Rural Development in Kasumpa Village, Zambia

Abstract

For many rural dwellers in Zambia, as well as elsewhere in Africa, the movement toward independence represented an attempted movement toward a higher standard of living. The displacement of the colonial authorities and the installation of an African government represented a shift from a public order whose primary interest was the maintenance of law and order in the rural areas to a government which had come to power by promising to fulfill the demands of the indigenous peoples that they be made better off. As a result of the commitments made in the bid for power, out of a regard for its future fate at the polls, and because of its genuine regard for the welfare of its citizens, the new Zambian government, like other governments in Africa, initiated programs designed to upgrade the standard of living of its basically rural constituents. Utilizing the revenues generated by the prosperous mining industry, the government constructed, staffed, and provisioned schools; hospitals, and clinics in the rural areas at a rate unprecedented in the history of the territory. And, of greater relevance to this study, it initiated programs designed to enhance the cash-earning opportunities of the villagers. Toward this end, the new government sponsored the growth of farming cooperatives and the formation of peasant farms in the rural areas, seeking thereby to share the benefits of independence by increasing the incomes of its rural citizens.