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Population policy and development in Zambia: an evolutionary perspective.


 While there is no explicit and coherent statement of population policy in Zambia, it may be said that population policies are unknowingly embedded in various actions of government, which obscures their existence as a distinct set of policies. The reciprocal influence between development actions and demographic variables is evident. This paper attempts to identify population policies by extracting them from development actions. 2 conclusions can be drawn from the analysis: during the colonial days there was no centralized development planning and demographic variables were thus not seen in relation to development. Population was still not included as a component of development planning in the early years of independence. Recently, however, there has been increased awareness of the interaction of population and economic development. The 2nd National Development Plan (1972-76) incorporated important demographic variables (growth rate, future population size, estimates of current and future school and working-age populations) and recognized rapid growth and population pressures on social services as population problems. Specific policies to resolve these problems were not proposed. There is a need to specify the exact relationships between government action and demographic change. Policy makers should be aware of the effects of their development policies on demographic variables; this should help in predicting the desired direction and magnitude of population change.
