Resilience to Economic Shocks: Reflections from Zambia's Copperbelt

Abstract

The Copperbelt region in Zambia experienced significant economic destabilization after the 1970s which led to massive job losses in the mining and manufacturing sectors, forcing the local population into a range of informal sector activities and food self-provisioning. Resilience thinking and the concepts of adaptation and adaptability in particular provide a lense through which to understand how the mining industry was re-established, albeit in a radical altered form and how local individuals and households have had to cope through creative local responses. The practice of urban agriculture serves as a case-study of how, in the absence of formal sector employment opportunities, households have had to strengthen their food security through their own actions.