Increasing Agricultural Resilience through Better Risk Management in Zambia

Zambia is a country endowed with a large ‎tract of arable land and water resources. The agricultural sector ‎extensively employs the population, feed the nation ‎and contributes to GDP. Between 1990 ‎and 2013, the sector’s productivity rose markedly by 170% but its contribution to GDP ‎has recently dropped from 8.2% in 2011 to 5.3% in 2015,  in the wake of compounding risks at production, marketing and macro ‎levels.‎

This World Bank report assesses and prioritizes the principal risks facing agricultural sector in the Republic of Zambia. It further analyzes the impacts and identifies risk management solutions.  The assessment reveals that drought, floods, animal disease outbreaks and price volatility are the principal risks affecting crop and livestock farming in the Republic of Zambia. In terms of the severity and frequency, the risks somewhat vary between agricultural subsectors and different regions in the country. The report finally suggests that exposure to the consequences of agricultural risks can be effectively reduced through risk management systems tailored to the conditions prevailing in the agricultural sector.