The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in its continuous efforts to support the development of the Agri-food systems in Zambia, has adopted a programmatic approach to synergize efforts with the Government of Zambia. This approach seeks to unleash the potential for inclusive and sustainable agricultural growth in the country and the FAO “Incentivising Public and Private Investments Programme (IPPIP)” has grouped the on-going and inter-linked FAO interventions for that purpose.  

The FAO presented the IPPI Programme to the Government of Zambia in a high-level Consultative meeting in March 2021. The meeting successfully concluded by the creation of the Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee that acts as local reference point for all the IPPIP projects in the country as well as streamline the communication between FAO and several line Ministries for the achievement of IPPIP outputs and the country’s development goals.

Following the high-level Consultative meeting and its recommendations, the Government of Zambia and FAO held a multi-stakeholder selection workshop in May 2021 to select one of Zambia’s strategic value chains, which has a potential for growth and opportunities for local and foreign investments, for further analysis and strategy development. The Soybean was selected, out of ten commodities, as the strategic Value Chain with the highest upgrading feasibility and positive potential impacts in term of markets, generation of youth employment, nutrition and diet diversification, and the greening using climate smart agricultural practices and technologies. The forthcoming analysis and development strategy for the Soybean sector is strategically aligned with the new government strategic vision for the agriculture sector, which focuses on promoting agricultural diversification, encourage investments in value added services, and promote youth and women participation in the sector.

An active FAO team of officers, international and national consultants is currently conducting the soybean value chain analysis with the overall objective of developing the “Soybean Value Chain Upgrading and Investment Strategy” for Zambia. After a preliminary desk-review the team presented the soybean diagnostic in a workshop held on November 23^rd, 2021 and open by Ms. Suze Filippini, a very committed FAO Representative for Zambia. The engagement and discussions held with the soybean stakeholders – from the Ministry of Agriculture to producers, processors, services providers, national banks, civil society, research and international organizations – during workshop has brought to light the main challenges that are hindering investments and affecting the development of the value chain.

In the following months, the FAO team will conduct field research to validate and complement the desk research outcomes. The field research will be followed by further consultative meetings with the stakeholders to maintain an active engagement and commitment in developing the vision and investment plan for the soybean sector. This will ensure that all aspects affecting the sustainability of the sector – socio-economic, and environmental – are addressed. The Government of Zambia and FAO will present the “Soybean Value Chain Upgrading and Investment Strategy” to promote investments in the sector next year.