Suchergebnisse

The global food price crisis of 2007/08 raised fears about the impacts of higher and more volatile food prices for the poor in Zambia. Like in the past, the implementation of the strategies to deal with the rising food prices, especially for the staple crop maize were delayed due to ineffective response policies, mistrust between government and private sector, protracted discussions, inaction amongst key agriculture stakeholders and rent-seeking behaviour by some. Using the political economy framework, this study examines how the country responded to the 2007/08 global food crisis and the lessons learnt for dealing with future food crises.

Rapid population growth, urbanization, and income growth are triggering increased demand for high-value agricultural products across Southern Africa with scope for gains from trade and regional integration. We analyse the animal feed to poultry value chain in Zambia focusing on the industry capabilities with a view to enhancing its competitiveness and production for the regional market. The industry has exhibited rapid growth with investments, which has increased competition to consumers' benefit. However, challenges remain if it is to contribute to the regional market; animal feed input production and productivity remain low despite improvements. Similarly, produced poultry is in low quantities. Consequently, there is limited export of products due to higher prices. Enhancing value chain capabilities will require technology investments and public expenditure allocations that enhance productivity and production of animal feed inputs, and limited government intervention in maize marketing and trade which adversely impacts on maize prices.