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Institutional Models for Accelerating Agricultural Commercialization: Evidence from Post-Independence Zambia, 1965 to 2012

Author

Listed:
  • Chapoto, Antony
  • Haggblade, Steven
  • Hichaambwa, Munguzwe
  • Kabwe, Stephen
  • Longabaugh, Steven
  • Sitko, Nicholas
  • Tschirley, David L.

Abstract

This paper traces the trajectories of successful commercial smallholders operating under differing sets of market institutions. Analysis focuses on maize, cotton and horticulture, three widely marketed crops with strikingly different market institutions. Maize receives intensive government input and marketing support. In contrast, cotton relies primarily on private contract farming schemes, while horticulture enjoys no large-scale institutional support from either the public or private sectors. Using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods, the analysis aims to identify personal characteristics and institutional factors that enable smallholder transitions to high-productivity commercial agriculture. The study concludes that only a small minority of Zambian smallholder farmers succeed in transitioning to high-productivity, high-volume commercial agriculture. Only about 20% of cotton farmers and less than 5% of maize and horticulture farmers succeed as top-tier commercial growers. By tracing the long-term agricultural trajectories of successful commercial smallholders, the paper identifies two broad agricultural pathways out of poverty. The low road, exemplified by cotton production, involves a two-generation transition via low-value but with well-structured markets. The more restrictive high road, epitomized by horticulture production, offers a steeper ascent, enabling prosperity within a single generation, but requires commensurately higher levels of financing, management and risk.

Suggested Citation

  • Chapoto, Antony & Haggblade, Steven & Hichaambwa, Munguzwe & Kabwe, Stephen & Longabaugh, Steven & Sitko, Nicholas & Tschirley, David L., 2013. "Institutional Models for Accelerating Agricultural Commercialization: Evidence from Post-Independence Zambia, 1965 to 2012," 2013 Fourth International Conference, September 22-25, 2013, Hammamet, Tunisia 160298, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaae13:160298
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.160298
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nicole M. Mason & Robert J. Myers, 2013. "The effects of the Food Reserve Agency on maize market prices in Zambia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 44(2), pages 203-216, March.
    2. Mason, Nicole M. & Burke, William J. & Shipekesa, Arthur M. & Jayne, Thomas S., 2011. "The 2011 Surplus in Smallholder Maize Production in Zambia: Drivers, Beneficiaries, & Implications for Agricultural & Poverty Reduction Policies," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 118477, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
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    4. Tschirley, David L. & Kabwe, Stephen, 2010. "A Case Study of Regulation in Zambia’s Cotton Sector," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 62145, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    5. Michael Carter & Christopher Barrett, 2006. "The economics of poverty traps and persistent poverty: An asset-based approach," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(2), pages 178-199.
    6. Hichaambwa, Munguzwe & Tschirley, David L., 2006. "Zambia Horticultural Rapid Appraisal: Understanding the Domestic Value Chains of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 54476, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    7. Govereh, Jones & Jayne, Thomas S. & Chapoto, Antony, 2008. "Assessment of Alternative Maize Trade and Market Policy Interventions in Zambia," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 54492, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
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    11. Tembo, Gelson & Chapoto, Antony & Jayne, Thomas S. & Weber, Michael T., 2009. "Fostering Agricultural Market Development in Zambia," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 54501, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    12. Tschirley, David L. & Hichaambwa, Munguzwe, 2010. "The Structure and Behavior of Vegetable Markets Serving Lusaka: Main Report," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 93006, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    13. Hichaambwa, Munguzwe & Tschirley, David L., 2006. "Understanding Zambia’s Domestic Value Chains for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables," Food Security Collaborative Policy Briefs 54621, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    14. Chapoto, Antony & Haggblade, Steven & Hichaambwa, Munguzwe & Kabwe, Stephen & Longabaugh, Steven & Sitko, Nicholas J. & Tschirley, David L., 2012. "Agricultural Transformation in Zambia: Alternative Institutional Models for Accelerating Agricultural Productivity Growth, and Commercialization," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 132339, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    15. Tschirley, David & Minde, Isaac & Boughton, Duncan, 2009. "Contract farming in Sub-Saharan Africa: lessons from cotton on what works and under what conditions," ReSAKSS issue notes 7, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
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    Cited by:

    1. Hichaambwa, Munguzwe & Chamberlin, Chamberlin & Kabwe, Stephen, 2015. "Is Smallholder Horticulture the Unfunded Poverty Reduction Option in Zambia? A Comparative Assessment of Welfare Effects of Participation in Horticultural and Maize Markets," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 207022, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    2. Bart Minten & Belay Mohammed & Seneshaw Tamru, 2020. "Emerging Medium-Scale Tenant Farming, Gig Economies, and the COVID-19 Disruption: The Case of Commercial Vegetable Clusters in Ethiopia," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 32(5), pages 1402-1429, December.
    3. Sitko, Nicholas J. & Jayne, T.S., 2014. "Structural transformation or elite land capture? The growth of “emergent” farmers in Zambia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 194-202.
    4. Bagchi, Niladri Sekhar & Mishra, Pulak & Behera, Bhagirath, 2021. "Value chain development for linking land-constrained farmers to markets: Experience from two selected villages of West Bengal, India," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    5. Hichaambwa, Munguzwe & Jayne, T. S., 2014. "Poverty Reduction Potential of Increasing Smallholder Access to Land," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 171873, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    6. Niladri Sekhar Bagchi & Pulak Mishra & Bhagirath Behera & V. Ratna Reddy, 2022. "Collectivization of smallholder farmers, strategic competition, and market performance: Experiences from two selected villages of West Bengal, India," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(3), pages 710-733, July.

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