FAO in Zambia: Conservation agriculture mechanization

Conventional methods of land preparation and cropping practices can contribute to the degradation of soils and have limited efforts to raise agricultural production beyond subsistence levels in Zambia.

Zambia is at high risk of being affected by soaring agricultural commodity and inputs prices. From January to May 2008, fertilizer prices rose by a staggering 40 to 50 percent, while the price of maize increased by just over 25 percent. As a result, farmers struggled to buy the inputs they needed to continue producing during the next season.

In response, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, with technical support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), implemented two projects to strengthen farmers’ productive capacity and enable them to continue producing food into the future. These were funded by the European Union (the farmer input support response initiative [FISRI]) and the Government of Norway.