Impacts of "excessive death" in the rural African society

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Only in the first stage of prevalence of successive deaths of family, farming family can afford to absorb its impact in considerable extent. However, as in addition to the direct and immediate impact of deaths, there are indirect and prolonged effects, it soon become difficult for farming family to mitigate the impacts.Successive deaths of family members have influenced upon not only agricultural production but also daily life general. They arrange of farming labors and equipments to re-adjust for the new situation will become difficult. And foster children, to pay off debts, and to settle succession also become difficult.In this study, I have tried to analyze the impacts of successive death which have happened in rural society in Zambia.The mutual help system that was devised to compensate for a lack of cattle, equipment, and labor, for example was rendered dysfunctional by the prolonged effects. The mutual help system such as large farming group has become unable to absorb the burdens created by the frequent deaths. Instead, the system functioned as a catalyst that transmitted vulnerability among members of the group.This study also made clear that the well functioned institutions in normal condition have increase vulnerability in case of abnormal situation instead of preventing it. This means that factors operate to enhance vulnerability one time may act to reduce vulnerability in other time. The orbital process of increased vulnerability is complicated.