This analysis of why Zambians, (and Africans in general) are facing an ecological crisis, is very important for anyone or group that needs to respond to this crucial problem.
Zambia or Africa has a beautiful culture that we can explore and use in enriching our environment^ We have enough resources to feed our people and fight against poverty.
The crucial part is how we can pool our efforts in making policies that protect our ecological systems. In summary, having explored the poverty situation in Zambia in chapter two, and having analyzed the signs and causes of the ecological crisis in chapters three and four, the fifth chapter brings me closer to the interrelationship or linkage between poverty and ecological degradation.
CHAPTER FIVE:
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POVERTY AND THE ECOLOGICAL CRISIS 5.0 INTRODUCTION
To start with, there is one question that needs to be asked: On which level are poverty and the ecological crisis understood to be interrelated factors or causes and consequences of one another? In answering this complex question, I hope that chapters two, three and four have built a foundation for chapter five. In short, chapter two has surveyed and analyzed the issue of the poverty crisis in Zambia. In chapter three I have indicated the signs of environmental degradation. In stressing the point, chapter four has described the causes of the ecological crisis. As it would be futile to attempt to deal with the poverty situation and the signs and causes of the earth crisis without setting the linkage between them.
Thus chapter five portrays the link between poverty and environmental degradation. The argument in this chapter is that there is an interconnection between the two. To summarize, I would agree with the Zambia Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, which portrays the linkage between poverty and the environmental crisis as a "vicious circle" or a "downward spiral":
The relationship between poverty and environment is characterized as a "vicious circle" or a 'downward spiral'. The poor often rely on the environment resources for their livelihood. At the same time, they are affected by the way others use environmental resources. Hence, the involvement of the affected people in environmental management is crucial to the success of poverty reduction. While exploitation of natural resources contributes to economic growth, the needs and opportunities for the surrounding people should not be ignored. Rapid increases in the population combined with over-exploitation of resources threaten the lives of people.110
5.1 Lack of access to basic necessities
Unequal sharing of natural resources is a crucial point that contributes to poverty. While the world is full of abundant resources to feed and meet the needs of all people, a great number of people are struggling to have one meal per day, shelter and clothing.
MFNP, Zambia Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper 2002-2004, p. 118.
Access to pure water and unpolluted air are not available in many areas. The question to be asked is: What went wrong with humankind? In agreement with Celia Deane- Drummond, humankind does not lack resources but the readjustment of priorities and equity in sharing what God has disposed in our hands.
The earth is able to support the total human population, but at a cost of readjustment of priorities and lifestyles. For the poorer peoples this means access to basic education, employment and health care within the context of their particular culture. In rural areas it includes a secure access to land as a necessary prerequisite to subsistence farming. For the wealthier peoples the readjustment is away from consumerism to the adoption of a simpler lifestyle.111
Natural resources, which are supposed to feed and cater for all of us, are in the hands of a few people. As scholars and development practitioners, D. Killeen and A. Atip Rahman state:
Unequal access to basic necessities and other environmental resources is the foundation of relative poverty. In addition to being excluded from access to basic resources, the poor are also most likely to be subjected to the degradation or polluting impacts of the consumption patterns of others.112
However, the activities of the poor are viewed as the main causes of the ecological crisis, instead of recognizing that those who grab almost everything from the poor are the main culprits of environmental degradation and poverty. I would agree with Roland Lesseps who is much involved in the Kasisi Agricultural Center at Lusaka that:
This link between poverty and the environment, however certainly does not result from the poor being the ones who are mainly degrading. It is the wealthy people and nations who contribute most to environmental degradation through their excessive consumption of natural resources (often taken from poor countries) and their release of waste material into the environment in excess of the earth's ability to absorb them.113
Celia Deane-Drummond, A Handbook in Theology and Ecology, (London: SCM Press Ltd, 1996), pp.
137-138.
1,2 Killeen D. and Rahman Atip, "Poverty and Environment', 23rd June2003.
<http://www.iied.org/docs/wssd/bp povrtvenv.pdfi>
11 Roland Lesseps, S.J. 'Poverty Versus the Environment: A False Dichotomy,' in Jesuit Centre of Theological Reflection Bulletin 5J(Third Quarter 2002), p.26.
It is in this context that the poor have little control over the earth crisis. What the poor share with the environmental crisis, more than the rich, is a lack of sustainability and suffering. While wealthy people cause this earth crisis to a larger extent than the poor, it is the poor who suffer the most. Thus, in my understanding, there is a truly intimate link between poverty reduction and environmental management. In summary, the Zambian people have all the basic necessities to cater for everyone. The important focus will be to reflect on how the natural resources of Zambia are shared and how they should be equally distributed to Zambian citizens.