Zambia National Agricultural Policy 2012-2030.

The Zambia National Agricultural Policy 2012-2030 is a cross cutting policy whose vision is to develop a competitive and diversified agricultural sector driven by equitable and sustainable agricultural development through: (i) Promoting sustainable increase in agricultural productivity of major crops with comparative advantage; (ii) Continuously improving agricultural input and product markets so as to reduce marketing costs and increase profitability and competitiveness of agribusiness; (iii) Increasing agricultural exports as a way of fully utilizing the preferential markets (regional and international) and increase contribution to foreign exchange earnings; (iv) Improving access to productive resources and services for small scale farmers, especially women and young farmers; (v) Continuously strengthening public and private sector institutional capabilities to improve agricultural policy implementation, resource mobilization, agriculture research, technology dissemination, and implementation of regulatory services.
The policy seeks to make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable. Sustainable increase in productivity shall be obtained through promoting environmentally friendly farming systems such as conservation farming, afforestation, and the use of green manure and lime; encouraging farmers to use relatively cheaper sources of soil nutrients, including fertilizer blends, inorganic fertilizers, and liquid fertilizers as a way of reducing the cost of production and encouraging optimal application of fertilizer; strengthening capacity building for small scale farmers on the appropriate crop husbandry practices to minimize the costs, increase production and reduce post-harvest losses; strengthening the capacity of farmer organizations, including cooperatives, to provide appropriate agricultural services to their members, such as pooling produce to generate adequate volumes needed by processors and exporters; working with the Ministry of Lands to increase the number of farmers with title deeds as an incentive for them to adopt sustainable land management practices and enhance the collateral value to enable them to access credit; promoting adoption of efficient use of available water resources for irrigation in areas where it is economically viable; promoting expansion of production of oil seed crops (soybean, sunflower, groundnuts) in rotation with food grains as a way to reduce fertilizer costs on the one hand and increase farm yield, incomes and consumption of protein rich food crops on the other; and promoting production of fruits and vegetables as a way of encouraging consumption of balanced diet, increasing incomes and diversifying income sources.
Improvement in food insecurity is studied in conjunction with poverty reduction among poor small scale farmers. To this end, the policy actions include: Promoting environmentally friendly farming systems such as conservation farming, afforestation, and the use of organic manure to ensure long-term productivity and viability; Promoting increased use of relatively cheaper sources of soil nutrients, including organic fertilizers, fertilizer blends and liquid fertilizers as a way to reduce production costs and make staple food crops competitive on local and international markets; Promoting production and consumption of crops that enrich the soil (soybean, groundnuts) in rotation with food grains as a way to reduce fertilizer costs and increase yield and farm incomes, as well as consumption of protein rich food crops; Promoting production and consumption of fruits and vegetables to enhance the diets and diversify income sources; Promoting appropriate farm mechanisation hire services for small scale farmers who do not have access to machinery and equipment as way to increase cropped area and overcome labour constraints arising from HIV/AIDS; Increasing the area under irrigation as a way of increasing yields, promoting intensification and reducing rainfall-related production variations; Working with the Ministry of Lands to increase the number of farmers with title deeds as an incentive to adopt sustainable land management practices and enhance the collateral value for accessing credit; Strengthening capacity of farmer groups, including cooperatives, to enable their members to produce adequate volumes for efficient marketing; Facilitating access to affordable loans to farmer associations and groups; Minimizing market distortions and sharpen targeting as a way of enabling Zambian products to compete in domestic and the regional markets.
The efficiency of agricultural and food systems will be improved through upgrades in infrastructure, including rural roads in order to reduce the cost of providing agricultural services, and rural storage to reduce post-harvest losses; strengthening the capacity of farmer groups to enable them to provide efficient services; strengthening market information systems; promoting agro-processing and value addition for major food and industrial crops with consistent surplus; encouraging decentralized production and marketing of alternative sources of soil nutrients, such as fertilizer blends, liquid fertilizer and inorganic fertilizer; and increasing agricultural exports.
Regarding governance, the Government of Zambia recognizes the roles of the various agriculture stakeholders and will work to establish strong partnerships with agribusiness, civil society organizations, and the development partners. The overall coordination and oversight of the implementation of the revised NAP 2012-2030 will be provided by the Agricultural Sector Advisory Group composed of all key stakeholders in the agricultural sector.