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There are about 6,686,000 children in Zambia. On average they have five siblings, though some
have eleven, and live with their immediate family in extended
family clusters. This family structure differs from that in 'the west' insofar as the head of a family in Zambia can be either the father or the maternal uncle. When the father is the head of the family, he is the decision maker in what is known as a 'patrilineal system'. This is particularly the case when the father has more than one wife, although this remains rare in Zambia. Many families however operate a matrilineal system whereby the children 'belong' to the maternal uncle and day-to-day decsion making is delegated to the mother. Most families in the four provinces of Central, North-Western, Luapula and Copperbelt operate the matrilineal system whilst the patrileanal system works predominately in the Namwanga, Ngoni and Lozi and ILA areas. The raising of children in Zambia, often referred to as 'socialisation', normally takes place outside the family home in village centres called 'Insaka', commonly a circular thatch roofed gazebo supported by wooden poles where community elders and leaders traditionally gather to discuss community and business matters.
Poverty is widespread in Zambia and the most recent UNICEF report notes that children aged between 0-17 years old experience high levels of deprivation with 41% of children in the country suffering from at least three deprivations at a time, experiencing four deprivations on average (60% in rual areas, 10% in urban areas with the highest deprivation rates being found in Western, Northern and Luapula provinces where more than 68% of children are deprived in three dimensions or more) with those dimensions being nutrition, health, child protection, education information, housing, sanitation, and water.
60% of children in Zambia are poor, representing 80.5% of the rural child population compared with a 25.2% of the urban child population. While Zambia still has one of the highest rates of malnutrition and stunting in sub-Saharan Africa, some progress has been made, but 35% of children under the age of five are stunted and 4% of children are acutely malnourished according to the most recent Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) (Central Statistical Office [CSO] [Zambia], Ministry
of Health [MOH] [Zambia], and ICF International 2018). The staple diet for children is 'nshima' made from maize flour and, when available, a mush made fom pumpkin leaves. On special occasions this may be supplemented by chicken or fish.
Children in Zambia attend seven years of primary school, then two and three years at junior secondary and senior secondary school respectively then, for successful candidates, four years at university. Although primary school enrollment and attendance is good, attainment remains low, particularly for those aged between 14-17 years, with
43% of children deprived in this indicator, made worse by the fact that there are areas in Zambia that have no secondary schools. Overall, poor attainmnet is attributed to the low quality and efficiency of the school system in a country where the overall literacy rate stands at 55.3%, though significantly lower for females than males. Unfortunately
there is an ongoing issue with a shortage of teachers so many
children end their education without a firm grasp of key skills,
although the situation has improved following the abolition of
tuition fees.
Access to clean water and sanitation remains a challenge for children in Zambia with most low-income families in major towns and cities still reliant on privately-owned boreholes or shallow wells where water is expensive and often contaminated with raw sewage with poor quality water being one of the main causes of infections such as diarrhoea in the country. The situation is compounded by the impact of climate change as water shortages are becoming more common throughout the region of Africa which has one of the fastest growing populations in the world, adding to water scarcity and stress. The spread of
AIDS/HIV has also affected life in Zambia with a national HIV prevalence rate of 11.3% among adults ages 15 to 49 as of 2018. Today there are an estimated 1.2 million orphans and vulnerable children living in Zambia, around half of them orphansed by HIV/AIDS.
Children in Zambia,
as in so many African countries, are obsessed with football, however
poverty means that often the football itself is made from old rags
bundled together.
Girls also enjoy the game of Nchuba which is somewhat similar to
jacks and Isolo, a version of checkers. For those less fortunate, child labour is widespread in the country despite a law that states a child under 13 years of age cannot work under any circumstances with other legislation such as the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act of 1986 prohibiting employment of children below the age of 14 years in 18 occupations. Despite this, many children from poor families end up working. A recent study found 28.1% of children in Zambia working, 65.2% attending school whilst of those, 27.6% attended school and were engaged in work such as the producion of cotton, tobacco and other cash crops, raising or herding cattle, fishing, working on boats or curing or smoking fish. Others made money for their families by working in the production of charcoal whisle some were engaged in industry including working in quarries, crashing stones, carrying heavy loads or scavenging mine dump sites whilst girls were more frequently engaged in domestic work and, as ever, much worse. The video (below) gives some insights into the life of children in Zambia together with projects and programs operating there that you may choose to support.
Children in Zambia: Zambia Orphans Aid
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Children in Zambia: Cecily's Fund
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Children in Zambia: Zambia's Child
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Children in Zambia: Bana Tandizo
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Children in Zambia: Raise a Smile
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Children in Zambia: Sponsor Children in Zambia
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Children in Zambia: Street Children in Zambia
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Children in Zambia: Volunteer in Zambia
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Children in Zambia: Zambia Country Profile
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