Agriculture
Zambia is endowed with a large arable land resource base of 42 million hectares of which only 1.5 million hectares is cultivated every year. It has abundant water resources for irrigation, as shown by the Country accounting for 40 percent of the water resource in the SADC region. Given its vast resource endowment, Zambia has huge potential to expand its agricultural production. Its climate follows a similar pattern to that of most Southern African countries, experiencing rainy seasons between the months of November and April. The dry season is characterized by low humidity between the months of May and November. The average temperature in the summer is 30°C and gets as low as 5°C in the winter.
Despite the availability of vast arable land, transport infrastructure, availability of water, cheap labour, as shown by the fact that the Agricultural sector employs more than half of the total labour force, only 10 percent of the arable land is under cultivation. In that regard, the Government has established farming blocks to facilitate investment in Agriculture.
Agriculture Sector Profile
Farm Block Development Programme
The Government of the Republic of Zambia identified Agriculture as the Engine to Economic development as well as the Main stay of the Economy. In 2002 GRZ embarked on development and commercialization of agriculture land as the Farm Block Development Programme (FBDP). This programme entailed availing land for large scale agribusiness investment for the private sector.
Livestock Breeding Centers
The project is for the establishment of livestock breeding and artificial insemination centers across the country. This will involve the breeding of animals such as cattle, sheep and goats among others. Access roads, electricity and airport are available in ideal areas of Chipata and Katete Districts of Eastern Province. The project is still at concept stage.
Aquaculture Development
The project is for the establishment of cage fish farming ventures on the Lakes Meru and Bangweulu. 5 sites have been identified and Environmental Project Briefs have been conducted along the shores of Lake Mweru which are not more than 2 kilometers from the main road and power supply lines. Land for processing and storage facilities has been reserved.
