Women in Zambia

Document Abstract / Summary Overview

In presenting some facts and figures about the position of women in Zambia, I am fully aware of the limitations to such an approach. Obviously Zambian women live in a stratified society, and this should influence the way my statistics are used. Specific groups of Zambian women - like the professional, business and governmental elites, the subelites (secretaries, nurses, some shop workers, etc) and urban woman entrepreneurs - have received special attention in academic research. This could be understood against the interest in urbanization and the attendant creativity released by the pressure for economic and cultural change. But it is well to remember that fully 64 per cent of all Zambian women workers are employed in the agricultural sector.' Sub-Saharan African women grow at least 50 per cent of the region's food. 2