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Facility for Action for Climate Empowerment to Achieve Nationally Determined Contributions (FACE-NDC) 

Agriculture

Agriculture Sector hero

The agricultural sector is the socio-economic backbone of Zambian rural population. 60 percent of the country’s rural population depends on agriculture as the main source of income and livelihood.

Agriculture is a key priority sector in the Zambian government’s economic development and growth, and poverty-reduction agenda. Improving the agricultural sector also has an impact on women conditions, as they constitute 64 percent of the rural population and approximately 80 percent of food producers. 

42 million hectares of land in Zambia are classified as medium to high potential for agricultural production.  

Despite that, many farmers face poverty and rely on low-yield, rain-fed subsistence farming due to limited resources for purchasing inputs, the use of suboptimal farming practices, and failure to fully develop the irrigation potential. These challenges are exacerbated by the increased frequency of extreme weather events, including rainfall variation, floods and droughts, resulting from climate change.

Agriculture has been identified as a key mitigation area in Zambian Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).
The FACE-NDC project promotes climate and environmentally friendly practices and behaviours in agriculture and aims at reducing greenhouse gases emissions from the sector, strengthening the capacities of teachers in agriculture colleges, extension workers and trainers.