This year’s National Youth Day was commemorated under the theme “Arise and Soar”. The theme emphasises skills development, innovation and leadership, and calls on young people to act decisively to strengthen their livelihoods and help create a more inclusive and economically developed Zambia. Realising these aspirations, however, depends on the availability of pathways through which young people can participate productively.
Zambia, like much of Africa, has a large youth population. The economic participation and livelihoods of young Zambians are constrained by several factors, including the Zambian economy’s limited ability to absorb labour, limited access to productive resources, and limited skills. As a result, young people in Zambia are unemployed, underemployed, or engaged in informal, low-productivity work. These conditions continue to constrain the livelihoods and economic participation of young people in Zambia.
According to officially published statistics, Zambia’s youth unemployment amongst those aged 19-34 stands at 18.4%, higher than the national average of 12.9%. The Combined Rate of Unemployment and Potential Labour Force (CRUPLF) and the Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) amongst youths, at 48% and 52.8%, respectively, paint a more dire picture. Youth unemployment is furthermore more of an urban and gender issue, given that urban areas and women face higher unemployment, CRUPFL and NEET than rural areas and men, respectively.
One factor behind these outcomes is the Zambian economy’s limited ability to absorb labour into productive activities. The key sectors providing employment in Zambia include agriculture, forestry and fishing, and wholesale and retail trade. However, most people employed in these sectors work in low-paying, low-benefit informal-sector jobs. The situation is therefore not only that the country’s economy cannot create enough employment, but also that the employment created is not enough to support livelihoods.
The agricultural sector continues to employ a large share of the population, most of whom work in resource-constrained smallholder agriculture with limited linkages to other sectors of the economy. Many young people engaged in agriculture remain excluded from productive participation due to limited access to land, finance, markets, and modern production systems, which leads to lower productivity and incomes. Further, the limited linkages between primary production and value addition across key sectors, including agriculture and mining, result in continued trade in primary products, thereby limiting returns. As a result, the additional employment opportunities that can be created in downstream roles, such as agroprocessing and mineral processing, are limited.
Another factor is access constraints. Most young people and Zambians at large are engaged in owner-operated MSMEs, with the majority in the wholesale and retail trade and agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors. A large proportion of these MSMEs are informal and unregistered with key regulators. Due to various factors, including their informality, low incomes, and lack of assets that can be collateralised, these MSMEs face challenges accessing finance to invest in and expand their enterprises, limiting their job-creation capabilities. As a result, these enterprises cannot adequately support their owners’ livelihoods or create much-needed employment. Consequently, many youth-led enterprises remain survival-oriented rather than growth-oriented, limiting their ability to generate sustainable incomes and employment opportunities for others.
A third contributing factor is the limited alignment between education, skills development and labour market demands. The high NEET rate reflects the large number of young people who are neither in employment nor in education or training. This highlights the need for skills training that is aligned with labour market demands. In addition, Zambia has historically placed greater emphasis on academic and professional pathways, with public expenditure on higher education significantly exceeding funding towards Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training (TEVET). This has implications for the availability of practical and technical skills required for productive economic participation.
Summarising the point above: due to the limited ability of the Zambian economy to absorb human resources, limited access to productive resources, limited education and skills, and for those who have passed through training, a skills-jobs mismatch, there are no clear school-skills-income pathways for many youths in Zambia. As indicated by the high NEET rate, many young people are not on any structured path to earning an income and sustaining their livelihoods. This puts them in a vulnerable position that can be perpetuated into the next generation.
The challenge is not only to create jobs but also to create accessible, productive, and scalable livelihood pathways for young people. In many cases, young people transition from school to unemployment, underemployment, or vulnerable self-employment without clear progression toward stable, productive livelihoods. This weak transition between education, skills development and income generation reinforces youth vulnerability and limits the country’s ability to fully utilise its youthful population. Addressing the challenges highlighted here requires a more deliberate alignment between economic policy, education systems and youth empowerment to ensure that young people can transition into productive livelihoods. Next week’s article will explore some possible approaches to addressing these challenges.
Author:
Mukuka Chilalika is Fundraising and Partnership Lead at the Centre for Trade Policy and Development (CTPD). He holds a BSc in Agricultural Economics and is currently pursuing an MSc in Agricultural Economics. His interests include agricultural policy, rural livelihoods, and economic development.
