World Report

Help for the sector with the potential to boost exports, employment and food security

A bumper harvest of maize allowed Zambia to export some of the crop for the first time

griculture is the sector of the Zambian economy with the greatest potential for development. At present, although it employs 85 percent of the workforce, the sector accounts for only 20 percent of GDP and less than 20 percent of the available arable land is cultivated.

Developing agriculture is a priority for the government, which is eager to diversify the economy away from mining and also to avoid a repeat of the desperate situation two years ago when severe food shortages left almost 3 million Zambians in need of emergency aid. Food security is a prime objective of government policy and the sector offers promising opportunities for export development and employment.

The sector has made a strong recovery since the drought year of 2002, thanks partly to more favourable weather conditions but also to the government supporting farmers by supplying them with subsidised seeds and fertilisers. The 2002/03 growing season produced a total food crop output of 2.5 million tons, including a bumper harvest of 1.2 million tons of maize.

Mundia Sikatana, Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, attributes the turnaround as much to political will as to the better weather conditions. “We vowed that we would stop being fed by others and in one year we achieved it,” he says. “The first crop under the new administration even managed a surplus. We have a current crop that is even higher than the last one.”

For the first time in its history, Zambia has found itself exporting maize to neighbouring Zimbabwe rather than importing it, a success that the government aims to build upon. Plans are being made to launch year-round cultivation of maize. Meanwhile, this year’s maize harvest is being forecast to exceed 1.4 million tons and it is hoped to raise output to two million tons in the 2004/05 season with further increases in subsequent years.

Mr Sikatana believes that Zambia has the potential to become a major food supplier to the region. “Being a landlocked country is a blessing in disguise because the eight countries around us form a huge market for anything we produce,” he says.

The Minister is upbeat about the progress the government has made so far: “We are revolutionising agriculture at such a rate that we are surprised at our success.” He wants to see farmers growing high value crops for export such as coffee, cotton, tobacco, millet and cashew nuts, and is appealing for more young Zambians to go into farming.

Private investment is being welcomed into the sector and thousands of hectares of virgin land are being offered free to local and foreign investors for agricultural development.

Zambia has a small fishing industry, which the government wants to develop

Almost 50 percent of Zambia’s surface area of 290,591 sq miles is arable land and the country has around 40 percent of the surface water resources of the Southern African region. Mr Sikatana says: “We are blessed with a huge territory with beautiful soils, more water than any other country in the sub region and a climate that is second to none.

“Our vision is to make sure we make best use of all these resources and produce to the maximum. We want to diversify and grow everything that we can grow here. We have barely begun to tap the agricultural potential of this country.”

Zambia has a small fishing industry, which the government would also like to develop, and rich forestry reserves that offer considerable regional export potential. Zambia currently exports timber to Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Investment is being sought by Zambia Forestry and Forest Industries Corporation (ZAFFICO) to utilise the excess forests and increase harvest.

Another area of agricultural production developing rapidly is tobacco farming. The tobacco crop doubled last year, boosted by the arrival of white farmers forced out of Zimbabwe by President Mugabe’s land reform programme.
According to the Zambia Investment Centre, 125 farmers settled in Zambia in 2003, bringing investments totalling US$107 million into the sector. Zambia’s tobacco output rose to 7.2 million kg from 3.0 million kg to 7.2 million. Estimates for the current year are 16-18 million kg.