Agriculture
Only 15% of Zambia’s 60 million hectares of arable land is currently under cultivation.
Agriculture has gained in importance to the overall GDP from 19.9% to 21% over the
2000 - 2005 period, a 5.5% increase (CSO 2005b). Table 1 shows the industry share of
GDP by primary sector between 2000 and 2005.
Table 1. Percent Industry share of GDP in Zambia, by Primary Sector, 2000 - 2005
at current prices___________________________________________________________________
|
Sector |
2000 |
% Share of GDP |
2005 | |||
|
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 | |||
|
Agriculture, forestry and fisheries |
19.9 |
19.7 |
20.0 |
20.7 |
21.4 |
21.0 |
|
Mining and quarrying |
4.1 |
4.0 |
3.5 |
2.8 |
3.1 |
2.9 |
|
Manufacturing |
10.2 |
9.8 |
10.4 |
10.9 |
10.9 |
10.6 |
|
Electricity, gas and water |
3.3 |
3.4 |
3.0 |
2.9 |
2.7 |
2.8 |
|
Construction |
5.0 |
5.5 |
6.6 |
7.8 |
9.2 |
11.3 |
|
Financial Institutions & Insurance |
9.8 |
9.4 |
9.2 |
9.0 |
8.8 |
8.5 |
|
Other (primarily retail and wholesale trade) |
57.2 |
48.2 |
47.3 |
45.9 |
13.9 |
42.9 |
Source: Central Statistics Office (CSO), Lusaka, 2005
In the Poverty Reduction Strategy Program (PRSP) adopted by the government in
2002, agriculture was given the highest priority for diversifying production, stimulating
exports, creating employment, increasing incomes and improving food security (IMF
2002). This emphasis was appropriate given the large unexploited arable land and the
large population of rural and urban poor who earn their livelihood from small-scale
agricultural production. Against the poor performance of the mining sector and the urgent
need to diversify the economy, commercial agriculture and agro-processing were also
envisaged to play an important role in the strategy. The National Agricultural Policy
(NAP) and the Agriculture Commercialization Programme (ACP) were developed within
the framework of the PRSP to promote an efficient, competitive and sustainable
agricultural sector in order to achieve agricultural growth. The five priority areas of the
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