FOOD SECURITY RESEARCH PROJECT, LUSAKA, ZAMBIA

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has a stated goal of lifting more than a quarter of millions of rural farmers out of poverty in Zambia’s Eastern Province through the implementation of the Feed the Future program (FtF). Part of the program’s goal will be...

Though Zambia has considerable agricultural potential, the sector’s contribution to growth and poverty reduction has been limited. The sector remains one of the most important employers of labour and remains the main source of livelihood for most rural households in Zambia. Thus key...

Zambia’s maize crop grew by roughly 48% between the 2009 and 2010 harvests, leading to the largest crop recorded in recent history. The 2009 maize harvest was also very good, making the 48% rise in 2010 even more remarkable. The forces driving that increase, however, remain widely debated....

This paper traces the trajectories of successful commercial smallholders operating under differing sets of market institutions. Analysis focuses on maize, cotton, and horticulture, three widely marketed crops with strikingly different market institutions. Maize receives intensive government...

This report provides an initial assessment of the impact of agricultural commodity taxes levied by local district authorities on the national objectives of food security, poverty alleviation and economic growth. A study was undertaken to provide government with a better understanding of the...

One of the Government of Rwanda’s key post-war policy objectives has been to increase agricultural productivity and ensure food security by promoting a transition from semi-subsistence production and marketing practices to intensive production and highly commercialized agricultural markets....

The Feed the Future (FtF) program being implemented in Zambia’s Eastern Province by United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) has its goal of lifting more than a quarter of a million rural people (mostly farmers) out of poverty by 2015 (USAID 2011). The attainment of this...

Nearly three decades after the initiation of agricultural market reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), subsidies for fertilizer and seed are once again the cornerstone of many SSA governments’ agricultural development and poverty reduction strategies. Zambia is a prime example. In the last...

Given heavy dependence on rainfed maize production, Zambia must routinely cope with pronounced production and consumption volatility in their primary food staple. Typical policy responses include increased food aid flows, government commercial imports and stock releases, and tight controls on...