60% of Zambians live in poverty. In rural areas, 78.8%. Agriculture employs half the workforce.
Behind every number is a mother deciding what her children will eat tonight. A young man wondering whether the land his grandfather farmed can still provide. A girl in Mongu who wants to study agriculture but sees no future in it.
CATSP exists because these are not statistics. They are people. And when farming transforms — when a smallholder can access credit, when a road connects a village to a market, when a young woman can get a mechanization loan — everything transforms. Not in the abstract. In a kitchen. In a family. In a life.
When farming transforms, everything transforms.
The design of CATSP is anchored on seven strategic priorities that guide every investment decision.
Confine and strengthen the public sector in its role of creating an enabling environment for agriculture business.
Enhance the quality of public expenditure in agriculture — every Kwacha must count.
Promote inclusive local supply chains across the country, from Mongu to Chipata.
Expand private sector's access to financial services for agriculture.
Upgrade infrastructure for production, processing and trading.
Increase investment for research and enhance the uptake of technologies.
Promote land tenure security, as well as social and environmental safeguards.
Every Kwacha costed against specific Policy Implementation Instruments.
Through the deployment of 95 policy instruments, CATSP seeks to achieve these outcome-level results.
Ensure sufficient food production for human consumption and industrial use, building on the average surplus of 551,652 MT annually.
Reduce stunting (currently 35% in under-5s), wasting, and underweight through nutrition-sensitive agri-food systems.
Agriculture already employs 51% of Zambia's workforce. CATSP targets massive expansion through value addition and processing.
Grow agriculture's 7% share of total national exports through value chain development and trade facilitation.
Address the growing food import bill, especially in fisheries where imports ($3.3B) vastly exceed exports ($135.8M).
Reverse the decline in agriculture's GDP contribution — from 6.8% in 2014 to 2.8% in 2023 — by unlocking private investment.
From the Minister of Finance to your district coordinator. Here is who is accountable.
Chaired by the Minister of Finance. The highest decision-making body for CATSP. Supported by the Presidential Delivery Unit as its secretariat.
Chaired by the Secretary to the Cabinet. Supports the HCAT with ZARETA serving as its secretariat.
The Zambia Agricultural and Rural Economy Transformation Agency — responsible for day-to-day program coordination and national policy dialogues.
PDCCs and DDCCs coordinate at provincial and district levels. Policy dialogues flow from districts upward to national level annually.
A dedicated resource pool designed to give you exactly what you need to scale.
Absorb the risks of farming so banks finally say "yes" to your loan.
Targeted, affordable capital for equipment, inputs, and infrastructure.
The skills and certifications needed to compete in global markets.
Selected for food security, export potential, and job creation. Here is where Zambia stands — and where CATSP needs to take it.
Maize dominates at 3.26 million MT (2023). Wheat production has grown to 277,000 MT. Irish potatoes surged from 34K to 65,000 MT in a decade.
The challenge: Crop exports fell from $390M (2013) to $293M (2022). Yields remain below regional averages. Only 10-15% of 42M arable hectares are cultivated. CATSP targets value addition — not just more volume, but processed, branded, exported.
4.84 million cattle (4.39M beef, 450K dairy). 31.8 million chickens. Beef production at 76,256 MT. Milk at 93.6 million litres (2023).
The challenge: Livestock exports grew from $68M to $86M — but imports hit $81M. Poultry is 50% of all meat consumed. The sector needs improved breeds, mechanized processing, and cold chain infrastructure.
Aquaculture exploded from 10,291 MT (2010) to 63,418 MT (2021). Capture fisheries at 95,625 MT. Fish consumption reached 278,209 MT in 2023.
The gap: Fisheries imports: $292 million. Fisheries exports: $7.1 million. That is a 41:1 import-to-export ratio. This is the single largest opportunity in Zambian agriculture — and the reason aquaculture is a CATSP priority.
Each priority commodity will have a signed Value Chain Development Plan Agreement (VCDPA) — a binding commitment between farmers, aggregators, and government specifying investment, production targets, and accountability.
CATSP institutionalizes aggregation — so smallholders are part of a protected, commercial chain.
Commits to production targets and adopts new technologies
Buys yields and provides extension services
Provides the risk shield, infrastructure, and capital
A binding agreement. All parties commit to outcomes, productivity, and shared wealth.
"All 130 pages. Or just ask me."