The Rev. Daniel Mutale, S.J., a member of Fordham’s Class of 2025, is putting his doctoral studies to work to help the poor and marginalized in Zambia. After successfully defending his Ph.D. thesis in economics, he assumed the role of executive director of the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection in March, an organization dedicated to enhancing the dignity of the poor through research and faith-based advocacy.
Having previously served at the center in program leadership roles, Mutale now leads the organization with the skills he sharpened during his time at Fordham. Fordham Now talked to him about his work and how he’s applying his education to improve the lives of the poor in his home country.
Can you tell me about the work the center is doing in Zambia?
It’s a ministry of the Society of Jesus in Zambia that started back in 1988. One of its greatest missions is to ensure that the poor, the marginalized, and those that have no voice in society find their voice in public policy conversations.
We keep track of living conditions, tracking the cost of commodities, shelter, foods, transport, and so forth. For us, the dignity of a person is enhanced when they have access to these basic commodities. What we find then informs our conversations with policymakers.
What kinds of policies might you be advocating for based on what you learn?
One policy we advocate for is affordable food prices. For instance, corn is a staple here. So if we notice the price of corn going up, we’ll look at the whole supply chain, what’s going on before corn becomes a flour. We target those government departments dealing, for instance, with small-scale farmers so they can access farming inputs they need cheaply.
We also coordinate with institutions that train farmers to give them good capacity to grow crops. We are concerned about climate change and pollution, and we make sure they get training for sustainable agriculture practices, organic farming and so forth. We also encourage the government to provide the means for communities to then store that food so they can consume it themselves.
Finally, our research is used by trade unions so they can negotiate with employers to get a fair wage. Workers in poorer parts of the world can be easily exploited, so we give them power, we give them a voice.
How have you been able to apply what you learned at Fordham to what you’re doing now?
One of the tools I picked up through my statistical and econometrics training is the ability to simplify data and put it in visual form for different audiences. If I’m speaking to policymakers, to technocrats, or other experts, there is this nice toolbox I came with from Fordham that I can tap into and then communicate.
But Fordham as a Jesuit institution also enhanced my appreciation of human values. In our part of the world, we call them Ubuntu values. In our Catholic Jesuit tradition, those are values that enhance the dignity of a person. And Fordham reminded me of those, through listening to many professors, and the different programs beyond academics that Fordham has. There were outreach programs that encouraged me to engage with poorer members of New York in the Bronx, and outreach programs that went to Mississippi, to Mexico, and South Africa. They enhanced my own faith and my own sense that I need to put the dignity of the human person at the center of everything I’m doing.
