Consumption Behaviour in Zambia: The Link to Poverty Alleviation?

K. Ludi: consumption behaviour in Zambia

constant 2001 Zambian Kwatchas are regarded as moderately poor. Persons in
households with a monthly adult equivalent expenditure of more than 92 584 constant
2001 Zambian Kwatchas are considered to be non-poor (Kapungwe 2004: 485).

The poverty levels described above for Zambia are measured in 2001 Zambian Kwatchas.
These were calculated by using the GDP deflator to inflate the 1998 levels quoted in
Kapungwe (2004) to 2001 levels. These values are then compared to the estimated PCE
figure in table 8, which has been inflated to constant 2001 prices and divided by the
population in Zambia in 2001¹⁴ to estimate individual expenditure, and then converted to
monthly figures. The poverty levels are described and compared to the estimated
consumption levels in table 10.

Table 10: Poverty levels in Zambia (unit: 2001 Zambian Kwatchas and US Dollars)

Thus it is estimated, using aggregate consumption figures, that the average Zambian adult
equivalent is on the borderline between being moderately and extremely poor, spending
approximately US$17 per month. It is also known that this expenditure represents all of
that individual’s income (on average), proven by the fact that the MPC = 1. This is
consistent with Kapungwe’s (2004) result that 58 per cent of Zambians are extremely
poor. This number jumps to over 70 per cent when analysing rural areas only. This is
definitely a topic for further research: to analyse the poverty levels in rural vs. urban
Zambia. The shockingly low levels of PCE reflected above have disastrous implications
for food security - the average Zambian is not spending enough income to sustain him-
/herself.

Estimated at 10 462 436 people (CIA factbook 2004). Taken into account was the fact that
approximately 78 per cent of the Zambian population are regarded as adult equivalents. Thus, the
population figure was deflated to 8 195 575 adult equivalents.

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