635Copperbelt Province

Rural1 hour drive from Luanshya

Lamba/Bemba Poor

Kalomo Mukwela 5, 720Southern Province

Peri-Urban1 hour drive from Choma

Tonga Medium

Katete Kamphambe 9, 645Eastern Province

Rural2 hour drive from Chipata

Chewa/Nsenga Poor

Mumbwa Nangoma 15,502Western Province

Rural2 hour drive from Lusaka

Kaonde/Lenje Poor

B.1. OVERVIEW

The design of the Qualitative Study was loosely

structured around previous “Qualitative Toolkits”

conducted in Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, the Sahel countries,

Nigeria, and Tanzania. Similar to these this study’s main

goals have been to investigate women’s and men’s

strategies to secure livelihoods, and the constraints that

they face. In Zambia the study investigated these areas

among farmers and business owners. Whenever possible

the questions in the interview guides remained identical

to those used in the previous research and toolkits. To

reflect the Zambian context, however, new questions and

sampling procedures were also used. Notably, in Zambia

a series of questions on human rights was introduced—

what is known and understood about basic rights, about

democracy, and about safety of person. Questions also

explored whether the participants viewed human rights

as available to some groups, and not others—such as for

men but not women. The researchers have investigated

these domains of inquiry permitting participants to

respond to questions in their own words, as opposed

to the sole option to respond to a set of preconceived

responses, as is standard in surveys.

Two main approaches, Focus Group Discussions

(FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), were

used as the main forms of data collection in five study

communities. FGDs were conducted with women and

men who (a) identified mainly as farmers and (b) those

who identified mainly as small firm owners. The KIIs

were one-one-one interviews and were conducted

with community leaders. The FGDs and KIIS were

conducted in one community in each of the Zambia’s

five provinces.3 The research was conducted in the

local languages of Tonga, Bemba, Lamba, Nyanja, and

Chewa.4 The community characteristics are shown in

Table 1.

B. Methods

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS

QUALITATIVE STUDY OF HOUSEHOLD LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES AND CONSTRAINTS IN ZAMBIA4

A total of 170 women and men were included in the

study. Specific steps in the sampling procedure are

as follows:

(1) Five communities were included: Katete, a rural site

in the Eastern Province; Mpongwe, a peri-urban site

in the Copperbelt; Kabwe, a rural site in the Central

Province; Kalomo, a peri-urban site in the Southern

Province; and Mumbwa, a rural site in the Central

Province.

(2) Within each community four FGDs were conducted,

distinguished by the following groups: women

small business owners; men small business owners;

women primarily farmers; and men primarily farmers.

(3) KIIs were conducted within each community with a

successful business owner (either man or woman)

and with a successful farmer, in order to better

understand their strategies for success and about

the opportunities they may have had that others

have not.

(4) KIIs were conducted within each community with a

community leader (such as a village headman), an

agricultural extension officer, and a cooperatives

extension officer.5 In some communities the senior

agricultural extension officer also participated in

a KII.

(5) A seasonal calendar of risks and risk-coping

strategies was collected for each community.

B.2. FIELD APPROACH

To select the study participants within each community,

the field team approached a key community leader

and introduced the general goals of the study.6 The

community leader then assisted the field team by

introducing them to one or two farmers and business

owners. Thereafter a snowball methodology was used

to identify other farmers and small business owners,

so that between six to eight people were able to

participate in an FGD.7 It was not possible to completely

distinguish between farmers and business persons, as

the vast majority of Zambians are farmers, and there is

generally much overlap between farming and business.

The field team therefore inquired about from where the

woman or man earned the majority of their income; if

the majority of earnings came from a business owned,

then that person was identified as mainly a business

owner. If earnings came mainly from farming, that

person was considered mainly a farmer. Participants

were also asked whether they considered themselves to

be mainly a farmer or a business owner.8

In total, 73 men and 72 women participated in the FGDs,

and 16 men and 9 women in the KIIs. The average age

of women in this study is 39.1, and 39.2 for men. Women

reported an average of 4.3 children, men 4.4.9 Of the

women in this study, 65.3% were currently married at

the time of the interview, as were 90.4% of men. For the

purposes of this study, the women and men selected

were able-bodied and prime-working age members

(those between 19 to 64 years of age), and who were not

physically disabled, chronically ill, or currently in school.

While the experiences of these populations are certainly

important, in making decisions in social research, and

with qualitative samples that are necessarily small,

decisions around selection criteria must take into

account the larger goals of the study. Thus, in this case

we sought to understand experiences of jobs, income

generation, and livelihood strategies with this particular

demographic, who are likely able to work full-time. See

Table 2 for background characteristics of the participants.

Business owners were selected to represent a wide

variety of businesses and included tailors, grocery shop

owners, barber shop owners, cross-border traders,

marketers, agro-business dealers, brick-makers, maize

5. In Zambia the Cooperatives Department in the government falls under the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, and we considered it worthwhile to

interview the Cooperatives Officer or Coordinator.

6. Selection for participation in FGDs and the KIIs was done with the assistance of the community leaders. Upon arrival at each site the field team made a courtesy

call to the community leader. In the peri-urban areas the community leader would likely be a councilor or an area chairperson, whereas in rural areas the

community leader was a village headman.

7. The research team insisted that farmers reside in different locations of the area, and not live in the same row of neighbors, or all be close friends.

8. In the peri-urban communities, the process ended up being similar, largely because of the topography of Zambia and the economic structures outside of Lusaka,

where even in peri-urban locations agriculture is pervasive. Many “peri-urban” areas in Zambia are, for instance, “rural-like” and are labelled peri-urban because

they are close to an urban center.

9. According to the most recent publication of Zambia Demographic and Health Surveys (ZDHS), 2013-2014, based on a sample of 16,411 women in all selected

households, the average woman in Zambia has 5.3 children by the time she is age 45. See: https://dhsprogram.com/what-we-do/survey/survey-display-406.cfm.

https://dhsprogram.com/what-we-do/survey/survey-display-406.cfm

METHODS 5

traders, bar owners, restaurant owners, and livestock

dealers. The categorization of business owner was

left intentionally broad, and included petty traders

(i.e., a woman who sells secondhand goods, dried fish,

tomatoes, etc.). Also considered were those who had

a small shop, or a stand, and possibly an employee.

All farmers in this study are small-scale, with a few

reportedly growing the cash crop of maize.

FGDs were conducted with two RAs; one research

assistant facilitated while the second took notes.

Notes were the primary means of data recording and

production. Each FGD consisted of between six to eight

participants, and lasted between 1:30 minutes to 2 hours

in length. The key themes captured in the FGD include

livelihood activities, strategies, and constraints; farming

activities, practices, and access to resources; business

histories and current practices (for business owners);

gender dynamics; notions of success; and human rights.

The seasonal calendar of risks and risk-coping

strategies was designed to identify periods of

particular vulnerability and understand the various

strategies adopted by households. A single calendar

was developed for each community, and completed

following the end of each FGD. The collected data were

verified with each subsequent FGD in a community,

so that all participants in all four FGDs contributed

to the completion of the calendar. The seasonal

calendar is based on a time scale that is familiar to

the participants. In the case of Zambia, the 12-month

calendar is appropriate. The seasonal variables include

unemployment/inactivity, loans, the occurrence of

diseases, and migration. For each of the variables, the

FGD participants were asked to indicate:

(1) If the variable (event or activity) is significant to the

community members;

(2) The months when the variable occurs; and

(3) The variable intensity on a scale of 1 to 3 (1 being a low

intensity, 2 a medium intensity, and 3 a high intensity).10

The calendar data are included in Appendix 1.

In the KIIs the questions asked to community leaders

were tailored to their positions of authority. Community

leaders were asked about services available in

their communities (e.g., banks), and organizations.

Agricultural extension officers and cooperatives officers

were asked extensive questions pertaining to agriculture

in their communities. The KII guide for business owners

included a module similar to the business owner FGD

guide, and a set of general questions about employment

and livelihood strategies.

As one-one-one interviews, the KIIs mirrored, as closely

as possible, a typical conversation held in everyday

life.11 A respondent was encouraged to talk about the

topics posed by her interviewer for as long as she

Table 2. Key background characteristics for the study sample

Mean Age [SE] % MarriedMean [Med.] # Children

% With Some Primary

% With Some Secondary

% > Secondary

Leaders (n=25) 44.4 [2.0] 93.0 5.5 [1.4] 28.6 42.9 21.4

Business women (n=36) 34.1 [2.26] 80.6 3.7 [.35] 47.2 52.8 0

Business men (n=36) 36.8 [1.63] 88.9 3.7 [.32] 30.6 69.4 0

Farmers women (n=36) 44.05 [2.29] 50.0 5.0 [.36] 52.8 41.7 0

Farmers men (n=37) 41.45 [2.11] 91.9 5.1 [.47] 27.0 73.0 0

10. For instance, if the community members are affected by malaria during several months in the year, the variable intensity (high, medium, low) illustrates the

months during which the disease prevails.

11. The KIIs were conducted with two types of respondents. Participants for the farmer and business KIIs were selected from identifying those who participated in

the FGDs who were determined by the RAs as able to provide more in-depth information about their experiences. To select participants for the other KIIs, the

RAs used an already-established contact person, who had a level of influence in their communities and interacted with the target respondents regularly. The KIIs

were conducted by one member of the field team, one-on-one with the participant, so as to ensure that the participant felt as comfortable as possible during

the interview. All sessions were recorded. Short notes were taken, but the research assistant would heavily rely upon the recording to transcribe the interview.

QUALITATIVE STUDY OF HOUSEHOLD LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES AND CONSTRAINTS IN ZAMBIA6

wished, and the interviewers developed techniques

for exhausting a topic as long as the respondent was

willing. Semi-structured, conversational interviews

grant respondents some control over the direction

of the interview, thus creating an opportunity for the

respondent to reveal new information about herself

or about social arrangements in their community,

information that was previously unknown to either the

interviewer or to the researcher directing the study.

An interviewer might say to a respondent, for instance,

“Tell me all about the agricultural constraints in your

community. What problems do people face, and why?”

The interviewer would take cues from the response

given to ask further questions, such as “Is that how most

people face problems related to farming?” To create

a relaxed environment, the field team could decide on

the order of the topics listed in the interview guide.

Through this format, the women and men in this study

were able to convey the constraints to livelihoods that

people in their community face, as well as their own

leadership challenges—and what they think of and

believe about human rights—without the research team

unintentionally projecting specific responses.

With the supervision of the entire GEWEL team, the

interview guides were extensively piloted and finalized

in the field. The questions in the interview guide in the

FGDs were left open-ended, and therefore were up for

open discussion among the participants, uninterrupted

by the RAs request for a definitive response. . Data

collection began in January 2017 and was completed in

April 2017. The open-ended questions were transformed

into data so that each FGD and KII has its own “Notes

Form,” structured by each question or theme that

was included in the interview. All notes have been

anonymized and securely stored with password access

currently available to only the key researchers involved

with GEWEL. Table 3 displays the total numbers of

participants in the FGDs and KIIs.

Table 3. Number of participants in FGDs and KIIs, by community

Leaders Business W Business M Farmer W Farmer M Total

Fo

cu

s G

rou

p

Dis

cu

ssio

ns

Kabwe, Mpunde 8 8 8 8 8 40

Mpongwe, Kanyenda 8 9 8 8 8 41

Kalomo, Mukwela 8 9 8 8 8 41

Katete, Kamphambe 8 8 8 8 8 40

Mumbwa, Nangoma 8 8 8 9 6 39

Total FGD 48 49 48 49 46 240

Ke

y I

nfo

rman

t In

terv

iew

s

Kabwe, Mpunde 1 0 1 0 1 5

Mpongwe, Kanyenda 4 1 0 0 1 8

Kalomo, Mukwela 2 0 1 1 0 6

Katete, Kamphambe 0 1 0 0 1 4

Mumbwa, Nangoma 2 0 1 1 0 6

Total KII 11 3 3 2 4 35

All interviews 59 52 51 51 50 275

METHODS 7

B.3. DATA ANALYSIS

The lead researchers analyzed the qualitative text

in a two-fold process. First, the detailed notes were

read as they were completed, and the analysts noted

emerging patterns and common responses given. The

notes were then read a second time to confirm the

commonalities discovered during the first read-through,

with particular attention paid to livelihood strategies

undertaken, an assessment of jobs and business

opportunities, constraints, aspirations for future

employment, farming, or business, preferences for types

of interventions, notions of success, and perceptions

about human rights in their communities. The data

from KIIs with community leaders were assessed in

light of their positionalities—typically community

leaders have different perspectives than local farmers

and business people as they often liaise and interact

with international and national organizations. For all,

attention was paid to variation found in livelihoods

and constraints across farming season and district. An

advantage of this GEWEL study is the selection of five

communities across the country, including both rural

and semi-urban. Finally, detailed notes were taken and

emerging themes confirmed regarding several aspects

of the earnings and household dynamics between

women and men.

Two Research Assistants (RAs) spent 38 days of

data collection and transcription in each of the

five communities, and additional 10 days each on

completing notes and transcription. Each RA was

responsible for conducting her assigned KIIs and FGDs.

The RAs were responsible for taking notes during the

FGDs and KIIs, and for submitting interview notes to the

research team on a regular basis, internet permitting.

For greater fieldwork efficiency the RAs travelled and

worked together, enabling the group to share internet

and transportation, and more generally strategize for

efficient fieldwork during data collection activities.

“Education is very important, reason being if you do not understand the nature of the business, how will you be able to help your customers?”

QUALITATIVE STUDY OF HOUSEHOLD LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES AND CONSTRAINTS IN ZAMBIA8

C. Findings

The main economic activity that people in this study

are engaged in is agriculture. Everyone farms, including

those who primarily identify as small business owners.

Participants tend to engage in small-scale selling of

crops, with only a few connected to commercial value

chains. Crop farming is affected by seasonality, and

mechanization in this study population is low.

Formal employment is scarce, and women and men are

well-aware of this fact. Perhaps because of the scarcity

of jobs, women and men expressed a preference for

self-employment. Outside of agriculture, the main

strategies to secure livelihoods are business ownership,

diversification of income streams, hard work, reaching

markets in other communities, expanding social

networks, and good business planning.

The three main constraints reported by women and

men, and business owners and farmers alike, are lack

of access to financial services and capital, poor road

conditions, and the high cost of transport. Farmers

regularly expressed concern over the precariousness

of exogenous shocks, such as poor rainfall that could

lead to drought, and crop and animal disease. Small

business owners perceive a lack of demand due to high

competition for their goods and services as constraining

their ability to generate profit and growth.

This study found that although women and men

are aware of “human rights,” reporting high levels

of knowledge, they enact them differently. Men

acknowledged, for instance, that women’s voices are

often silenced in public, and that in general women

may get “sidelined.” Men were quick to say that certain

domains of work are not for women, and that there are

crops that are gendered. On the other hand, women

reported that they can do any kind of work that men

can do. Both women and men agreed that women are

not restricted to moving outside of the home (going

to the market, for example) only when accompanied

by men. They are free to, and regularly do, travel either

alone or with other women. Men reported concerns that

women should not be able to earn more money than

their spouses, as doing so would cause problems in

the marriage. Men stated that economic inequality is a

problem in their communities.

The recommendations for interventions include cash

handouts and access to financial services such as loans,

training to grow business, aid women into cross-over

work that is typically done by men, help farmers link

with markets outside of their communities, help farmers

utilize a planning cycle and navigate disasters and food

insecurity, assist with access to livestock, assist with the

formation of cooperatives, and address economic and

gender inequalities in access

to opportunities.

This section concludes with an overview of similarities

and differences found across communities. Similarities

include that all women and men are largely dependent

upon small-scale farming as their main economic

activity, constraints reported include poor roads, high

transport costs, and lack of access to financial services.

Women and men in communities also employ similar

strategies in response to those constraints. Yet clear

differences across communities emerged in the findings,

including that trading and market activity are more

pronounced in the urban communities compared to

those rural, with the semi-urban dwellers more likely

to trade with people in neighboring communities,

compared to those living in rural areas.

The main findings are structured as follows: (a)

agriculture as the main sector activity; (b) job outlook

and self-employment; (b) livelihood strategies; (c)

FINDINGS 9

12. In Zambia about 19% of the GDP comes from agriculture, and the sector, including crop production, livestock, and fisheries, employ three-quarters of the

population. Throughout the country, domestic production includes maize, sorghum, millet, and cassava. Exports are mainly comprised of groundnuts, rice,

cotton, soy beans, coffee, sugar, and horticultural produce.

13. Livestock in Zambia contributes close to 30% of the country’s agricultural GDP.

constraints to livelihood productivity and growth; (d)

human rights; (e) recommendations of interventions; and

(f) community comparisons.

C.1. AGRICULTURE, THE MAIN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

Agriculture is the main livelihood activity reported

by participants in the FGDs and the KIIs. Most of the

farmers are small-scale and produce staple foods for

consumption, but who aspire to grow enough to sell

their produce as well. Others in the study – particularly

those who identify as business owners – produce some

surplus that enables them to sell.12 The main crop and

vegetables grown are in the study communities are

ground nuts, soya, and a variety of vegetables. Roughly

10% of the farmers appear to fall into the category of

medium-scale, growing maize as a cash crop. Nearly

all of the farmers in this study own livestock, including

(mostly) chicken, goats, and a handful with cattle;

everyone has a preference to own, rear, and sell livestock

for income.13 A few in one study community reportedly

fish farm as well.

Crop farming is affected by seasonality. In the words of

one woman farmer in Katete, ‘‘During the dry season,

we do vegetable gardening where we plant tomatoes,

cabbage, and carrots to get income. We also farm

during the rainy season in our fields, we plant maize,

soya beans, groundnuts, sunflower and other crops.’’

Because many people in this study lack easy access

to water, and vegetables are planted during the dry

season, some reported struggling to grow vegetable

gardens. As is consistent with what is known about the

agricultural cultivation in Zambia, mechanization in the

study communities is very low, with hoes remaining

the traditional tool used. None of the farmers in this

study use irrigation systems, as most farmers in Zambia

depend upon rain-fed growing cycles.

The findings reveal gender differences in agriculture.

Men tend to sell the more profitable crops, such as

maize, and women are more likely to sell crops such

as tomatoes, beans, or groundnuts, which are typically

less profitable. As one man described about gender

differences in crop production, “But groundnuts and

beans are mostly grown by women… It’s just that most of

the time women do it.” As one community leadertalked

about gender differences,

There are women who own land, and I haven’t heard

of segregation. Where there is a couple, they decide

together on what to plant. They will say, “we will

plant groundnuts, but the maize field will be in the

main field.“ That is where they get their income

from, the man is the one who leads in these activities

to do with the maize field.

The gender differences observed in the realm of

agriculture are sometimes aligned with shared

expectations around what’s considered men’s work,

and what’s considered women’s work, as described, for

instance, by this male farmer, “There are certain things

that men cannot do, as men believe that ‘this is a man’s

job,’ or ‘this is a woman’s job.’ Things like weeding are

believed to be a woman’s job. And heading cattle is

believed to be a man’s job.” Women, too, acknowledged

the gendered divisions of labor that persist in their

communities, as these female farmers in an FGD in

Katete described:

Things like building houses, only men do that in

our community. Carpentry work is also done by the

men, as women cannot manage to do such works,

they are labor Intensive. Ploughing using cows is

also done by the men, as most women are not able

to do this. If a woman goes to the fields to plough,

it is because they do not have any husband or male

children to help them out.

Some of the jobs that women do are molding clay

pots, most man are do not like this type of work.

Most men lack interest in wanting to learn how to

mold clay pots because they consider it to be a

woman’s job.

QUALITATIVE STUDY OF HOUSEHOLD LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES AND CONSTRAINTS IN ZAMBIA10

The same with cooking, most men feel that this is a

job meant for the women. Most men are also unable

to make mud floors for the house as they believe this

is a woman’s job.

Fetching water from the stream—men are unable to

do this as they believe this is a woman’s job. They

also fail to take care of the children as they believe it

is—a woman’s job.

Yet most women in this study, as well as some men,

emphasized the importance for women to be able

to crossover into men’s work, for reasons of gender

equality as well as mere survival. As these three

women reported:

Women can also do these jobs but the only way to

help women in doing these types of work that only

man are able to do is by creating a women’s group,

and training them on how to do these types of work,

that would help empower women.

Government should send some people to teach

women on the types of work that men do, so that

they also have the knowledge on how to go about it.

Women should have the interest in learning how to

do these types of work, as we all know that death

is inevitable and we should always keep in mind

that, what will happen when our spouses die. We

shouldn’t always rely on our spouses but rather rely

on ourselves.

Finally, women more than men sell produce and

livestock within their communities rather than in

expanded markets outside of their communities.That

more men than women in this study talked about

traveling to communities outside of their own could

provide men with wider networks and more profit.

At the same time, dissension and conflicting opinions

were present throughout the discussions, among

women within an FGD, among men within an FGD,

as well as across communities and between men and

women in general. In addition to sentiments expressed

about gendered crops, a handful of women and men, for

instance, proclaimed that differences between ‘female”

crops and “male” crops were starting to become

less stark.

C.1.a. Job outlook

About 30% of women and men farmers in the sample

reported that the job situation was “about the same,”

or “better” than it had been in times past. Different

people had different interpretations about what “job

situation” meant to them. Some thought of it along the

lines of economic development in their communities,

as expressed in the following, “The area has become

more developed in the last five years; they fixed the

main road, it is now a tarred road, and it used to have

a lot of potholes,” and, “Now there are cars available to

take people to town,” and also, “The positive thing that

has happened job wise is that the government has built

schools where some of the locals have been employed.”

Another stated that, “They have introduced programs to

train us on family planning and some of the local people

work as volunteers.”

Others, especially farmers, conceived of “job situation”

in terms of whether growing and selling is now more

productive or profitable, as expressed by this woman:

It is better than the way it used to be years ago. The

number of people has become more, if you want

to sell at least a few people will come to buy, than

before there were very few people. If you put a

basket of fish to sell, it can be there for a long time

but now, even if you don’t make a lot of money, at

least one or two people will buy.

Similarly, this woman farmer in Mpongwe said, “Things

are good, they have changed. Before, we used to grow

produce for home consumption, but now people have

learned to earn money out of their farms.” Another

woman farmer related the improvement in farming to

learned skills, such as record-keeping:

Long ago, farmers did not know whether they made

a profit or a loss, but these days farmers are more

conscious on whether they make a loss or a profit.

In short, people have started keeping records. What

has changed for people to start keeping [records] is

that we were taught by people from the agriculture

department. There were times when they would

come but other people would not be around so it

was up to us who had been taught to teach those

that were not present.

FINDINGS 11

14. It is not possible to generalize the findings of farming outlook to other Zambians in this study, or to verify whether farming really is improving based upon

the personal accounts as reported in this study. Yet, public spending in Zambia in agriculture has risen in recent years, and recent data from the World Bank

forecast economic growth, to strengthen to 4.1% in 2017, 4.5% in 2018, and 4.7% in 2019 (see http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/zambia/publication/zambia-

economic-brief-reaping-richer-returns-from-public-expenditure-in-agriculture).

As explained one man, ‘‘Things are now good; before

we used to grow produce for home consumption, but

now people have learned to earn money out of their

farms. Long ago farmers did not know whether they

made a profit or a loss, but these days farmers are more

conscious on whether they make a loss or a profit—in

short, people have started keeping records.’’

But people had different reasons for perceiving

farming to be better, with some acknowledging that

the availability of fertilizer led to improvements, as this

woman in Mpongwe said, ‘‘Things are getting better, we

are able to cultivate through FISP (Farmer Input Subsidy

Program), we are able to buy fertilizer.” Others assessed

improvement in agricultural productivity by the quality

of their lives, such as their ability to send their children

to school or the ability to feed and clothe their family, as

one woman farmer stated, “I am very satisfied because

we are living and feeding well at home, we have good

clothes so we are content.”14

Other farmers saw things differently, “The difference

that we have seen from 2012 is that we never used

to have floods but now we do, and they destroy our

crops that is a problem.” Another man said, “It’s not too

good, there isn’t much to do here. The only job is being

a farmer, other than that, there is nothing.” Indeed,

most women and men in the study proclaimed the

job situation to be bad, “Other than working on farms,

there are no other jobs here.” Others thought that the

situation had been better in the past but has recently

worsened, as described by a woman in Kalomo: ‘‘In the

past five years, I have seen that things are becoming

more difficult. In the past things were much better,

we were able to save some money and maybe build,

however this is not possible anymore.’’ A group of men

farmers in one FGD said the following, when asked

about how the job situation is:

I say it is bad because we depend on our hands to

farm, so we don’t farm big portions of land.

The challenge is that we had cows and they all

died from diseases so comparing the way we used

to cultivate when we had cows and now it’s very

different. We are now cultivating on small portions

of land.

Those with cattle are a few because in this area may

be only 5 people have cattle but five years ago most

villagers had cattle.

If we compare things from five years ago and now,

things are not very good right now in farming, they

have gone down. But with gardening things are still

okay because gardening does not require a lot of

capital the only challenge is that sometimes we have

pests that eat up these vegetables like tomatoes and

rape [kale].

Sometimes you will find that you are not able to work

so you end up doing business not that you want to

but because you need to survive and there is no work.

I do not see anything nice as the profits that we

make from these businesses is not enough to take

the children to school, so I see nothing nice about

the job situation here.

A few expressed the belief that farming productivity has

worsened, as shown by this woman farmer in Mumbwa,

‘‘Farming has become bad. The reason why I am saying

this is because people who used to do commercial

farming are now doing peasant farming, and this is

because there is not enough land for people to plant.

The population has become large and most of the

people only plant for home consumption.’’

To cope with such hardships, men and women strategize

in a number of ways, as will be further explored in

the next section. Among the most food insecure

households, however, women and men offer their

labor to wealthier households at either a daily wage

rate, or at a “piece” rate, for each activity performed.

This work is called piecework (ganyu in chiChewa).

Wages for piecework are reported to be very low;

those who engage in piecework in Zambia (and in

neighboring countries such as Malawi) typically come

from households that are particularly vulnerable—those

http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/zambia/publication/zambia-economic-brief-reaping-richer-returns-from-public-expenditure-in-agriculturehttp://www.worldbank.org/en/country/zambia/publication/zambia-economic-brief-reaping-richer-returns-from-public-expenditure-in-agriculture

QUALITATIVE STUDY OF HOUSEHOLD LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES AND CONSTRAINTS IN ZAMBIA12

who seek piecework temporarily do so to secure food

for themselves and their families, and working on others

farms means they reduce their own farm production.15

As one woman described the work, “Doing piece work

is not so good. The money given is so little, you will find

that you are there working all day and they just give you

5 Kwacha.” Another woman described piecework in her

community:

Doing piece works in people’s farms is mostly

considered to be job for the poor, as they are paid to

plough the farms for the rich in the community. Most

poor people burn charcoal to get some money to

feed their families. The poor people also make bricks

and sell them to earn a living.

The more educated men and women are primary or

nursery school teachers, while others are employed as

health workers at government institutions, although no

one in this study were employed in these positions. As

stated by one farmer in Mpongwe, ‘‘Most of the people

here are not employed, and the only ones employed

here are the teachers or nurses.’’ And another said:

Most rich people in this community are into business,

as they order goods for resale. Some of the rich

people in this community are doctors, teachers

and nurses. These type of people cannot even burn

charcoal, they know that there is someone poor who

will do that job for them.

Women farmers in Katete had this to say about the job

opportunities in their community:

There are very few job opportunities here, mostly

people just farm and most of the jobs found here are

related to that.

Some people do piece works in the fields and are

paid. When cargill was still here, some were picked

as guards, while some others were picked to help

out during the time that the road was constructed,

but they stopped midway.

FRA [Food Reserve Agency] offers contracts to

the locals to guard their maize, but now they are no

contracts that have been offered yet.

Constructions of roads, most of the males here

get contracts when there is a new road being

constructed, but once the job is done, they are

left jobless.

Among business owners, about half of women and men

stated that business was better now than in the past.16

A male small business owner in Mpongwe explained,

‘‘I would say that there is some improvement because

some time back life was a bit difficult, but nowadays

each and every one is able to do one or two things to

make some money.’’ Onr female business owner said,

‘‘It is better than the way it used to be years ago, the

number of people has become more, if you want to sell

at least a few people will come to buy, than before there

were very few people.’’ A man in Mumbwa expressed a

similar sentiment: ‘‘Business is good now because of this

huge population, a lot of people have vehicles which

make it easy for us to go to Lusaka [to] buy things to

come resell here. [This is] unlike it was in the olden days,

where we had to get someone from Lusaka to transport

our goods and pay him. It was more costly than it is

now.’’ One woman believed that the improvements she

observes come from the presence of white land owners,

“In the past five years, I have seen that the job situation

has improved because the number of white farmers

has increased, we are living in the midst of farmers and

there are a lot of jobs on farms such that you can even

choose where to work from.”

Other small business owners said that things today are

worse than they were in times past, and for a variety

of reasons, as expressed by women business owners in

Mpongwe:

Things are not so good here, we suffer. There is no

money for us to do things, only a few people are

able to be comfortable here.

Even transport fares have been hiked.

15. Cole, Steven M. and Parakh H. Hoon (2013). Piecework (Ganyu) as an Indicator of Household Vulnerability in Rural Zambia. Ecology of Food and Nutrition Vol.

52(5), 407-426. Article can be accessed at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03670244.2012.719360?journalCode=gefn20.

16. It is possible that the farmers with whom we spoke were former business owners but had failed at their business.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03670244.2012.719360?journalCode=gefn20

FINDINGS 13

Things right now are hard to as compared to

sometime back.

People sometimes had mixed opinions even within one

FGD, so that differing views are not necessarily driven

by community circumstances. Among business men

within one community, for instance, a set of responses

included the following:

I would say the situation is just okay, not bad and

not good. Because when you look at businesses

here, some are doing fine and others are not.

I would [say] bad because most of the people I

know around here are not making money, they are

struggling.

When compared to a few years ago, I would say

that there is some improvement. Because some time

back life was a bit difficult but nowadays each and

every one is able to do one or two things to make

some money.

C.1.b. Best jobs in the community

In light of the many who stated the job situation to be

bad, we explored further what people thought of wage

work, and in the FGDs and KIIs we asked participants

to name which jobs they considered to be the “best.”

The most common response, among everyone, was

permanent employment with the government. This

was followed by responses about jobs in service

professions and in healthcare, as stated by this man in

Katete, ‘‘The best jobs in our community are teaching,

nursing and being a doctor.” Participants acknowledged,

however, that the availability of these positions, and the

educational and capital requirements needed to attain

them, are rare and nearly impossible to get.

Outside of formal positions with regular wages, farmers

reported that farming is ‘‘the best activity” over owning

a small business. Yet farmers also replied with caveats;

for farming to be “good,” farmers need access to

fertilizers, as one woman described, ‘‘Farming is good;

if someone has money for fertilizer, then they can

have enough food in their home and surplus for sell.’’

Respondents reported on the rising price of fertilizer,

‘‘Prices have gone up compared to five years ago…

Nowadays a 50kg bag of urea cost K350 some time

back it was K150 so a lot of people fail to manage.’’

C.1.c. Worst jobs in the community

When asked to name the worst jobs in their

communities, women and men commonly spoke of

charcoal burning, as described by a male farmer in

Mumbwa, ‘‘Charcoal burning is the worst business

because most of the people get chest infections,” and

by a woman farmer in Kabwe, “It’s laborious and gives

less profit.’’ Casual “piecework” labor was identified

among the worst jobs, as the wages are very low and

the work load extensive. Many also reported that a

“night watchman” was one of the worst jobs, as it’s very

dangerous and low-paying.

C.1.d. Aspirations among business owners and farmers

When asked whether farming or business is better,

farmers and business owners had convergent views.

Farmers said that farming is best—as put by one farmer,

“Of all the activities that we have talked about the one

I feel is the best when it comes to income is farming.” A

woman in Mpongwe said, “Farming is the best because

we are able to get food and also able to get money to

take our children to school.” Similarly, another woman

said, “The reason why I have said farming is because,

once the harvest is good, you make money to take the

children to school and also provide at home. Most of

the crops are planted throughout the year, only maize

is the one we plant in October.” One male farmer in

Katete added, “Especially maize farming.” Others said

the following:

If it was capital for farming or employment I would

choose farming because with farming one can go far

with a little money. To run a grocery I need a lot of

capital to buy stock and it may not sell quickly.

With farming if I have K800, I can pay for two FISP

vouchers, that will be 16 bags of fertilizer which is a

good amount but with a grocery that will only buy a

few goods.

Some were sure to emphasize that farming including

animal husbandry, “The reason why I have said farming

is thatI am not only referring to crop farming, but also

to animal farming. In a case where it does not rain that

QUALITATIVE STUDY OF HOUSEHOLD LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES AND CONSTRAINTS IN ZAMBIA14

much you can use the animals to sustain yourselves, by

this I mean selling them to make some money.”

Yet there were exceptions, and one woman farmer in

Kalomo said:

I would prefer having a business as compared to

farming, reason being; with farming you gamble,

because you don’t know the rain pattern, it might

not rain as much as you expected and your crops

would have been wasted, but when you start a

business you can never go wrong, as you will be able

to choose which business to venture in.

Business owners reported that owning a business is the

best way to generate income. ‘‘Being a trader or running

a business is the best job here, people are able to make

money from trading,’’ said a female business owner. One

man in Katete said, “In the past doing a business was

not all that profitable but now, people are able to buy

groceries from the shop, so we make profit.” Another

man in Mumbwa reported, “In the past five years, people

used to be paid less money, but now the conditions

have changed and people are now able to get more

money.”

Business owners viewed farming and selling produce

as not profitable, as this woman in Kalomo described,

“Working on farms and selling at the road side are not

good jobs because there is little money that people

get.” Business owners talked about their autonomy, “The

best jobs are those that you can work on your own, you

can work at your own time without being summoned.”

Business owners additionally explained that farm work

is difficult and bad for one’s health, as exemplified by

another woman from Kalomo, “Working on farms is

bad; that is why we opt to sell at the roads [rather] than

working on farms. If you have not met a target that you

have been given for a day, you will not get paid. Even

when it is raining, people still work, and others get sick

and their health is not good.” And another said, “The

good thing about a grocery is that you can make money

the whole year but with farming it can only be when you

harvest.”17

Likely due (in part) to the scarcity of wage jobs, women

and men expressed preference for self-employment,

either through business or through agriculture, or some

combination of both. A few people, however, stated a

preference for a formal job should the opportunity be

there, citing a dependable paycheck at the month’s end

as the primary reason.

C.2. STRATEGIES ADOPTED, AND EFFECTS ON

INCOME GENERATION AND PRODUCTIVITY

C.2.a. Business ownership

As throughout sub-Saharan Africa, where formal

employment is scarce, women and men in this study

talked about entrepreneurship as a source of successful

livelihoods. The small business owners we spoke with

engage in a range of both agri-related and non-related

entrepreneurial activity, such as brick production,

livestock, fish farming, the purchase and re-sale of

second-hand clothes (salaula), sale of groceries, the

production and sale of milk and other dairy products,

production of thatch, the production and sale of

vegetables, kiosk ownership, tailoring, the production

and sale of local brew, mechanics (both bicycle and

auto), purchase and re-sale of charcoal, and the selling

of various farming outputs. A list of business activity is

shown by district and gender in Table 4.

17. Yet, during the growing seasons, business men and women attend to their farms in the morning hours and use the afternoon hours to tend their business, a

juggling act that many people navigate.

FINDINGS 15

The women and men reported that they started their

particular business, rather than another kind, because

of that business’s perceived profitability. One man in the

hardware business described it this way:

The reason why I started the hardware business is

because I am a bread winner in my family as my

father died sometime back. So I looked at what type

of business would bring me enough money to feed

my family, I considered grocery but I thought of the

profits that I could get from that and it was too little,

that is when I thought of hardware it brings back

100% percent profit.

Because of constraints such as a lack of jobs, and the

unpredictability of agricultural productivity (due to the

vagaries of weather, for instance, or to lack of access

to inputs such as fertilizer), the Zambians in this study

view business ownership as necessary to achieve

successful livelihoods. A woman who sells tomatoes

in Mumbwa stated, “I started doing business so that I

can be able to provide for my family’s needs.” Another

woman said, “For me, my husband died, so if I just sit at

home who is going to provide what is needed and who

will take care of my children? This is the reason why I

started business.” And a woman in Katete proclaimed,

“I do salaula; it helps me raise money when the rainy

season is over to take my children to school.”

Table 4. Business activity reported by women and men, among business owners*

Business Men Women Total

farming/gardening + selling harvest 3 10 10

selling tomatoes and other vegetables 13 0 13

buys clothes and resells 5 2 7

buys things from Lusaka and sells in Namibia 1 0 1

collects grass and sells to people to make thatched houses 1 0 1

sells charcaol 1 1 2

sells fish 2 0 2

runs a restaurant or bar 5 1 6

sells phone accessories 0 1 1

runs a grocery shop 3 4 7

sells fuel 0 2 2

sells cooking oil 0 1 1

runs a barbershop 0 1 1

hardware business (bicycle parts, car parts) 0 1 1

rearing of chickens or other livestock 3 2 5

tailor 3 0 3

runs a kiosk 1 3 4

sells beer 3 0 3

Total 44 29 70

*Mulitple businesses are counted if a participant reported more than one.

QUALITATIVE STUDY OF HOUSEHOLD LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES AND CONSTRAINTS IN ZAMBIA16

C.2.b. Diversification and increased earnings

The women and men who had been in business for

some length of time told stories about how they had

built their businesses slowly, taking incremental steps

toward more profit, as shown in the following examples

by three men:

I started my business by first farming cassava. After

harvesting I sold it and then started a vegetable

garden where I planted bananas, okra, impwa, rape,

and tomatoes. Now I even grow maize, which I sell.

I raised capital for my business by being a brick

layer’s assistant. After working I would save part of

the money that I was given. When I raised enough

money I started ordering fish from Siavonga and

sell here. After selling, I even started farming maize.

When I sell maize I go and order fish. That is the

business I do I now, I stopped being a brick layer’s

assistant.

I learned vegetable farming from my grandfather

who used to sell his produce in town so when DAPP

came and told us to form interest groups and they

started teaching us. After DAPP left SP [another

NGO] also came in and advised me to utilise my

land wisely so I start planting bananas, guavas,

sugar cane after selling I saw that this business was

seasonal so I started buying chickens, goats and I

opened up a grocery shop.

Often, more profit is synonymous with diversification

into different businesses. About half of the respondents

in this sample talked about running multiple businesses

as a means to maximize livelihoods. In the words of one

woman in Mumbwa:

I started out by vegetable gardening, from there I

started selling village chickens, I would buy them here

and sell in Lusaka at a good price. Now I have also

gone into the business of selling goats and cattle.

Many women and men talked about the necessity of

“multi-tasking,” or diversifying their range of income-

generating activities, in order to sustain livelihoods.

As one woman stated: I run a bar when it’s not rainy

season and during rainy season I grow crops like maize

and groundnuts. And as described by one woman in

Mumbwa:

Most of the people in this community usually multi-

task, you will find a person is doing both farming

and business, reason being sometimes farming is

seasonal and you have your children’s school fees to

look at. That way you need money. That is why most

people multi-task.

And another’s trajectory:

The one I know started out by selling small chitenjes

to women, from there he opened up a katemba (a

makeshift store), he also went into the business of

buying maize from the farmers and selling it to the

millers. Now he owns one of the big shops here, he

has also gone into buying goats and reselling them

in Lusaka. He is doing fine for himself now, he even

built a house in the boma.

C.2.c. How successful

When we asked farmers and business owners how it is

that people in their communities become successful,

their responses, we discovered, revealed other

strategies used by women and men to sustain and

build livelihoods and generate income. The interviews

are rife with assertions about how success is attributed

to hard work and perseverance; for example, “You can

only succeed if you have interest and are committed,”

and “God created us differently—you would find that

someone will have good planning but when it comes to

implementing they do not implement.” Notions around

“hard work” were the most common responses stated,

showing up in 100 percent of the FGDs. Women in

Mumbwa stated, “He has been successful because of

good planning and he is skilled,” and “You have to be

hard workers, able to plan, and disciplined for you to

be successful in business,” and in Kabwe one man said

that of those who are successful, “It’s because of being

hard working.”

Another common response was that business owners

must make wise business decisions, opting to reinvest

in their business or to expand into other activities. Men

FINDINGS 17

in Katete described how this works in the following

statements:

This farmer started buying cows and later started

buying cars that is how he became successful in

his business.

Others do not misuse their profit, instead they invest

it, that is what makes him successful.

Others have shops and later buy buses, that is how

they expand their business.

Those that are careful on how they use their profits

usually succeed.

And among women in Katete:

Others started by selling little things like fish, tropical

(slippers) until they built their own big shops.

Others started by keeping one chicken until they

started selling when they had made enough money

to buy fertilizers and start farming and own their

own lands.

Others started by gardening things like tomatoes

and selling until they could buy their own animals

and become successful.

Several respondents noted that managing finances well

is integral to success as described by this man in Katete:

There are a lot of people that are very successful

that have been working in farms. There are some

people that have been saving through working on

farms, a person I know who used to save and built a

shop and started selli