Kamala Harris Celebrates Innovative Panuka Farm
Kamala Harris, during her successful trip to Zambia last week, visited a farm that is successfully experimenting with innovative agricultural techniques.
Panuka Farm lies outside of Lusaka. Founded in 2017 by its Managing Director, Bruno Mweemba, it focuses on bulk production and supply of high-value crops. The farm’s most popular products are English cucumber, sweet peppers, and iceberg lettuce.
Harris’s visit to Zambia was one stop on her weeklong trip to Africa, which also included visits to Ghana and Tanzania. High on the agenda was concerns about food insecurity as a result of climate change – a topic especially pertinent to Zambia and its agricultural economy. In visiting Panuka Farm, Harris therefore had an opportunity to explore what the future of innovative food production across Africa could look like.
Bruno Mweeba and Kamala Harris at Panuka Farm (Panuka Farm Facebook)
Mweemba, as well as being the founder and Managing Director of Panuka Farm, is an environmental finance expert who has worked previously in biodiversity conservation and climate change finance. He described Panuka as his “laboratory” in which to test and showcase the practical side of conservation and climate-smart agricultural theory. Mweemba is well-placed to be at the forefront of this work, having also been working over the past three years as an advisor for the United Nation’s Development Programme’s Biodiversity Finance Initiative (UNDP-BIOFIN).
It is abundantly clear how Mweemba’s vision has played out in the operations of Panuka Farm. The farm is innovative in its green energy use, agricultural technology, and community links in three major ways.
Firstly, Panuka has been completely solar powered ever since its conception in 2017. As well as providing an active response to the climate crisis, being completely off-grid means the farm is not susceptible to the fluctuations of Zambia’s (mostly hydro-reliant) energy supply, which has been in some distress in recent months.
Furthermore, the farm is very careful about its water usage. Mweemba and his employees have been experimenting with new techniques and technologies, including drip irrigation, harnessing the power of gravity, and an ongoing project of rainwater harvesting. At Panuka, water use is at its most efficient.
As well as being a pioneer in green energy and innovative agricultural technology, the farm also has a strong social conscience. This is reflected in its deep ties to the local community: 95% of its workforce comes from surrounding villages. Panuka also runs a successful graduate traineeship. Over the course of six months, graduates from agricultural colleges and universities are trained in farm management at Panuka. It is hoped this scheme will train and inspire the next generation of forward-looking agricultural leaders.
Harris described Panuka’s techniques as “an example of what can be done around the world”. In a speech she made at the farm, the Vice President stressed the US’s commitment to such work. Significantly, she announced a $7 billion commitment to promote “climate resilience, adaptation, and mitigation” across Africa – part of which will be dedicated to promoting food security. She particularly highlighted the role climate-smart agriculture, like the kind practiced at Panuka, would play in this commitment.
Workers on Panuka Farm (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times)
The Vice President’s remarks are extremely timely, and mirror some of the steps taken by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) which entered into a compact with Zambia in 2013-18. The MCC is an independent US foreign aid agency which forms partnerships and provides grants to developing countries in order to aid in economic growth and reduce poverty. Through its partnership with Zambia, a grant of $322 million was invested in water supply, drainage and sewage networks, resulting in greatly increased access to clean water and consequently improved sanitation and hygiene.
Three years after the completion of the compact, in December 2021 the MCC selected Zambia as eligible to develop a second compact. A primary area that has been identified by the MCC in hindering Zambia’s economic growth is the country’s current agricultural methods and policies. In October 2022, Mr Panuka met with the MCC team to discuss the second compact. He “provided some insights on how the MCC Compact could be better designed especially on access to finance for smallholding farms”.
According to the farm, Panuka is a Tonga word meaning “clear, innovative, and open to new ideas”. It is clear that it truly lives up to the meaning of its name in its commitment to innovative agricultural techniques, green energy solutions, and commercial prosperity.
USAID Partnership Transforming Zambia Into Africa’s Breadbasket
According to research undertaken by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), 80 percent of smallholder farms in Zambia produce maize. Many of these smallholder farms are in isolated, hard-to-reach areas, making it difficult to transport their harvests, which, on an individual scale, are small, but collectively offer huge opportunity for the Zambian economy and nutritional wellbeing across East and Southern Africa.
In bumper years, such as the 2021/22 record maize harvest in Zambia, enormous volumes of excess maize have been produced overall by smallholder farms, leading to as many as 1.5 million metric tons of surplus corn being available for export. In spite of this, issues around storage and transport have led to maize contributing to 30% of Zambia’s total post-harvest losses.
The struggle to convert surplus maize into income for regional smallholder farms and the broader Zambian agricultural economy, however, is set to undergo extraordinary transformation in the immediate future.
In December 2022, USAID announced via the Prosper Africa Initiative that it would be joining a multi-pronged collaboration whose aim was to address the global food security crisis in the wake of the war in Ukraine and its impacts on food supply chains. Heading this joint effort would be: Africa-Global Schaffer, an agribusiness and energy firm; bechtel.org, the social impact branch of infrastructure firm Bechtel; and Empowering Farmers Foundation, the social impact arm of South Africa-based firm Export Trading Group.
This new partnership was unveiled at the US-Africa Leaders Summit 2022 held in Washington, D.C., from December 13th to December 15th, with its primary focus being to “promote shared prosperity by increasing the supply and quality of maize on the African continent”. USAID pledged to match its private sector partners’ investments in African food security 1:1. The first phase of the program will build Smart Integrated District Aggregation Centres (SIDAC) in areas where improving harvests will have the greatest impact on local economies and, more broadly, the East African trade routes to connect sellers of high-quality maize with buyers.
For Zambia, this will mean seven centres opening by the May harvest season of 2023, scaling up to twenty-three centres in the near future. The effects of such investment and improvements to infrastructure will be colossal: initially, around 100,000 metric tons of maize and other grains that would otherwise go to waste will be stored and sold each growing season.
Not only will this have transformative financial implications for farmers, but it will address grain price spikes in the region, mitigate food shortages, and prevent as many as 800 metric tons of carbon from going to waste - the equivalent of more than 80,000 gallons of diesel.
The potential of homegrown maize has become the cause of greater interest since the onset of fertiliser and food shortages triggered by the war in Ukraine. Speaking of the expectations of their union with USAID and Prosper Africa, Stu Jones, Bechtel’s Corporate Relations Manager, said, “our efforts will save lives, improve the future of the continent, and ensure sustainable outcomes”. Speaking with the Zambia News and Information Services, Julie Mellin, USAID Acting Public Affairs Officer, said that the partnership would help promote shared prosperity by increasing the supply and quality of maize on the African continent.
New supply chains enabled by the SIDAC programme will meet immediate demand, if the trends of 2022 repeat for the 2023 harvest. Faced with food shortages following the 2022 droughts, East African nations requested over 500,000 metric tons of maize, whilst regional neighbours, including Malawi, Angola, DRC, Mozambique and Namibia, requested an additional 800,000 metric tons, according to then-Agriculture Minister Reuben Mtolo in an interview with Farmers Review Africa. The 2022 maize harvest in Zambia, he added, created carryover stocks of surplus grain of 1.5 metric tons, thanks to the Food Reserve Agency’s efforts. The SIDAC programme will build on the Food Reserve Agency’s model to further reduce food waste.
European Union (EU) funding has already accelerated sustainable farming projects in Zambia, under the Sustainable Intensification of Smallholder Farming Systems in Zambia (SIFAZ) project. Established in 2018, SIFAZ was the result of a partnership between the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Zambia’s Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), and has begun to research agricultural methods for smallholder farms that were initially conceived by Feed the Future’s ‘Africa Research in Sustainable Development for the Next Generation’ (Africa RISING). By September 2022, a SIFAZ vision for sustainable maize yields had been approved by Zambia’s National Advisory Committee for the Approval of Candidate Technologies or Agronomic Practices.
The programme offered 3 agricultural formats that would grant farmers better yields while nurturing their soil – two involving incorporating grain legumes into maize fields to improve soil nitrogen content and pest management, and the third advising maize be grown on raised soil beds to improve soil oxygenation in flood-prone tracts of land. All three principles raised awareness among the Zambian farmer community of the importance of conservation agricultural approaches, namely minimal soil disturbance, soil enrichment through crop residue, and greater crop diversity.
Christian Thierfelder, a CIMMYT principal cropping systems agronomist based in southern Africa, explained the importance of these new agricultural principles to SIFAZ: “The official clearing of these transformative cropping technologies is a huge milestone for the project and for Zambia’s resource-poor farmers”. Working closely with the MoA and FAO, he added, CIMMYT was “planning research trials, demonstrations and promotion to reach 20,000 farmers as a first step”.
The significance of programmes like SIFAZ is difficult to overstate: approximately 300 million smallholder farmers grow maize in Sub-Saharan Africa, relying only on their soil and the seasonal rains. Per the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), maize covers up to 75% of cropland in East and Southern Africa and the Global Yield Gap Atlas (GYGA) estimates that the agricultural sector in Zambia supports livelihoods of 85% of the population. The recent announcement in November 2022, therefore, that the EU would grant SIFAZ an additional EU€20 million in funding demonstrates the globally understood importance of African maize sustainability programmes, and of the SIFAZ project in particular.
Comparative maize prices in 2022 illustrate the relevance of SIDAC’s goal of transporting surplus Zambian corn to neighbouring countries with unfulfilled demand. According to research undertaken by the American Journal of Agricultural and Biological Science, via The Conversation, market prices in Zambia were significantly below those of neighbouring nations. At the July peak, prices in Nairobi, Kenya, and Kampala, Uganda, rose above US$500/MT. Average prices in Zambia, meanwhile, were US$220/MT.
Per research conducted in the American Journal, the discrepancy of US$300/MT was double the maximum transport costs to Uganda or Kenya might have been, justifying the need for the infrastructure to export Zambian grain, connect outstanding demand with surplus supply and limit price spikes in the local region. Recent surge in demand for soybeans drove prices in East Africa above US$1000/MT; meanwhile, Zambian soybeans, enjoying a bumper harvest, were achieving a price of US$439/MT. SIDAC’s storage, and SIFAZ’s education, will create a platform to assist Zambian smallholding farmers to capitalise on market windfalls.
The future is bright, with strong funding, thorough research and new infrastructure creating a framework to combat regional food shortages, drive the Zambian agricultural economy, and, above all, empower smallholder farms to maximise their prospects.
Buya Bamba: Bringing Food Security to Zambia
Zambia has started exporting fresh potatoes and frozen French fries to South Africa and Namibia.
The export is taking place through Shoprite, one of the continent's largest retail supermarkets.
Local Shoprite and Hungry Lion outlets in Zambia have concurrently stopped importing potatoes from South Africa because Buya Bamba can meet the quality and demand requirements locally.
Until recently, Zambia would import millions of dollars’ worth of frozen potatoes from foreign markets including South Africa. Domestic production, it is hoped, will reduce the costs for Zambian purchasers whilst also leading to Forex savings for the Zambian economy.
In 2021 the firm completed the construction of a $7 million dollar factory for the production of commercial frozen chips. It is the only one of its kind in Zambia, and it is hoped it can make Zambia a net exporter.
Buya Bamba has been in operation since 1999, initially created by Anthony Barker and Juri van Zyl to connect potato farmers with the restaurants and retail outlets that needed their produce. They’re now a major and essential contributor to Zambian agriculture. Their seeds are chosen with care to ensure sustainability and high yields for the Zambian ecosystem and economy.
As well as the farming of potatoes, Buya Bamba also run an impressive logistics organisation to help get Zambian potatoes into supermarkets across southern Africa.
President Hichilema is keen to support the growth of small-holder farming in Zambia. Indeed, promised in the 2023 budget are 256 additional extension support officers and 69% budgetary increase for the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Plan. The plan now boasts a budget of K9.1 billion.
Managing Director, Anthony Barker, believes the company’s greatest strength is providing small farmers with access to the market. “We let every single consumer, including takeaways, restaurants, corporate restaurants, supermarkets, and the end-user access potatoes from the small farmers,” he commented.
Barker told Business Focus that he is optimistic about the Zambian market going forward. “[I] believe that there’s going to be more stability in times to come, and I think the future looks bright for Zambia at this point. We’ve invested in that future as a company,” he said.
“The people in Zambia are amazing,” Barker insists. “They’re really a very hard-working culture, and I’m very proud to work with them. I am Zambian myself and I am very proud to work with the Zambian people. We are providing options for people to buy and sell potatoes, providing for all walks of life. I love Zambia and will continue to invest here- this is my home.”
The company also hold significant amounts of potato seed in cold storage. Potato seedlings are easily perishable so cannot be held in ordinary warehouses or by the typical farmer for extended periods of time. These stores help ensure the year-on-year continuation of production even if the preceding harvest proved unfruitful. However, Barker wants to see cold storage grow in Zambia in order to make the country fully self-sufficient and a net exporter.
Food security is a key priority for both the Zambian government and international agencies. In an agreement signed at the US-Africa Leaders Summit earlier this month, USAID and the Zambian government agreed to cooperate through the Prosper Africa initiative to increase regional food security. While the initiative will focus specifically on reducing post-harvest losses on Maize, the improvements in research and equipment are designed to improve the efficiency and security of food production across the board.
PHYLA Earth: Regenerative Agriculture for Zambia’s Future
PHYLA Earth is a remarkable organisation focusing on investment in “nature’s capital”. By engaging communities and corporations, weaving novel technologies together to find remarkable solutions, and connecting partners to new markets, they seek to boost the triple bottom line: bringing economic, social, and environmental benefits to Zambia.
PHYLA use advanced agronomic technologies to help farmers improve their soil management and encourage “regeneration agriculture” across Africa’s Great Green Wall. The Great Green Wall is a remarkable initiative to build an unbroken line of trees stretching 8,000km across the middle of the African continent to help fight the effects of climate change.
In Senegal, The Great Green Wall is using Acacia trees to help fight desertification. At its worst, this phenomenon can force families from their homes as the land becomes arid and leaves people’s home communities unliveable. In Zambia, PHYLA are hoping to use regenerative agriculture to engineer a new wealth creation dynamic; restoring arable land through resistant ecology in order to improve the land, create jobs, bolster communities, sequester carbon and produce food.
At COP27 PHYLA Earth’s CEO Rabih El Fadel and co-founder Harry Verns showcased their flagship project: the Pongamia regenerative agroforestry project at Konkola Copper Mines.
Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) is one of Africa’s largest integrated copper producers. The Zambian mine produces millions of tons of copper per year, which is fundamental to the electric battery value chain and so the future of sustainable transport. The metal is also central to the present and future prosperity of Zambia.
However, mining often comes at an environmental cost. In this case, mining increases the salinity and sodicity of the surrounding soil and limits natural plant growth – an issue for 833 million hectares of soil worldwide.
PHYLA Earth are developing a remarkable orchard in Chingola, Zambia, in order to combat this problem. Their work facilitates the prospect of continued extraction of minerals needed for the transition to clean energy, whilst supporting local farming and increasing ecological resilience.
The 4,000 elite Pongamia seedlings planted on untreated land next to the mines have experienced a mortality of less than 1%. The trees have instead grown, flowered, and produced pods in quantities expected from much more fertile soil. From an ecological perspective, the main benefits of Pongamia tree-based agroforestry is the potential to restore biodiversity, binding the soil with its roots and providing life giving nectar for vital pollinators.
But the benefits go even further. Pongamia have significant climate resistant properties, weathering drought, salinity changes and high levels of metals in the soils better than other plants. Seedlings, meanwhile, can be used as biopesticides, insect repellents, and as a source of food-grade vegetable oil.
According to the United Nations, investments in nature-based solutions to climate change must treble by 2030 if the world is to tackle the triple threat of climate, biodiversity and land degradation. PHYLA seek to foster a circular bioeconomy to meet this challenge. ]
The development of Pongamia orchards provide jobs and income. This income is in turn expected to facilitate further Pongamia plantations - again increasing biodiversity and providing more seedlings for useful by-products. The conceptual circularity of this cycle allows PHYLA to believe such investments can create what they refer to as “perennial dividends” on the initial investment.
The project is being extended to target 1.5 million saplings next year in India and Southern Africa.
At COP27 PHYLA showcased the Chingola project and made the case for why they believe “agro forestry is the perfect tool to remediate degraded land and rural markets” and to explain how “our trees provide farmers with highly productive, carbon removing perennial, drought tolerant option to increase farm revenue and power local economies.”
The company’s approach recognises that nature provides infinite value to the economy but requires unprecedented investment to secure future returns. PHYLA wishes to see the reconstruction of economic models to include nature as the planet’s most precious asset.
Tackling deforestation is a priority of the Zambian government. Environmental sustainability is one of the four pillars supporting the UPND’s economic transformation plan outlined in the Medium-Term Budget Plan. To this end, the New Dawn government are setting up timber exchanges around the country in order to increase transparency and reduce illicit and damaging deforestation practices.
Further, if you wish to invest in PHYLA Earth, it is worth knowing that green bonds (with a maturity of at least three years) have been granted tax exemptions aimed at encouraging investments in projects with environmental benefits.
PHYLA’s remarkable work would not be possible without the cooperative research of the University of Zambia, the University of Reading (UK) and the University of Bradford (UK). Such international intellectual exchanges and research are vital to driving the world’s economy towards a cleaner future. PHYLA’s researchers include specialists with 50 years of dedicated practice.
Thinking of investing in Zambia’s agriculture industry? Sign up for our investor briefing or get in touch at info@zambiaisback.com
Zambian Breweries: Bottling Success For Zambia
Since its founding in 1963 Zambian Breweries has been at the heart of the country’s beverage industry. The company is famous for its clear beers such as Mosi Lager, Castle, Carling Black Label, Eagle, Flying Fish and Castle Lite.
The brewery’s recent take-over by Belgian drinks giant AB InBev has allowed production to continue to grow. Combined with the New Dawn government’s pro-business stance, this allows Zambian Breweries to invest in supporting local businesses through backward-linking supply chains.
Zambian Breweries was originally formed in 1963 via a partnership between South African Breweries and Labatt Breweries of Canada. Following this, the company was nationalised in 1968, during which time it operated out of two production facilities in Lusaka and Ndola.
Later, during the privatisation programme initiated by the government in the 1990s, the brewery was once again privatised with its assets and liabilities split into two newly incorporated companies: Lusaka Breweries Limited and Northern Breweries. Lusaka Breweries then went on to become Zambian Breweries.
Photo: Zambian Breweries
Fast forward to 2016 and the company was bought by AB Inbev, becoming part of the company’s global initiative to “bring people together for a better world through our products, brands, and investment in our communities.”
AB Inbev is the world’s largest beer brewer by both volume and revenue. It operates more than 600 beer brands in 150 countries and employs more than 170,000 people throughout its operations. The company made $54.3 billion last year, having seen profits grow even during the pandemic. The company owns household names such as Stella Artois, Corona and Budweiser.
Earlier this year Zambian Breweries announced an $80 million capital investment to expand its Lusaka factory and create 5,000 jobs. The investment is set to target the supply side of the business: improving technical services, brewing and enhancement of their cellars.
Additionally, the investment will unlock further innovation opportunities in the industry. At the moment, 90% of the investment will be in high-tech equipment to make operations more sustainable. Specifically, the investment will include enlargements of the company’s agriculture out-grower schemes and offer procurement opportunities to local suppliers.
Further, it will also see the Mungwi Road factory double its production capacity over the next year, creating jobs and improving productivity to meet the company’s growing demand. Other upgrades include replacing the factory’s clean-in-place (CIP) equipment; installation of a more efficient boiler; and establishing a new milling plant.
Photo: Zambian Breweries
Michelle Kilplin, Zambia Country Director for AB InBev, praised the investment as a triple win for the community, government and company. She said, “This investment has been enabled by the pro-business and pro-investment climate being promoted by the government. We are encouraged by what we have seen so far and we as a business intend to be a big part of the economic recovery and growth of the Zambian market.”
Additionally, Albert Malunga, Lusaka plant manager, said the government had helped the company make the investment decision through its emphasis on sustainable business. He specified that the creation of the Ministry of Green Economy will help businesses to meet their green goals.
“Our response as a business is to prepare ourselves for the future by investing in new technologies which will be environmentally friendly and will help us care for the environment by reducing carbon emissions,” he said.
Zambian Breweries’ expansion is expected to have multiple positive knock-on effects for supply chains; benefiting retailers, transporters and suppliers. Moreover, government support packages - such as the 50% suspension of excise duty on clear beer and the decrease in excise duty on locally produced clear beer from 10% to 5% - has meant that more companies can now get involved in this growing industry.
Thinking of investing in Zambia’s agriculture industry? Sign up for our investor briefing or get in touch at info@zambiaisback.com
Zambia to Generate $2bn USD from Agriculture Sector by 2026
Farmers Review Africa, September 12, 2022
Zambia projects to more than double earnings to US$2 billion from exports of agriculture sector by 2026 following the unveiling of a five-year-blueprint to reinvigorate the economy through diversification from traditional copper mining to various growth sectors.
Under the 8th National Development Plan-2022-26-the Southern African state-seeks to bolster growth and add value to various traditional products and increase export earnings from the current US$756.2 million realised at the close of 2021.
According to the over K1 million blueprint unveiled by President Hakainde Hichilema dubbed: ” “Social Economic Transformation to Improve Livelihoods”, Zambia realises ten need for a diversified economy to overturn economic losses incurred through climate change, debt overhang and COVID 19 among other factors and will industrialise to fulfil its growth prospects.
Increasing agriculture production and productivity, promoting mining of traditional and nontraditional minerals, promoting value addition and manufacturing, promoting rural industrialisation as well as tourism. The Government will implement a number of strategies that are among key strategies for raising the country’s export profile.
Other areas to upscale to maintain growth in the period under review include enhancing management and productive use of water resources, promotion of irrigation, raising generation, transmission and distribution of electricity.
It seeks to extend diversification to other renewable as well as clean alternative energy sources, enhancing the management of petroleum products, improving transport and logistics, upscaling the provision of industry relevant skills, investing in applied research and development, enhancing digital capacity and.
In collaboration with the private sector efforts are underway to create an enabling environment for private sector growth in the agriculture sector by providing a stable trade policy with emphasis on easing restrictions on exports of agricultural commodities and facilitating access to finance.
” A robust comprehensive agriculture support programme will be implemented beginning from the 2022/2023 farming season.
“The programme will encompass the provision of inputs through the electronic agro-input system to include extension service support, support for value addition, storage and logistics. Further, the programme will provide for better targeting and equity across beneficiaries. ” read the blueprint.
Tree crop production and irrigation development will also be promoted. To support increased production in the sector, research and development will be promoted, particularly in the development of improved varieties and breeds of crops including tree crops, livestock and fish.
To increase hectarage under production and enhance productivity, agricultural mechanisation will be promoted. The Government will also promote farm block development with special focus on diversification of crops and expansion of the livestock and fisheries sub sectors.
The farm block concept entails the creation of specialised agricultural production and processing zones. Resettlement schemes will also be developed as centres for agricultural production.
Interventions in fisheries will aim at promoting investments for increased fingerling production and establishing and operationalising fish breeding and freezing centres, as measures to bridge the domestic fish deficit and expand into the regional market.
Livestock production will be enhanced through establishing community-managed livestock service centres, provincial livestock insemination centres and veterinary laboratories.
The Government will also devolve veterinary services to improve efficiency in the livestock sub-sector. These interventions are expected to result in an agricultural growth rate of at least 10 percent per annum over the Plan period.
Over the same period, agricultural exports are also expected to increase to above US$2 billion by 2026 from US$756.2 million in 2021.
On 2 September, President Hakainde Hichilema launched the blueprint with a call for hard work to actualize its objectives. The plan presents the country’s ambitious but bold steps for the country’s social-economic development.
The blueprint marks the country’s medium-term blueprint to unlock the country’s potential in various sectors for sustainable, holistic and inclusive development.
“May we as a people of Zambia cherish the art of hard work. It is a necessary ingredient to achieve success,” he said.
The Government envisions that the macroeconomic objectives set in the 105-page plan are projected to place the economy on a higher growth trajectory.
The vision is premised on restricting fiscal deficit, enhancing domestic revenue mobilization, and addressing and curtailing the accumulation of domestic arrears.
The plan was anchored on key measures targeted at addressing the debt problem, providing free education, scaling up social safety nets and taking service delivery and resources to the people.
Earlier, finance minister Situmbeko Musokotwane described the plan as a strategic direction setting development priorities and implementation of strategies that will play a pivotal role as building blocks toward the attainment of the national vision.
AfDB’s $14m USD, Zambia’s Agricultural Future - Mtolo
Farmers Review Africa, September 1, 2023
Africa Development Bank funded US$14.4 million concessional loan planned for disbursement for agriculture and aqua-culture sector development has added impetus to Zambia’s quest to diversify and redeem the economy with plans to promote farming blocks.
Last July, the AfDB’s board of directors gave consent for Zambia to access to its concessional window dubbed: “Building today, a better Africa tomorrow” of a staggering a $14.4 million loan for food security, amid heightening desire to use natural and human resources to bolster the sector and sustain its reliability as southern Africa’s regional bread basket.
The funding, expected to start being utilized this year, anchored in the African Development Bank Group’s African Emergency Food Production Facility will provide, among other facilitations, the country’s certified seeds and fertilizer to 45,000 emergent farmers, a move the Government has applauded.
The provision will be done using the innovation and ICT platforms through existing private sector-based distribution channels. Women and youths will receive 50%-subsidized seeds through an electronic platform that enhances transparency, accountability and sustainability.
Under the financing facility, the project will promote proven climate-smart agricultural practices employed by the Bank’s Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation Initiative (TAAT). Another outcome will be the implementation of agriculture and trade policy reforms.
Additionally, farmers are expected to receive 36,000 metric tons of fertilizer and 3,000 metric tons of improved seeds, as part of the expected outcomes. Further, farm gate fertilizer prices will be reduced by 50%. Majority beneficiaries will be women and youth who lack financial capacity to sustain the business.
A partial credit guarantee scheme will result in over 100,000 metric tons of fertilizer on the local market and stabilize prices. Over 90,000 hectares of maize and soya will be planted, with an incremental annual output of 265,000 metric tons valued at $43.72 million.
This will reduce potential food imports by 200,000 metric tons. The average farm income will rise from $350 to $500 per year. Zambia, one of the countries affected by the high fertiliser cost imported spurred by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, coupled with inflationary impact across various sectors.
Agriculture minister Reuben Mtolo told FRA, the assistance was a stimulant to the Government’s quest to use agriculture and aquaculture sectors as the country’s economic revival lines and meet national obligations amid increased donor interest to financing the National Agriculture Investment Plan (NAIP).
“……this is the beginning of the revolution of the agriculture sector, given the goodwill from the donor community and we hope to invest in irrigation, animal disease control and support to the small holder farmers, many that need farming inputs to reverse the losses incurred last season”
Minister Mtolo notes that with the planned promotion and establishment of farming blocks, the funding from AfDB and other donors will assist drive the revival of the agriculture and aquaculture sectors and that financing would be spread to all the 10 provinces of the country.
According to the Agriculture Productivity and Market Enhancement Project (APMEP) program, financed by the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), a Financial Intermediary Fund hosted within the World Bank Group, the funds will go towards technical assistance to farmers in various aspects.
Recently, GAFSP had extended $31.13 million in grant funds Zambia for APMEP, while at the time African Development Bank disbursed the money and provided technical expertise.
Under APMEP, Zambia will expect to develop irrigation schemes, intensify agricultural mechanization, promote conservation agriculture, crop diversification, and enhanced aquaculture and livestock development in Zambia.
This is part of an integrated agriculture value chain development under the Ministry of Agriculture. The project contributes to economic growth and poverty reduction by enhancing food security, incomes, and nutrition among participating households.
According to the Bank’s Director of Agriculture and Agro-Industry Martin Fregene; “GAFSP has provided farmers with ways to improve their livelihoods and created employment, especially for vulnerable people like women and youth in rural areas.”
Zambia lost 25% of the grain produced during the 2022 farming season, dropping to 2.7 million metric tons, 600, 000 less than produced a year earlier. The low output is despite increasing demand for maize from neighbors, hard hit by drought and climatic change effects.
To grow agriculture, Zambia’s finance minister Situmbeko Musokotwane incentivized the sector during the 2022 national budget to help transform the agriculture sector into an agro-export industry and attract investments in farm blocks.
Government proposed to promote large-scale estate production for both domestic and export markets.
It will provide necessary infrastructure in farm blocks for them to be operational. The incentives will promote agro-processing and exports, and more investors will be willing to invest in the farm blocks.
Government in collaboration with the World Bank seeks to help service the farm blocks. This will motivate players in the agriculture sector to produce finished agricultural products for export, farm blocks being effective vehicles for economic growth.
“We need to attract investors who will establish mango, banana and sugar plantations to make finished agricultural products” he told lawmakers on 29 October.
Image: James Baltz via Unsplash
Zambia Pushes for Innovation in Agriculture to Accelerate Food Security
Farmers Review Africa, August 16, 2022
ZAMBIA’s hosting of the 4th Mid Year African Union summit hosted in the capital Lusaka last July dubbed: “Strengthening Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on the African Continent” has instilled a call innovative technologies and become the pivot for sustained food security.
Inspired by resolutions from the Africa’s Heads of States and Governments summits in Equatorial Guinea capital, Malabo since 2003 to date coupled by the African Union meeting’s theme, Zambia wants to bolster production using innovations and become the continent’s food basket.
At the Malabo meetings, one driving resolution as Africa is to jointly identify and prepare bankable projects at the national and regional levels, through the RECs in food and agriculture and to engage in mobilising resources to implement them, and investing in sectors essential for agricultural growth and development.
President Hakainde Hichilema had during the July 17-20 AU mid-year meeting underscored the need for Africa to drive and own an agenda in meeting the aspirations of the 2063 agenda. This is, despite the pervasive disruptions of climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
To address climate change and other shocks, urges Africa to encourage innovation in member states and consider signing and ratifying the Africa risk capacity treaty and open up assistance channels in planning, preparing and responding to these shocks in a timely and cost-effective manner and redress food insecurity.
“We need to raise the levels of productivity in agriculture, emphasise on value addition through Agro-processing, accelerate research in agriculture, emphasise on and increase support to rural farmers whose livelihoods mainly depend on agriculture.” he said in his address to delegates while calling for reliable transport connectivity
Zambia’s ministers of livestock and fisheries Makozo Chikote and Agriculture, Reuben Mtolo share a common vision; enhancing and maximizing the technological innovations induced in the country to insulate the country from climate change, COVID 19 and other related calamities that forced economic downturn since 2020.
Zambia’s annual fish deficit averages 87,000 metric tons with the country’s production capacity in excess of 100,000 metric tons (mt), with about 85,000mt from capture fisheries while the aquaculture sector, currently is in its infancy, and contributes around 30,000m
Innovative practices include conservative fish farming to reduce increasing post harvest losses and discourage bad fishing methods through the use of snares. Zambia is encouraging women and children in coastal and inland areas to be active to boost food security.
“I am impressed with the innovation and we have a test to pass on the technology to the rural small scale farmers and increase food security but we need to work with all sector players to demand for the livestock.” Minister Chikote said recently after touring the 94th Agriculture and Commercial Show in Lusaka.
And Agriculture minister Mtolo said Zambia has adopted a ‘smart technological investment’ initiative to bolster food production by setting up agro processing plants in all 107 districts and all 10 provinces to encourage value addition and maximize returns from ‘value added exported products’.
Zambia is encouraged the growing and harvest of tomatoes, pineapples, mangoes, groundnuts, among other products though hampered by lack of agro processing plants in the country resulting in waste-cp0ntrasting the vision of the Africa Continent Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) of enhancing reliable markets for all member states, of which 46 have now ratified the treaty operationalised last year.
On 28 July, President Hichilema commissioned the K130 million (US$810,000) multi fruit processing Kalene Hills Fruit Factory, in north western Zambia. It will process a variety of fruits and other farm produce such as beans, groundnuts and tomatoes using small scale farmers as suppliers ultimately to encourage value addition.
In April 2022, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Economic for Africa sought to set up a Joint Agro Industrial Park to increase the availability of industrial goods and services for the bilateral market and expand intra- regional trade in manufacturing.
The industrial park to be partially located on each side of the border, will help develop industrialists seeking to acquire ownership and management of the industries. It is hoped to prioritise processing of value chains such as cotton, maize, wheat, rice, soya beans, sugar, livestock (leather and dairy) and horticulture.
The sectors provide extensive linkages with the manufacturing sector particularly in the processed food sub-sector-key to promoting industrial activities for skills development and knowledge in industries strengthen collaboration and bolster networking among policy makers, regulators, industry and academia.
The project is aligned with the COMESA Industrial Strategy, which Member States have adopted and create a globally competitive environment-friendly, diversified industrial sector which is based on innovation and manufacturing as tools for transforming regional resources into sustainable wealth and prosperity for all.
The project seeks to encourage the setting up of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and tap the potential and later used as platforms for regional and sub-regional markets and inputs supply, says Comesa assistant secretary general Dr Kipyego Cheluget.
The African Union is cautious of the effects of food insecurity on the continent and calls for mobilization of massive investments for substantial agricultural production in Africa, says its chair, Macky Sall, also Senegalese President.
“It is urgent that we win the battle for food security to settle an existential question and take up a challenge of dignity for our continent.”
AfDB Grants $1.4 Million to Strengthen Women Agri-Businesses in Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique
Zambia Invest, July 27, 2022
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a USD 1.4 million technical assistance grant to Export Trading Group (ETG) for the funding of women-owned businesses in Zambia, Tanzania, and Mozambique.
ETG is one of the largest and fastest-growing integrated agricultural supply chain managers and processors in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The project will enable 600 women-led businesses in Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia (200 in each country), to improve their entrepreneurship skills through training under ETG’s Women Entrepreneurship and Employability project.
The project’s main objective is to increase the efficiency of targeted women-owned and led small and medium-sized enterprises employed in ETG’s operations. The project will run until 2025.
Of the financing for the grant, USD 1.4 million will come from AfDB-managed We-Fi grant resources, which will be utilized to undertake a diagnostic study and capacity building of the selected enterprises in the major ETG locations.
Additional co-financing of up to USD 400,000 will come from ETG for the employability aspects of the project. It will also be used to facilitate collaboration with financial institutions and other relevant stakeholders.
“This new technical assistance project complements a USD 150 million trade and agri-finance package approved by the Bank in November 2021 to our strategic partner Export Trading Group (ETG). This is the first project to directly leverage AfDB’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa program for private sector agriculture projects, enhancing development impact while supporting women farmers and women-led small and medium enterprises,” noted Atsuko Toda, Director for Agricultural Finance and Rural Infrastructure Development for the AfDB.
The project will be implemented in partnership with ETG’s development arm, the Farmers Foundation, a nonprofit organization established in 2012 in Tanzania to stimulate growth in agriculture and foster the development of rural economies.
The Farmers Foundation has worked with 100,000 (40% female) agribusinesses and created an inclusive sustainable development model in multiple value chains: oil seeds, legumes, pulses, cereals, coffee, and cashew in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.
The project aligns with We-Fi objectives of providing women-owned enterprises with opportunities to link with domestic and global markets, scaling up access to financial products and services, building capacity, and expanding networks plus mentorship.
“The Bank’s role through the AFAWA program is to support the implementation of the project through provision of gender equitable financial and technical support in agriculture towards increased productivity and food security, access to financial services, information, markets, technology, and productive resources,” said Esther Dassanou, Manager of the Bank’s Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa ( AFAWA) program.
“ETG has shown its commitment to embedding a gender perspective into its business operations with the understanding that this is key to its success and that women are at the center of this development process, and a crucial resource in agriculture and the rural economy,” she added.
The agriculture sector significantly contributes to the growth of the economies of Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia. Women constitute up to 60% of the rural labor force and approximately 80% of food producers in these economies.
Zambeef to Invest USD $100 Million to Double Crop Production
Zambia Invest, June 21, 2022
Zambeef Products Plc (AIM:ZAM, LUSE:ZAMBF), the largest food products and agribusiness company in Zambia, has recently announced a USD 100 million expansion plan that will double its crop production while adding associated value and capacity to the company’s stockfeed, meat production and processing facilities and retailing operations.
Zambeef is involved in the primary production, processing, distribution and retailing of beef, chicken, pork, eggs, dairy, fish, flour, stock feed and day-old chicks throughout Zambia and the surrounding region. It operates 236 retail outlets in Zambia, Nigeria and Ghana.
Zambeef also has one of the largest row cropping operations in Zambia, growing maize, soybeans and wheat. Zambeef plants nearly 23,000 hectares annually, with most of the resulting crops being used in the Zambeef animal feed and flour milling businesses.
In its press release, the company explains that it will not only expand its various value chain production capacities but will also deliver developmental impact to the Zambian economy through job creation, increased tax revenue and supporting ancillary businesses such as small-scale farmers and small to medium-sized businesses.
Zambeef currently secures the produce of 1,700 small-scale farmers and post the expansion of the number of small-scale farmers it supports by buying their produce, and is targeted to grow this number to 6,760, thereby creating more jobs and contributing to the alleviation of poverty.
The investment will double the company’s Mpongwe farm’s row cropping capacity of grains to 150,000 tons per annum, consisting primarily of wheat and soya beans.
The envisaged expanded wheat production capacity will position Zambeef to be contributing approximately 20% of Zambia’s total annual production.
In response to the news, Zambia’s Minister of Finance Hon. Situmbeko Musokotwane said: “This investment is extremely pleasing as it is in direct response to the government’s support of the private sector in undertaking development projects and demonstrates the confidence Zambeef has in the seriousness of the government in its pledge to support the growth of home-grown businesses. The Government is further gratified that the investment comes at the right time, when the world is grappling with an imminent food crisis. The investment will not only ensure national food security, but will boost the Zambian economy and improve livelihoods. It will propel Zambia on its path to attaining the goal of being the food basket of the region”.
United Fertilizers Company Showcase Fertilization Practices and Benefits in Chisamba
Zambia Invests, February 20, 2022
On 20th April 2021, United Fertilizers Company Limited (UFCL) successfully conducted a field day for local farmers in Chisamba in the Central Province of Zambia.
Farmers were able to observe differences in crop performance among various fertilization practices. Particularly, the effect of additional potassium application in form of potassium chloride was demonstrated on maize and tomatoes.
Shortly prior the field part, attendees listened to a presentation about a balanced crop fertilization approach. Mr. Simunji Simunji, Chief Agronomist, commented: “We were happy to host this event and to share a piece of science with farmers as well as students. Participants have got first a general idea, theoretical background, and thereafter were able to see and understand, what processes are taking place in the field”. His colleague, Mr. Maksim Poltoradnev, added up on that, saying, that “establishing demonstration plots is very important for farmers as they work on the ground and used to trust only what they can see and touch with their own hands”.
Image Markus Winkler Via Unsplash