Agricultural and Rural Development

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    Value Chain Analysis of Indigenous Poultry Sub-Sector In Lusaka and Surrounding Districts – Zambia
    (2012-05) Bwalya, Richard; Kabwe, Stephen; Kalinda, Thomson
    The indigenous poultry subsector plays an important role in the livelihood of Zambian smallholder farmer households. Most households keep flocks of indigenous chicken with little inputs, but serve as the main source of protein in rural human diets; supplemental income through sales of eggs and birds; and essential goods and services through barter. Indigenous chickens fetch a premium price, as the meat is highly preferred to that of broiler chickens, especially among the affluent due to its low fat content. Unlike cattle which are predominantly in the hands of men, poultry production has a gender aspect as women and children prefer poultry production as it easily fits in with their other duties around the homestead. This study complements other available studies by providing information on the subsector that stretches beyond the bounds of production. It provides information on linkages between the rural poultry industry and the mainstream market to enable the players harness and maximize the benefits from the value chain. The goal is to contribute to poverty reduction among rural households through improved access to profitable markets for indigenous poultry as well as improved access among urban households for cheap indigenous poultry products. The general objective is to examine and map the value chains from production through distribution and final consumption whilst highlighting the major constraints faced by the players final consumption whilst highlighting the major constraints faced by the players.
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    An Assessment of the Growth Opportunities and Constraints in Zambia’s Cotton Industry
    (Asian Journal of Business Management, 2014-02-15) Kalinda, Thomas; Bwalya, Richard
    The main objective of this study was to assess the major opportunities and constraints in Zambia’s cotton industry. The study found that the cotton sector has considerable potential to contribute to growth and employment in Zambia as it currently accounts for direct and indirect employment of approximately 21% of the population and about 19% of agricultural Gross Domestic Product. The prominence of smallholder farmers in the sector is indicative of the income equity promotion potential of the cotton sector. However, the highly concentrated structure of the sector, with two key players currently accounting for about 80% of the total market share in ginning; the absence of regulatory mechanisms for setting of prices; the openness of the local market to global price fluctuations and the lack of support programmes as compared to competing crops like maize are major impediments to equity promotion in the sector. Overall growth of the cotton sector is also constrained by low productivity arising mostly from poor farming practices. Furthermore, increased production in major world markets due to subsidies and use of bio-technology in cotton production undermine the competitiveness of Zambia’s cotton in international markets. For Zambia to realize the potential of the cotton sector, interventions need to be targeted at raising farm level productivity. The government should also facilitate informed policy debate and development on critical issues such as biotechnology adoption as well as facilitating consensus between cotton buyers and farmers on price setting mechanisms.
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    Assessing the Feasibility of Implementing the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) through an Electronic Voucher System in Zambia
    (Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute ( IAPRI), 2012-04) Sitko, Nicholas J.; Bwalya, Richard; Kamwanga, Jolly
    A number of problems plague the current Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP), including: late delivery of inputs; distribution of standardized inputs that may not be appropriate for all agro-ecological zones or soil types; crowding out of private sector; poor targeting, and; high cost to the government treasury. The Government of Zambia has yet to pilot an e-voucher system for FISP due to concerns that the private sector in rural Zambia lacks the capacity to effectively provide farmers with inputs and that a failure of FISP would have negative consequences for national food security. Analysis of existing e-voucher systems in Zambia suggests that e-vouchers can be used to distribute FISP inputs to farmers, particularly in high potential agricultural regions. Moreover, the use of e-vouchers for FISP can effectively address many of the problems that plague the current distribution system.
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    Transaction costs and smallholder household access to maize markets in Zambia
    (Journal of Development and Agricultural Economics, 2013-09) Bwalya, Richard; Mugisha, Johnny; Hyuha, Theodora
    After liberalization of the Zambian economy, farmers were faced with the responsibility of finding the right buyers, negotiating prices and delivering produce leading to them incurring transaction costs. This study aimed at identifying and quantifying transaction costs factors and their impact on maize market participation for small holder farmers in Zambia. The study used primary data collected from a sample of 240 randomly selected households from Zambia’s central Province. The Heckman’s procedure was used to analyze factors affecting the likelihood and extent of participation in maize markets. The logit results (from the Heckman’s two-stage process) show that ownership of assets such as radios and having access to alternative marketing channels increased the likelihood of market participation while the heckit results (OLS corrected for selectivity bias) shows that ownership of oxcarts, increased family size and experience in maize marketing were the factors that increased quantities of maize marketed. The study recommends provision of market information, improving accessibility to markets as well as increasing access to productive assets as means of alleviating impact of transaction costs.