Agricultural growth and investment options for poverty reduction in Zambia:

"Zambia has experienced strong economic performance since 1999. However, agriculture has not performed as well as the rest of the economy, and although the incidence of poverty has declined, it still remains high. The Zambian government, within the framework of the Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP), is in the process of implementing the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which provides an integrated framework of development priorities aimed at restoring agricultural growth, rural development and food security. This paper analyzes the agricultural growth and investment options that can support the development of a comprehensive rural development component under Zambia's FNDP, in alignment with the principles and objectives of the CAADP, which include the achievement of six percent agricultural growth and allocation of at least ten percent of budgetary resources to the sector. Computable general equilibrium (CGE) model results indicate that it is possible for Zambia to reach the CAADP target of six percent agricultural growth, but this will require additional growth in all crops and sub-sectors. Zambia cannot rely on only maize or higher-value export crops to achieve this growth target; broader-based agricultural growth, including increases in fisheries and livestock, will be important. So, too, is meeting the Maputo declaration of spending at least ten percent of the government's total budget on agriculture. In order to meet the CAADP target, the Government of Zambia must increase its spending on agriculture in real value terms by about 17–27 percent per year between 2006 and 2015, and spend about 8–18 percent of its total expenditure on the sector by 2015. Although agriculture has strong linkages to the rest of the economy and its growth will result in substantial overall growth in the economy and the household incomes of rural and urban populations, achieving the CAADP target of six percent agricultural growth will not be sufficient to meet the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG1) of halving poverty by 2015. To achieve this more ambitious target, both agricultural and non-agricultural sectors would need an average annual growth rate of around ten percent per year. These growth requirements are substantial, as are the associated resource requirements. Thus, while the MDG1 target appears to be beyond reach for Zambia, achieving the CAADP target should remain a priority, as its more reasonable growth and expenditure scenarios will still substantially reduce the number of poor people living below the poverty line by 2015, and significantly improve the well-being of both rural and urban households." from authors' abstractAgriculture, Poverty, Public investment, GDP, Millennium Development Goals,

Econometric analysis of the factors that affect adoption of conservation farming practices by smallholder farmers in Zambia

Abstract Despite the efforts to promote adoption of conservation farming (CF) by public and private organizations, the adoption rate among Zambian smallholder farm households has been low. This study used nationally representative data to identify the factors that affect adoption of CF by smallholder farm households in Zambia. Propensity Score Matching (PSM) was employed to help match the adopters and non-adopters of CF based on the distribution of their similar observable characteristics upon which a separate logistic model was applied. The logistic regression analysis showed that age of the household head; access to loans; labour availability; in-kind income and location of the households in agro-ecological regions (AER) I and II significantly increases the odds of adoption of CF. Based on these findings, it is recommended that promotion of adoption of CF practices should be directed towards smallholder farm households in AER I and II and those in remote areas which are less accessible by roads. This could be complemented by improving the road infrastructure so that smallholder farmers in such areas would not only have access to agricultural loans but also be in contact with relevant extension organizations that promote CF

Value Chain Analysis of Indigenous Poultry Sub-Sector In Lusaka and Surrounding Districts – Zambia

The indigenous poultry subsector plays an important role in the livelihood of Zambian smallholder farmer households. Most households keep flocks of indigenous chicken with little inputs, but serve as the main source of protein in rural human diets; supplemental income through sales of eggs and birds; and essential goods and services through barter. Indigenous chickens fetch a premium price, as the meat is highly preferred to that of broiler chickens, especially among the affluent due to its low fat content. Unlike cattle which are predominantly in the hands of men, poultry production has a gender aspect as women and children prefer poultry production as it easily fits in with their other duties around the homestead. This study complements other available studies by providing information on the subsector that stretches beyond the bounds of production. It provides information on linkages between the rural poultry industry and the mainstream market to enable the players harness and maximize the benefits from the value chain. The goal is to contribute to poverty reduction among rural households through improved access to profitable markets for indigenous poultry as well as improved access among urban households for cheap indigenous poultry products. The general objective is to examine and map the value chains from production through distribution and final consumption whilst highlighting the major constraints faced by the players final consumption whilst highlighting the major constraints faced by the players.African Economic Research Consortium (AERC

Gendered impacts of conservation agriculture and paradox of herbicide use among smallholder farmers

Conservation Agriculture (CA) is increasingly taking a central stage in agricultural policies and rural development among developing countries like Zambia. The challenge of gender gaps in agriculture has persisted despite efforts of gender mainstreaming. This paper assesses gender based impacts of conservation agriculture (CA) basins among smallholder farmers under the Conservation Agriculture Programme (CAP) in Zambia. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to collect data. Quantitative data was analysed mainly by descriptive statistics and qualitative data by thematic and content analysis. Results indicated that women and children experienced reduction in labour with respect to clearing of fields before tillage and during weeding where herbicides were used correctly. Improvement in household food security was also reported. Digging of CA basins was labour intensive and the chaka hoe was heavy for women. Labour requirement for women and children was more than for men during hand weeding. Herbicides have increased labour requirements for men because they are predominantly involved in spraying. Women needed to reduce their labour during weeding but feared that the use of herbicides would increase food insecurity during hunger peak period. This was because the use of herbicides is inconsistent with the practice of mixed cropping and selection of valuable wild vegetables that were important for food security. Results suggest that usage of herbicide such as atrazine could have health concerns that may affect women more than men. Use of herbicides raises questions as to what extent CA is environmentally sustainable. Interventions in CA need to be both gender sensitive and minimise tradeoffs between health concerns, socio-economic benefits and environmental sustainability

Livelihood Strategies, Shocks and Coping Mechanisms among Rural Households in

Abstract: The main objectives of this study were to document the level of access to assets; the livelihood strategies utilized; the shocks or risks faced and the coping mechanisms utilized by rural households in southern Zambia. Data was collected from 350 randomly chosen households in Monze and Kalomo districts. Quantitative and qualitative data collected from the survey was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results indicate that distribution of livelihood assets in the study area are skewed by wealth showing that the majority of the production resources are owned by a few (27%) of the well-endowed households who owned more key assets like livestock and had greater access to land as compared to the poor. The results also showed that the households are diversifying their livelihood strategies among different asset combinations and activities. Crop farming, livestock rearing and petty trading are some of the major livelihood strategies being employed. Rainfall variability as manifested in droughts and erratic rainfall patterns was identified as a major shock and the most critical source of risk and vulnerability which has been causing frequent production losses and seasonal food shortages among the households. The households are engaging in various activities to cope with the various stresses and shocks. Livestock selling was one of the most effective strategies to ameliorate hunger. However the livestock herds have been dwindling in the past two decades due to disease outbreaks. Households are also depending more on food aid than in any other activity for survival

Adoption of improved maize seed varieties in Southern Zambia

Abstract: Maize is the principal agricultural crop produced by Zambian smallholder farmers for household consumption and sale. Their production strategy is therefore important in meeting food security and income needs. This study uses data collected from a survey of a random sample of farm households in southern Zambia to develop a Tobit regression model. The model identifies farm and farmer characteristics important for adoption of improved maize seed varieties as well as to determine the role of farmer perceptions of technology attributes in maize varietal adoption. The results indicate that expectations about output price and yield are important determinants of adoption. Other factors directly correlated with the probability of adoption include the status of being male-headed, farm size and membership to farmer organizations. Households with more wealth and educated heads were also significantly more likely to adopt improved varieties. Some of the policy implications of these findings are that intervention strategies should be designed and implemented to encourage poor households and those with low levels of formal education to participate in local farmer organizations. The positive interaction between membership to organizations and the adoption of technologies also suggests that group based extension approaches should be encouraged not only for their role in collective action but also for their positive impact on information diffusion and technology adoption

A Stochastic Frontier Analysis of Technical Efficiency of Maize Production Under Minimum Tillage in Zambia

Minimum tillage and other conservation agriculture practices are not only associated with income gains but are also claimed to be the panacea to the declining agricultural productivity and soil degradation problems in Africa and across the world. The few studies on technical efficiency related to the agricultural sector performance in Zambia have not attempted to determine how technically efficient smallholder farmers that produce maize under minimum tillage are. This study used stochastic frontier analysis based on both the half-normal and exponential model distributions on 2008 cross-sectional nationally representative data of 160 smallholder maize farm households that adopted minimum tillage in Zambia. Results indicate that maize farmers face increasing returns to scale (1.074) implying that there were opportunities for them to improve their technical efficiency as they were operating in stage I of their production functions. The half-normal and exponential model distributions indicate average technical efficiency scores of 60 and 71.7 percent, respectively. Their respective lowest efficiency scores were 9.3 and 8.5 percent. The highest efficiency scores for the half-normal and exponential model distributions were 89.3 and 90.9 percent. Maximum likelihood estimation results show that marital status, level of education of household head, square of household size, off farm income, agro-ecological region III, distance to vehicular road and access to loans are statistically significant factors that affect technical efficiency of smallholder maize farmers that practice minimum tillage in Zambia. The study calls for increased infrastructural development through construction of improved road network, schools and colleges in remote areas as a means to increasing accesss to knowledge and other agricultural services in order to enhance their technical efficiency levels. It also recommends promotion of minimum tillage practices in recommended agro-ecological regions to improve their technical efficiency. The study further acclaims for increased access to loans by smallholder maize farmers that practice minimum tillage as this would in one way induce them to invest in improved varieties and equipment that would help enhance their technical efficiency in Zambia

Impact of Urban Agriculture on Household Income in Zambia: An Economic Analysis

The study aimed to empirically determine the impact of urban agriculture on household income in Zambia. The analysis was based on the 2007/2008 Urban Consumption/ Expenditure secondary data collected in Kitwe and Lusaka districts, with a total sample size of 2,682 urban households. The propensity score matching approach is used to estimate the impact of urban agriculture on household income since the method takes into account the systematic differences in socio-economic characteristics between the urban agriculture practicing and non-practicing households by matching from both groups with similar characteristics. Results indicate that urban agriculture has a significant positive effect on household income. The income of households that practiced urban agriculture increased by 13.7% to 19.1%. It implies that urban agriculture has the potential to improve household livelihood through enhanced income