Maravi

There is urgent need to focus on rural development

There is urgent need to focus on rural development
By The Post
Thu 24 Feb. 2011, 04:00 CAT

Democracy means that governments are closely linked to the people, arise from the people, have the support of the people and devote themselves entirely to working and struggling for the people and the people’s interests. Democracy implies the defence of all the rights of citizens, including the right to dignity and honour. For us, democracy means fraternity and true equality among all citizens and equal opportunities for all, for every human being who is born.

But how can we talk about democracy in this country where a minority has immense fortunes and the great majority of the people, especially the over 65 per cent of our people who live in rural areas, have nothing? What rights do our rural poor have? Clearly, the rural poor, who constitute the majority of our population, are excluded from real participation and from any real possibility of exercising their rights. As long as there is enormous inequality among human beings, there isn’t – there can’t be – any democracy. A country that has such high levels of inequality and social injustice cannot be said to be democratic.

What we have invented in this country is a very strange democracy in which the majority does not count for anything; a strange democracy in which the majority does not even exist politically within society. We say this because democracy is where the majority governs. Democracy is that form of government in which the majority is taken into account. Democracy is that form of government in which the interests of the majority are defended.

Over 65 per cent of our people who live in rural areaseach day cannot meet the basic needs necessary for a decent human life. It is a strict duty of justice and truth not to allow fundamental needs to remain unsatisfied. And as we have stated before, there is a great danger that government policies, if not combined with clear social concern, will bring socio-economic deprivation. Economic justice requires that each individual has adequate resources to survive, to develop and thrive, and to give back in service to the community. Therefore, economic growth depends in the first place on social progress.

The fact that over 65 per cent of our people live in rural areas should mean that over 65 per cent of the resources of our country should be spent in rural areas. But today very little trickles to the rural areas. Most of the resources of our country are spent in urban areas, along the line of rail. This is where the best of our hospitals, schools, roads and other services are concentrated. Again, we ask: what kind of democracy is this where the majority counts for nothing? For anyone to get a job today, they have to leave the rural areas. Our rural areas have inadequate or no social services. The schools are poor, making it very difficult for rural children to get grades that can enable them to enter good colleges or universities. And after they finish school, there is literally nothing for them to do in the rural areas, leaving them with no option but to migrate. They start with the rural towns nearest to their villages and then move to the provincial headquarters in search of opportunities for further studies and employment. For this reason, our provincial headquarters are today bursting at the seams with young people with no work. Here they stay with relatives who may also be struggling with low jobs and low pay to take care of extended family obligations. When they fail to get anything in the provincial headquarters, they move to Lusaka or the Copperbelt. Some even move from the Copperbelt to Lusaka – Lusaka seems to be the final destination. But even here, nothing comes up and living is not easy for the urban poor in the shanty compounds.

There is nothing which makes people more appreciative of a government than that it should be able to deliver services. Our rural areas lack roads, schools, clinics and jobs. They lack access to agricultural inputs. And when they produce something, there is no market for it. For these reasons, the poverty levels in our rural areas are much higher than in our urban areas. Our rural dwellers are deprived of most of the social services that people living in urban areas normally enjoy. They lack the basic necessities needed for them to live a dignified life. It is usually very difficult for them to access most social services that are vital for a humane life.

There is no way our country is going to develop without addressing this imbalance between our rural areas and urban areas. And development of our rural areas can substantially contribute to the overall development of our country. It’s not possible for our country to have meaningful development when the great majority of our people who live in rural areas are not meaningfully participating in the development of our country.

There is need to eradicate poverty in our rural areas. It is said that there is urgent need to focus on rural development if holistic development has to occur in our country. It is important to develop rural areas in order to prevent rural to urban migration that has put a lot of pressure on the provision of socio-services in urban areas. The populations of our cities today far outstrip the social services that can be meaningfully provided. And things are not getting any better because rural to urban migration is on the increase. And as a result, poverty is being transferred from the rural areas to the urban areas.

The only way to halt this rural to urban migration is to increase economic opportunities in the rural areas. And since it is widely recognised that agriculture is the mainstay of our rural development, agricultural development is very cardinal in the development of our rural areas. Everything possible should be done to improve agriculture in our rural areas. And senior chief Nzamane makes very valuable observations on this score that should not be ignored. We agree with senior chief Nzamane that to develop rural areas, government should take a deliberate policy of balancing up the distribution of resources between rural and urban areas. And we agree with him that the government’s failure to change the distribution of resources is worsening the problem.

We cannot talk of development in a country where the majority of the population, the rural dwellers who constitute over 65 per cent of our country’s population, live without the services needed in an established community. It is the task of our government to give the millions of Zambians who live in rural areas an essential piece of dignity in their lives – the dignity that comes from having a solid roof over one’s head, running water and other social services in an established community.

Labels: CHIEF NZAMANE, POVERTY, RURAL AREAS

posted by MrK @ 2:39 PM