IBSA Fund Annual Report- ZAMBIA

Approved Budget:

$1,714,680

Duration:

May 2018 – July 2021

Mostly contributing to:

SDG 2

Partners

Ministry of Agriculture; Smallholder Productivity Promotion Programme; Muchinga Agricultural Development Company (MADECO); International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Zambia

Overview

The project aims to contribute to poverty reduction and food security in rural Zambia. It will help the rural farmers to increase their productivity, capacity and income through diversification of the existing cropping system with soya bean cultivation and improvement of the value-chain system.

Results (Intended Outcomes/Outputs)

Establish a soya bean processing plant with a capacity of 20–50 tons per day to process raw soya beans into oil and by-products that include soya cake.
Support (a) the training of 34 extension officers and 2,000 smallholder farmers (50 per cent of whom are women and youth) in water management, seed and crop production, and pest-control technologies, in environmental mitigation measures and health aspects related to irrigation, and in techniques of financial management and business planning, aspects of post-harvest handling and simple market research concepts, and (b) construction of community storage facilities and market centres.

Key Achievements

In the 2018/2019 season, MADECO engaged 2,650 farmers in soya bean production and produced a total of 26,500 X 50 bags of soya beans, indicating a 212.5% increase in production of soya beans in the District. The project supported 473 smallholder farmers with assorted farming inputs, such as seed, fertilizer, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and foliar fertilizer. It also bought soya beans produced by the farmers who participated in the out-grower scheme, thereby contributing to increased household incomes.
The MADECO partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture at the district level has resulted in improved knowledge for extension workers through structured training provided by MADECO.

Link of the Project to National Priorities

The project is anchored to Pillars 7 and 8 of the Seventh National Development Plan, 2017–2021 (7NDP), which seeks to increase the level of support to agricultural and rural development. The 7NDP interventions are linked directly to the strategic priorities of the SDGs and aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Strengthening South-South Cooperation

The project, funded by the IBSA countries, has contributed towards increased household incomes for project beneficiaries during the 2018/2019 farming season, hence contributing to a certain degree to the fostering of self-reliance of other developing countries such as Zambia.

Challenges and Lessons Learned

The use of certified/hybrid seed as compared to recycled seed has offered a better yield.
Capacity-building training has continued to act as a reminder to Extension Officers of critical agronomic steps to consider when offering extension services to farmers with regard to soya bean production. One such step is Training of Trainers in Soya Bean Production held in September 2019.
During the 2018/2019 farming season, the project experienced farming-input procurement gaps, a matter that is being addressed in the 2019/2020 farming season by having a dedicated procurement consultant. It is therefore hoped that, with the engagement of the procurement consultant, the gaps in the procurement of farmer inputs will be mitigated.

Way Forward

The project will continue to provide a market for soya beans as primary input to feed into the cooking oil plant. Once the soya bean processing plant becomes fully operational, this will increase the income of the farmers/soya bean producers by increasing the access of their products to appropriate markets.

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