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Zambia has renewed its call for greater private sector participation and foreign investment in agriculture as it positions itself to become a regional food production hub.
In a statement, Fisheries and Livestock Minister, Peter Kapala, said the country was ready to partner with investors to boost output and achieve President Hakainde Hichilema’s ambitious targets of producing 10 million metric tonnes of maize, one million metric tonnes of soyabeans, and one million metric tonnes of wheat annually by 2030.
Kapala was speaking during a bilateral meeting with Bayer on the sidelines of the 2025 Hand in Hand Initiative Investment Forum at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome, Italy.
“Zambia is open for business. We are ready to work with private investors and development partners to unlock the potential of our agriculture sector through increased investment in irrigation, mechanization, and agro-processing,” Kapala said.
He noted that Zambia’s central location—bordering eight countries and accessible to over 400 million people in the region—gives it a strategic advantage for agribusiness expansion and regional trade.
With abundant arable land, water resources, and a stable investment climate, he said, Zambia offers an ideal base for regional agricultural production and exports.
The Minister highlighted several government reforms aimed at improving the business environment in agriculture, including changes in the seed and livestock sectors, the establishment of mechanization hubs, and enhanced access to agricultural financing.
These measures, he said, were designed to boost productivity and competitiveness across both crop and livestock value chains.
Kapala pointed to the Sustainable Agriculture Financing Facility (SAFF) as one of the government’s key initiatives supporting smallholder farmers through affordable loans for solar-powered irrigation systems—critical to promoting climate-smart and year-round agricultural production.
He further noted that the government was investing heavily in rural road infrastructure, storage facilities, and digital platforms to improve market access and supply chain efficiency for farmers serving both domestic and regional markets.
Meanwhile, Swedish Minister Counsellor and Deputy Permanent Representative to FAO, Marija Milivojevic, commended Zambia for creating an enabling environment for investment, citing Bayer’s Itaba Project in Kabwe as a major success story.
She highlighted Bayer’s recently commissioned €32 million maize seed facility in Kabwe, which has tripled the company’s production capacity for high-quality maize seed in Zambia.
The plant’s output would help support maize consumption for about 30 million people across the region.
Milivojevic said the Itaba Project was expected to reach 6.4 million smallholder farmers across Zambia and other Sub-Saharan African countries this year, with the goal of reaching 10 million farmers by 2030.
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