Donor aid models don’t determine food security in Zambia, but local farming practices do
Originally published by The Conversation – Articles (AFRICA) — Read the original article →
For decades, competing global development models have shaped sub-Saharan Africa’s agricultural landscape. Traditional western donors, such as the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), have promoted climate-smart agricultural systems such as conservation agriculture, working through non-governmental organisations. Emerging donors, such as China, champion commercial, market-driven models through private-sector contract farming. They tend to focus on high-yielding export cash crops such as cotton.
Zambia is a good place for studying these dynamics. Donor aid remains critical. The country’s agricultural investment needs exceed the financial resources available from government budgets, domestic financial institutions and private investors. In 2024, the government budget allocation to agriculture, fisheries and livestock was ZMW 13.83 billion (US$528 million), which was 7.8% of the national budget. In the same year, the country received US$108 million in international development financing for its agricultural sector.
As food systems and development researchers at the University of Zambia, we set out to examine whether the origin of aid matters to the outcome. Does it influence whether a rural family has enough food to eat, or do local socio-ecological realities and farming practices matter more?
