Luapula

This book deals with rural development in Luapula, a province of North East Zambia. At the crux of the history of social change in Luapula lies a simple geographical fact: Luapula constitutes a major concentration of population two to three hundred kilometers from some of the richest mineral ore deposits in Africa. Since the early decades of this century these ore deposits have provided the focus for the emergence of a nascent market economy based on the exchange of labour and goods for cash. Luapula is situated near enough to the nexus of market development to be vigorously drawn into its orbit, but far enough away to remain a mere satellite of these processes. This book has been produced to encourage a historically and sociologically informed analysis of development in Luapula. The essays have been guided by certain hypotheses which provide a structure for the discourse. The main thesis addressed in the articles is that social change in Luapula is largely a function of the extent and kind of interface prevailing between the local economies and the cash market. The volume includes a comprehensive bibliography of works on Luapula from 1843 to 1986.