Zambia

This case study by USAID analyzes the extent to which dynamics between input suppliers and smallholders have changed in Zambia. This includes the extent to which input suppliers’ focus on smallholders as a viable market has persisted, reversed, or evolved, and what this means for smallholders; what external economic and policy factors supported or hindered smallholder input market growth; and what lessons policymakers and practitioners can draw from the evolution of the Zambian input supply sector over the past ten years. »

This book by The Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA) is offering 14 best practises and policies that increase agricultural productivity and farmers’ resilience to climate change. Key ingredients for success can be distilled out of these cases, such as active farmer participation and youth attraction. Projects which involve high levels of initial investment or drudgery, fail to attract young people, and are costly in terms of time and labour are unlikely to be successful. »

This ICRISAT study aimed to revisit this issue of gender and commercialization of crops. They developed a ‘women’s crop tool’ that measures how much control women have over different crops. This tool was used to compare women’s perceived level of control at different stages of commercialization and to compare the perceptions of men and women regarding women’s control. »

This article gives a nuanced analysis of changing gender roles in the commercialization of “women’s crops”. The authors explore the relationship between commercialization and gender for groundnuts in Eastern Province, Zambia, using a mixed methods approach. Women saw themselves as having greater control over groundnuts than other crops, and both sexes saw groundnuts as controlled by women. »

Business Innovation Facility (BIF), is a pilot programme funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), that has provided hundreds of inclusive businesses with technical and advisory support, which means the BIF team has been truly inside the ‘engine’ of business. This report is the culmination of the lessons learned during this work, written at the completion of the BIF pilot. The report draws together findings on inclusive business models that work – or don’t – and the journeys that companies are making. »

This article in the African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, examines smallholder participation in horticultural markets in Zambia, with two main questions in mind: 1) who participates in horticultural markets? and 2) how does participation affect household income and other welfare outcomes? »