The poor of Zambia speak: who would ever listen to the poor?

This book is a summary of the findings of a decade of research on poverty in Zambia which has used a range of participatory research tools. Its objective is to represent the perceptions and analyses of poor people concerning their situation. It does this through analysis of the following areas: livelihoods, health, education, and institutions. It also does this by means of a compilation of policy-related insights from participatory research which applied and evolved techniques, both verbal and visual. These shed light on poor people's livelihoods and means of coping, and on health services and conditions, education, community-level participation, and other areas. Some of the findings of the research include: the pervasive significance of seasonality; the bad behaviour and attitudes of many health service providers and teachers; the abuse and discrimination suffered by many orphans; time and energy poverty of poor households due to working for other people. Overall, the book demonstrates that participatory methods can help establish a commitment among all actors in the development process, and this improves the value of the interventions.