The rapid expansion of food supply chains across Africa has created huge market opportunities for farm-ers. In particular, the rise of numerous enterprises engaged in food processing and trading in the 'mid-stream' of value chains is promising. Compared to large enterprises using formal contracts, midstream enterprises not using contracts are considered more accessible to small-scale farmers. However, the extent to which economic benefits of the recent expansion of these non-contract opportunities in Africa is inclusive of smallholder farmers is uncertain and largely unexplored. This is critical for the global debate on poverty and sustainable economic development as the share of agricultural land under small -holder farmers, who constitute a significant proportion of the world's poor is still rising. This paper con-tributes to this thin literature with evidence from Zambia, where a growing demand for meat has stimulated growth of the soybean industry. We use nationally-representative panel survey data from Zambia to explore the welfare effects of smallholder engagement with soybean traders and processors in non-contractual arrangements. The analysis uses fixed effects and instrumental variables estimation techniques to address the endogeneity of the smallholder decision to sell to large-scale traders and pro-cessors. We find significant positive crop income effects of selling to soybean large-scale traders and pro-cessors on all smallholders. However, the observed effects only translate into higher total household incomes and poverty reduction for medium-scale smallholders (operating 5 ha-20 ha) but not for small-scale smallholders operating less than five hectares. The positive crop income effects are mainly driven by the opportunity to sell more although small-scale smallholders receive a price premium from selling to large buyers. These results suggest that the recent expansion of the soybean industry in Zambia is benefiting smallholder farmers but not necessarily enough to move the smallest of these farmers out of poverty. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Despite many efforts to conserve tropical forests, high rates of deforestation and forest degradation continue, threatening the products and environmental services they supply. We conducted framed field experiments (FFEs) in Zambia to test, ex-ante, the impacts of different conservation policies: community forest management (CFM), command and control (CAC), and two versions of payments for environmental services (PES). Our FFEs mimicked how local dwellers use forests in real life. Relative to open access (OA), PES to individuals reduced harvest by 15 percentage points (pp) while CFM reduced harvest rates by 8 pp. We conjecture that free and easy-riding, combined with uncertainty on how others will reciprocate, dampens the positive effects of group-based PES. Impatience and risk-loving among participants significantly increased harvest rates while pro-social behavior (altruism) was associated with more pro-conservation. We conclude that conservation outcomes might be achieved by combinations of CFM and individual PES, by which individual households receive clear material benefits that compensate for their reduced forest use. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Conservation agriculture (CA) is heralded as a means to increase yields and reverse land degradation in sub-Saharan Africa, but low adoption levels have led to concerns about its suitability for smallholder farming systems. Combining data from surveys and semi-structured interviews, we examine farmers' motivations for adopting CA and the determinants of adoption and disadoption of hand-hoe and oxen-drawn minimum tillage (MT), a key component of CA. Farmers generally hold favorable opinions about MT, though not for its benefits to the soil but primarily for how it reduces crop losses from erratic rainfall. MT use rates in communities with the highest adoption rates are relatively low (12% of cotton area and 20% of maize area) and disadoption is common (25% of all farmers). Many farmers are interested in adopting MT but the available MT technologies do not match their resource endowments. Labor constraints limit use of hand-hoe basins while equipment costs limit ox-ripping. These results show that farmers are not stuck in traditional hoeing and plowing but are carefully evaluating the benefits and costs of adopting MT. Widespread adoption of CA will require adapting MT technologies to match a broader range of resource endowments. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Increased fertilizer use will likely be crucial for raising and sustaining farm productivity in Africa, but adoption may be limited by ineffectiveness under certain conditions. This article quantifies the impacts of soil characteristics on maize response to fertilizer in Zambia using a nationally representative sample of 1453 fields, combining economic, farm management and soil analysis data. Depending on soil regimes, average maize yield response estimates range from insignificant (0) to 7 maize kg per fertilizer kg. For the majority of farmers, the estimated average value cost ratio is between 1 and 2, meaning fertilizer use would be fiscally rational, barring uncertainty and transfer costs. Since transfer costs exist and outcomes are uncertain, however, many farmers may sensibly pause before deciding whether to adopt fertilizer. This suggests shifting the emphasis of chronically low fertilizer use in Africa away from explanations of "market failure" toward greater emphasis on improving fertilizer efficacy.

Recent significant agricultural growth without rural poverty reduction in Zambia is causing concern to policy makers, development specialists, and other sector stakeholders. It is generally agreed that agricultural growth is the most powerful tool out of poverty for developing countries where the majority of the population is in agriculture. Zambia’s policy focus since the pre- and post-independence period has been on a single crop, maize, for which it has in the past decade spent over 60% of the annual public expenditure in the sector through maize input and output subsidies.

The successive maize bumper harvests experienced by Zambia in recent years mean that the country has to find long lasting and sustainable ways to deal with persistent maize marketing challenges facing the smallholder farmers. The government has continued to struggle with the price-dilemma where they would like to keep the price of maize grain high for the maize producers, while at the same time try to maintain low mealie-meal prices for the consumers. In the process, the government has continued to alienate the private sector, which if promoted would help broaden the market for maize and save the national treasury millions of the Kwacha Rebased (K).

 Maize centric policies that have characterized Zambian agriculture have adversely affected the other sub-sectors such as smallholder horticulture which have seen little institutionalized private sector support;  Smallholder horticulture, as opposed to export oriented commercial horticulture under the Zambia Export Growers Association (ZEGA), involves more than 300,000 smallholder farmers and is largely domestic oriented though it has linkages to regional markets;  Smallholder horticulture contributes significantly to the Zambian economy, with value of production per capita estimated at 1.38 times (1.85 times for sales) that of maize;  Smallholder horticulture is much more profitable compared to maize with gross margins of cabbage, tomato and onion being 138 to 219 times higher while the percent gross margins returns to total variable costs range from 141 to 263 percentage points more;  Smallholder horticultural market participation increases household income by 157% compared to 22% for maize. These income impacts are much more for the land constrained, women and poorer smallholders;  There is need to invest in conditions that enhance smallholder participation in horticultural markets i.e. accessibility, hard and soft market infrastructure; and  As a matter of priority, there is need for policy to facilitate the development of strategically located and appropriate horticultural wholesale markets (starting with Lusaka and then Copperbelt) to act as demand points in the supply chains and to link the country to regional markets.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the career trajectories of 66 distinguished African agricultural professionals in order to explore how agricultural education and training (AET) institutions can better motivate and prepare youth for productive careers in Africa's rapidly changing agrifood system.Design/methodology/approach - Based on in-depth qualitative interviews with these role models, the paper explores the answers to two critical questions: How can Africa motivate its youth to consider careers in agriculture and agribusiness? How can AET institutions better prepare youth for productive careers in agribusiness?Findings - Rural youth enter agribusiness careers in response to clearly perceived rural needs coupled with demonstrable profitability of modern agricultural and agribusiness opportunities. In contrast, urban youth embark on agricultural career paths in response to inspiring science education, particularly practical applications in biology, coupled with emerging awareness of the range of professional opportunities afforded by modern agribusiness and commercial agriculture.Research limitations/implications - The study relies on the basic premise that seasoned, successful professionals - from the private and public sector - can offer useful insights into ways of improving job preparation training for the youth of today seeking careers in the food system of tomorrow. The approach assumes that the role models have both the practical experience and forward-looking vision necessary to identify key elements of preparation likely to benefit future job market entrants.Originality/value - This paper relies on primary interviews with distinguished agricultural professionals from 14 different African countries.

•13% of commercial smallholder cotton farmers used some form of MT in 2011.•Among groups interviewed in both 2002 and 2011, MT use increased roughly one-third.•Ripping with oxen is the most common and fastest growing form of MT.•Use of hand-hoe basins is declining from 8% in 2002 to 4% in 2011.•Adoption rates are higher where the lead farmers are using MT on their own land.

This paper uses household data collected from livestock-rearing communities in 3 districts in Southern Province of Zambia and corner-solution econometric models to measure the effect of productive potential and market access on livestock production. We also test for the existence of heterogeneous effects across agro-ecological regions, livestock species and poverty levels. To the best of our knowledge, no study has done this before. The findings identify the need for policies and interventions that are aimed at strengthening livestock-based livelihood systems to be responsive to not only the target groups but also productive potential and market access characteristics of the communities in which they live. The livestock systems inherent in the various districts and communities also need to be explicitly taken into account.

This paper examines the career trajectories of 66 distinguished African agricultural professionals. Based on in-depth qualitative interviews, the paper explores the answers to two critical questions: How can Africa motivate its youth to consider careers in agriculture and agribusiness? How can agricultural education and training (AET) institutions better prepare youth for productive careers in agribusiness?

Acidity is a growing concern for crop production in Zambia, affecting more than 300,000 smallholder farmers in all agro-ecological regions of the country. Unfortunately, evidence shows that lime applied at traditionally recommended rates of more than two metric tons per hectare are not only unattainable but also unprofitable in smallholder systems. This study uses data from on-station trials and demonstration plots to determine yield and financial gains from precisely applied lime at reduced rates. The results from marginal analysis show that lime applied at such reduced rates can be profitable in maize, soybean and groundnut production. When combined with compost, marginal returns can be as high as 150 percent. Keywords : Lime, reduced rate, marginal returns, Zambia