The Making Agriculture a Business project will run for a period of four and a half years and aims to harness the potential of small-scale farmers and entrepreneurs as champions of economic development mainly in the four districts of Chisamba, Kapiri Mposhi, Kabwe and Mumbwa in Central Province, Zambia.
The £1.3 million Scottish Government grant which will be disbursed at intervals over a five year period (October 2017 to March 2022) will be used to ensure that selected subsistence farmer and entrepreneurs are empowered to effectively harness business opportunities for economic growth by acquiring the relevant business skills, organisational capacity and access to resources for application in their businesses.
The project is being implemented by the Joint Country Programme in Zambia (Christian Aid, DanChurchAid and Norwegian Church Aid) in partnership with Churches Health Association of Zambia (CHAZ).
‘As a youth this project will help me a lot especially through savings and better production methods
’Edna Sabenzu, project beneficiary from Mumbwa District
Key information
Location
Zambia
Timescale
October 2017 to March 2022
Programme value
£1.3 million
Target population
4000 farmers/entrepreneurs in Zambia
Partners
Churches Health Association of Zambia (CHAZ)
Strathclyde University SE4D (Sustainable Energy for Development)
Cooperative College Scotland
Funded by the Scottish Government
Scottish Government
Christian Aid Scotland Governance Advisor Charles Gay with CHAZ Project Manager Dorothy Chiluba during the launch of the project.
Our approach
The project will address some of the challenges faced by small-scale farmers, including low business skills, inappropriate support infrastructure, constrained market opportunities, and limited production capacity.
By the end of the project, targeted beneficiaries should have acquired sufficient skills in enterprise development, business management and financial literacy, all of which are key to promoting sustainable development and wealth creation.
The project aims to impact the livelihoods and resilience of farmers and entrepreneurs, with a focus on the most marginalised including women, young people and people with disabilities.
The project will improve communication and processes between stakeholders, for example farmers, commodity traders, agricultural dealers and input suppliers, and bulk buyers from urban settlements.
‘This project will help us learn how to use money properly because sometimes we have money but don’t know how to put it to good use. It will also help us with better farming methods such as correct use and application of fertilisers.
’Rosemary Mumba Mweemba, resident of Mumbwa District
Results
While the project is only in its initial stages, we have mobilised 200 self-help groups in the four target areas and conducted training in cooperative awareness and start up, leadership, management and governance.
Training has been held on entrepreneurship and farming as a business, as well as Gender, Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) which will be rolled out to the groups by our field facilitators over the coming year.
Borehole drilling and the setup of sustainable energy led drip irrigation systems will be installed in the four areas in the coming months.
Reports and resources
The market garden - growing sustainable businesses with women farmers
Christian Aid and its partners have launched a project called Making Agriculture a Business, which aims to transform small-scale farmers into champion
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