Eastern Province
Zambia's agricultural heartland producing maize and groundnuts, home to South Luangwa's wildlife, poverty rate exceeding 70%.
Eastern Province functions as Zambia's agricultural backbone—not despite its distance from the Copperbelt, but because of it. While mining dominated colonial investment, the eastern plateau received those who came to farm rather than extract. The Luangwa River valley creates a natural boundary, and the Great East Road connecting Lusaka to Malawi runs through Chipata, the provincial capital. This geography positioned Eastern Province as Zambia's granary: maize, groundnuts, cotton, and tobacco grown here feed the nation and supply export markets. The Ngoni people migrated here from South Africa in the 1830s during the Mfecane upheaval, bringing cattle-keeping traditions that still shape regional identity. South Luangwa National Park, established 1972, contains one of Africa's densest wildlife concentrations—the walking safari was invented here in 1950. Tourism offers an alternative economy to agriculture, though visitor numbers remain modest compared to East African parks. The 2024 drought that halved Zambia's maize harvest hit Eastern Province particularly hard, demonstrating climate vulnerability that agriculture-dependent regions increasingly face. Subsistence farming predominates, with poverty rates exceeding 70%—among Zambia's highest. The Trans-Caprivi Corridor and other regional trade routes could transform Chipata into a genuine logistics hub, but infrastructure investment consistently prioritizes copper over crops. By 2026, Eastern Province's trajectory depends on whether Zambia's post-debt restructuring investment reaches beyond the Copperbelt to the agricultural regions that feed it.