Zambia

Zambia reinstituted agricultural input subsidies as one of its Poverty Reduction Strategies in 2002. Since the introduction of Farmer Input Support Programme, the studies that quantify its effects on income have focused either on the fertiliser or the seed component but not on both which constitute the FISP pack, making it difficult to determine what changes in farmers' incomes can be attributed to FISP as a whole.

This paper analyses the link between gender differences and different activities along the cowpea value chain as well as food security and asset-based poverty using a recent cross-sectional data set of over 120 farm households in Eastern Zambia. We used the endogenous switching probit regression model to account for both observed and unobserved heterogeneity. Results show that women’s participation in the cowpea value chain significantly increases cowpea production, marketing and adoption of improved cowpea varieties. It also reduces both food insecurity and poverty.

We examine a set of potentially climate smart agricultural practices, including reduced tillage, crop rotation and legume intercropping, combined with the use of improved seeds and inorganic fertiliser, for their effects on maize yields in Zambia. We use panel data from the Rural Incomes and Livelihoods Surveys merged with a novel set of climatic variables based on geo-referenced historical rainfall and temperature data to explore the changing effects of these practices with climatic conditions.

This paper uses a multinomial endogenous treatment effects model and data from a sample of over 800 households and 3,000 plots to assess the determinants and impacts of adoption of sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) on maize yields and household incomes in rural Zambia. Results show that adoption decisions are driven by household and plot level characteristics and that the adoption of a combination of SAPs raises both maize yields and incomes of smallholder farmers.

Cassava is a staple food in Zambia second only in importance to maize. An estimated thirty percent of Zambians - about 4 million people - consume cassava as part of their staple diet. The majority of these cassava consumers live in the northern part of the country covering Northern, Luapula, Northwestern and Western Provinces and parts of the Copperbelt which are also the main growing and consuming areas of the crop, and have been so since the introduction of cassava to Africa by the early Portuguese travellers and colonists.

This report overviews a number of gender and agriculture programs, intended to inform Sida programming on gender integration. The report studies agricultural programs in Zambia, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, and Kenya. Main findings from the overview suggest that extension services need to be more integrated in a majority of the countries surveyed. Furthermore, interventions should focus on providing an asset base for women that combines different assets and services. Asset provision must be tailored to women's specific needs.