Agriculture: Future Scenarios for Southern Africa – A Case Study of Zimbabwe’s Food Security

This report analyzes the Zambian livestock sector, identifying that rising food prices are driven by high fuel and feed costs, disease outbreaks, and poor infrastructure. It highlights a significant gap between agricultural potential and actual land/water utilization, and critiques the implementation of the National Agriculture Policy and the Fertilizer Support Programme.

• Zambia has experienced significant livestock price increases between 2005 and 2007, with village chicken prices rising by 100% and cattle prices increasing by 27.3%.
• Rising livestock prices are driven by several factors: the increasing cost of imported feed inputs like soya cake, rising fuel costs for transport, and extreme weather patterns. Floods increase the risk of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) as livestock mix with buffaloes, leading to movement bans that reduce market supply and push prices higher.
• The liberalization of the agricultural sector starting in 1992 created a divide where small-scale farmers remain resource-poor and food insecure. The transition to a free market was hindered by a lack of socioeconomic safety nets and the failure of the private sector to provide essential services like veterinary vaccines in remote rural areas.
• Zambia is a net importer of livestock due to persistent disease outbreaks (including CBPP, FMD, and swine fever), poor funding for data collection, a lack of technical knowledge among holders, and inadequate infrastructure to meet export sanitary standards.
• Agricultural land is severely under-utilized; of the 42 million hectares considered suitable for production, only 10.5 million hectares are currently used. Additionally, only 50,000 hectares of a potential 423,000 hectares are irrigated.
• The Fertilizer Support Programme (FSP) is described as flawed, with estimates suggesting only 20% of intended small-scale farmers actually receive fertilizer. The program suffers from poor documentation and the illegal re-export and resale of subsidized fertilizer.
• Under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union, the EU will liberalize 100% of imports from Zambia, while Zambia will liberalize 79.6% of imports from the EU by 2023. Zambia maintains a 'sensitive list' of 406 tariff lines, including dairy and meat products, to protect infant industries.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (n.d.). Agriculture: Future Scenarios for Southern Africa – A Case Study of Zimbabwe’s Food Security. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/ag_scenarios_south_africa_zambia.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Agriculture: Future Scenarios for Southern Africa – A Case Study of Zimbabwe’s Food Security. n.d. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/ag_scenarios_south_africa_zambia.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title= Agriculture: Future Scenarios for Southern Africa – A Case Study of Zimbabwe’s Food Security |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/ag_scenarios_south_africa_zambia.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopmentndagriculture, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{ Agriculture: Future Scenarios for Southern Africa – A Case Study of Zimbabwe’s Food Security}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/ag_scenarios_south_africa_zambia.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }