Eighth National Development Plan (8NDP) 2022 - 2026.

This Eighth National Development Plan is a nationwide multi-sectoral document broadly aiming at (i) improving living standards as well as reducing poverty and inequality by creating conditions for strong and inclusive growth; (ii) promoting an economic transformation and job creation through the implementation of interventions to enhance production and productivity in the agriculture, tourism, mining and manufacturing sectors; (iii) pursuing an export-oriented economic transformation agenda. By achieving these goals, it aims at getting the country closer to its 2030 Vision of becoming a Prosperous Middle-Income country. The Plan identifies four strategic areas for intervention, namely namely (1) economic transformation and job creation; (2) human and social development; (3) environmental sustainability; and (4) good governance environment. During the 8NDP period, Government seeks to restore macroeconomic stability by raising real GDP growth as well as attaining fiscal and debt sustainability to improve the livelihoods of the population, especially the vulnerable. Pursuant to the above, the macroeconomic objectives for the period are to (i) achieve an annual real GDP growth rate of at least 4.5 percent by 2026; (ii) reduce the fiscal deficit to 3.6 percent of GDP by 2026; (iii) maintain an annual domestic revenue to GDP ratio of at least 21 percent; (iv) contain domestic borrowing to less than 4.7 percent of GDP; (v) dismantle domestic arrears and curtail accumulation of new arrears; (vi) reduce and maintain inflation within the target range of 6-8 percent; (vii) maintain international reserves of at least 3 months of import cover; and (viii) reduce the external debt to 60 percent of GDP and ensure sustainability.
To increase the production and productivity, the Plan aims at developing (i) agricultural mechanization; (ii) agroforestry and tree crops; (iii) agribusiness; (iv) irrigation systems; (v) diversification of crops and expansion of the livestock and fisheries sub-sectors, together with aquaculture development; (vi) livestock sector; (vii) extension services support; (viii) promotion of traditional and non-traditional minerals through the opening of new mines and increasing production in existing ones.
To improve health and nutrition, the Government will focus on (i) strengthening public health, increasing access to quality health care, promoting the participation of non-state actors in health care delivery, strengthening integrated health systems and enhancing food security and nutrition; (ii) eliminating all forms of malnutrition through support of appropriate feeding practices for school children and adolescents, support micronutrients fortification and supplementation, and scale-up nutrition programs; (iii) strengthening research in nutrition and food systems.
The environmental protection shall mainly include the following (i) promoting sustainable utilization of natural resources; (ii) undertaking measures aimed at promoting green growth, safeguarding the environment and natural resources, enhancing climate change mitigation and adaptation as well as strengthening disaster risk reduction; (iii) developing early warning and surveillance systems.
The Plan strongly promotes economic and social growth that is inclusive and broadly aimed to reduce poverty, vulnerability and inequalities. In this view, the Government will focus on improving coordination of social protection programs, enhancing welfare and livelihoods of poor and vulnerable people, reducing developmental inequalities, reducing vulnerability, mitigating violence against women and children, extending social security coverage, and enhancing multi-sectoral disaster management. In particular the document proposes the following interventions (i) develop farmer input support program reforms including extension service support, access to finance, support to value addition, storage, and logistics; (ii) encourage the formation of cooperatives among artisanal and small-scale miners as well as facilitate access to support services to enhance their productivity, including linkages to value chains; (iii) enhance the management and productive use of water resources and promote investment in the water sector, enhance access to clean and safe water supply and access to improved sanitation; (iv) promote human development that entails having a well-educated, highly skilled and healthy labor force to propel Zambia to a developed and industrialized nation; (v) increase access to, and improving the quality of education, health and water and sanitation, as well as enhancing social protection; (vi) accelerate growth in the manufacturing sector, including processed foods, engineering, wood and wood products, textiles, leather and leather products, metallic and non-metallic mineral beneficiation and value addition, and pharmaceuticals; (vii) undertake energy sector reforms to remove the inefficiencies in the fuel supply chain and standardize supply contract prices and enhance generation, transmission and distribution of electricity; (viii) prioritize job-rich sectors such as tourism and agriculture for job creation for local communities; (ix) improve transport and logistics to also contribute to the opening up of rural areas for development and enhancing participation of local communities in the economy; (x) enhance digital capacity to also ensure that rural areas are connected to socio-economic services; (xi) enhance the management of petroleum products.
As for Governance, the implementation of the 8NDP will include oversight bodies, implementing institutions, and advisory structures. In general, the economic transformation agenda will be led by the private sector while the Government will provide an enabling and supportive environment through the delivery of requisite policies, regulations, and infrastructure, together with (i) decentralization of the public service delivery system; (ii) strengthening of national data and information systems, transparency and accountability mechanisms, and land management and administration.