Introduction
Tour Itinerary
Destinations
Kitwe
Chingola
Mufulira
Urbanisation
Shanty Town(1)
Shanty Town(2)
Informal Sector
Popn Growth
Inflation
Issues
Theories
Worksheets
Resources

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Mufulira

Life in Shanty Towns

Next issue - Upgrading Shanty Towns >>

For a variety of push and pull factors rural Zambians have moved from rural areas throughout Zambia to the towns that have grown up in the Copperbelt and the capital, Lusaka. The urban population accounts for almost half of the population. However, it not simply migration that has increased the size of the urban population. There has also been an increase in the natural rate of population growth.

However, the urbanisation occurred without generating the resources (public or private) and employment opportunities to accommodate this increase in population. As a consequence of this many Zambian urban dwellers live in informal settlements, such as Muambe. Muambe is a sprawling shanty town of over 5,000 people, on the outskirts of Mufulira These shanty towns are without adequate sewage and refuse collection and disposal, access to clean water, electricity, adequate health provision, roads and transport facilities. The residents have few or no property rights and lack the means and the motivation to upgrade their conditions.

Families live in incredibly cramped conditions in crude shelters made from plastic sheeting, cardboard and corrugated iron sheets. Families do not have flushing toilets but use pit latrines and often sewage seeps into the water table. Roads and paths through the shanty towns are not tarmac so during the rainy seasons the roads turn to mud and become impassable.

Most people living in Muambe are unemployed however in the absent of government welfare they have no option but to work in the informal sector. They leave the slums and head for the towns of Mufulira and other Copperbelt towns where they put up makeshift stalls and start selling everything from wire wool to fruit and vegetables. They join the many people who live on the streets eking out an existence from selling goods.

Life in Shanty Towns

Many of the street vendors are children. The number of these street children is growing at an alarming rate. A rapidly growing population ensures a large proportion are under the age of 15. Many have lost their parents due to the AIDs/HIV epidemic and have no other relations who can support them or pay for their school fees.

The rains bring with additional problems to the residents of the shanty towns. At the end of day the street vendors often leave their unsold food to rot. This is a contributory factor to the increased incidence of cholera and other diseases associated with unsanitary conditions. Many people in the slums suffer from diseases associated with poverty. Dysentery is common, as there is limited access to clean water. In the absence of electricity the only real source of energy is from wood and charcoal that must be purchased or collected from rural and forested areas outside the town.

Crime is a continual problems in shanty towns. The high rates of poverty and unemployment, together with deteriorating living conditions, drive people to engage in criminal activities. The incidence of pickpocketing and violent crime and prostitution is high.

Next issue - Upgrading Shanty Towns >>

Related Glossary Items:
Informal Sector
Underemployment
Externalities

Related Issues:
The Vicious Cycle of Poverty
The Structural Adjustment Policies of the IMF
Rural Urban Migration

Related Theories:
The Theory of Externalities