Smallholder Farmer Empowerment and Neoliberalism: Examining the Current Institutional and Policy Arrangements in Zambia

Agriculture supports the livelihoods of up to 70 per cent of the Zambian population. The rural population is characterised by poorly developed monetary economies and markets with inadequate infrastructure and weak institutions for supply chain development, as needed for agricultural intensification and productivity. This is despite the structural adjustment and liberalisation programmes of the early 1990s, which were hyped as the precursor to incentivising foreign direct investments and reigniting the wheels of economic growth in Zambia. Thirty years on, economic liberalisation policies, including for the agricultural sector, continue to exist, albeit in altered and haphazard form. The failure to liberalise the agricultural sector fully, with piecemeal, start-stop and frequency policy reversals, has tended to depress any possible returns and raised risks for smallholders associated with private sector investment. As well, the weak institutional support for smallholder farmers, despite some state support, has inhibited the capacity of smallholders to enhance their agricultural production and rural livelihoods. Because of this, neoliberal agricultural policies have failed to empower smallholders in Zambia. This chapter examines and highlights this agricultural trend, including through a case study in the Chibombo district.