Population of Zambia. Challenges and Opportunities

The Population of Zambia is ever growing and predominantly young, which presents both challenges and opportunities for the country. Read this post and discover how Zambia is preparing for a future shaped by its youthful energy and what measures are being taken by the government and NGOs to foster sustainable growth and development.

Population can also be defined as the number of people living in a particular given area at a given time
Important concepts in the study of human population

Census

• It is the official counting of ALL people in a country
• This is normally done by the government every after 10 years because it is very expensive since it covers the whole country
• The census enables us to know the number of people living in an area. It gives us information about the age, sex (male or female), race/tribe, nationality, birthplace, education, occupation, marital status, number of children, and the number of dependents in a given country.

Importance of the census

It gives information to the local and central government so that:

• For good planning in order to provide facilities like hospitals, houses and citizens
• They can provide resources e.g. agriculture materials like fertilizer and seeds
• They can know whether the population is increasing or reducing because such is needed for future planning
• They can know unemployed so as to create jobs

Birth rate

• It is the number of babies born in every 1000 people of a population. Example; if 30 births occur, this means that 30/1000* 100 = 3%, and is considered to be high.
• Fertility rate refers to the reproductive performance of the population

Population density and Population distribution

• It is the number of people living in a square kilometer area. It is calculated by dividing the land area by the number of people living in the area.
e.g. Population density = Number of People in an area/Kilometers squared
Lusaka is the most densely populated area in Zambia followed by Copperbelt

Mortality rate and life expectancy

• Mortality Rate is the number of people who die per 1000 people in one year.
• Infant mortality rate (IMR) is the number of deaths of infants under one year old per 1000 live births
• Adult mortality rate is the probability of a 15 year-old dying before reaching age 60.
• Life expectancy or life span: This is the average number of years a person is expected to live from birth to death.
• Life expectancy is affected by several factors such as the prevailing mortality trends and the standard of living of the people.

Population Growth Rate (PGR)

It is the rate or percentage at which the population increases e.g. PGR = Birth Rate – Death Rate * 100
Factor leading to rapid growth in Population of Zambia:

• Early marriages.
• Lack of family planning.
• High fertility rate
• Poverty
• Improved nutrition
• Inadequate education

Population migration in Zambia

Migration is the movement of people from one is to another. This could be within the country (internal) or between countries (international).

• Migration into a country is called Immigration
• Migration out of a country is called emigration
• Internal migration is the movement from one area to another within a country’s boarder.

Types of internal migration

There are four types of internal migration

• Rural-urban
• Rural-rural
• Urban-rural
• Urban-urban

Rural-urban migration: this is the movement of people from rural areas to urban areas. The factors that cause this movement fall into two groups

i. Push factors force people out of rural areas.
ii. Pull factors attract people to urban areas.

PUSH FACTORS

• Lack of rainfall
• Witchcraft
• Hunger, poverty, drought,
• Lack of good schools and health facilities etc.

PULL FACTORS

• Good medical facilities,
• Good transport,
• Good schools
• Urban blight etc.

RESULTS OF URBANISATION

• Overcrowding in urban areas
• Poor substandard of housing
• Inadequate municipal services that characterize life for many arrivals to urban centers.

Rural-rural migration: this is the movement from one rural area to another. Reason:

• maybe due floods or droughts or better opportunities

Urban-rural migration: this is the movement from urban area to rural Reasons:

• older Zambian may retire to their village
• It may be safer to live in rural areas where there is less crime
• City life may be stressful and people may want a slower, less stressful life

Urban-urban migration: movement from urban to another urban area Reasons:

• This may due to the transfer of the head of the household or resettlement

Impact of HIV and AIDS on the population

Zambia has one of the world’s worst HIV and AIDS epidemics. About 14% of Zambian adults have HIV. It is estimates that each day there are 225 new adults’ infections and 25 new child infections
The number of People with HIV is higher in urban areas (20%) that in rural areas (10%).

Effects of HIV and AIDS on the Population of Zambia

1. HIV and AIDS makes life expectancy to drop or go down
2. Cause more deaths or population reduction
3. HIV and AIDS weakens the economy
4. Reduces productive of workers
5. Food security is affected

Factors affecting the population distribution

• Climate: Most people have settled in areas the climate is favoured for human habitation. Such areas receive adequate rainfall and temperatures are moderate. Areas where people are able to grow a variety of crops.
• Relief: very few people live on hilly areas and rift valleys because these areas are mostly composed of stone soils which are not suitable for farming.
• Availability of Water: people tend to settled where the water is readily available, for example near dambos, rivers, valleys, mashes and lake shore areas.
• Soils: fertile soils attract people due to farming opportunities.
• Availability of resources: Most people settle in areas where there is enough resources to exploit. E.g mine areas
• Most people tend to settle in areas where there are good health facilities.
• Most people tend to settled in areas where there are good education facilities.
• Employment: employment opportunities are an attracting factor that leads to population increase in a given area.
• Transport and communications: Most people tend to settle in areas where there is good transport and communications. This has led to an increase in the population along highways (roads leading to cities) and developed areas.

Measures to address population increase

• Education of communities on the importance of family planning.
• Provision of health services to the people in order to reduce mortality rates and improve the health status of the people.
• Promotion of sensitization of the public on the population related issues such as inter relation between population, environment and economic resources,
• Provision of adequate social services.
• Improving agricultural production to promote food security.
• Building more schools, to carter for the population increase.