A Review of Zambia’s Agricultural Input Subsidy Programs: Targeting, Impacts, and the Way Forward

Nearly three decades after the initiation of agricultural market reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), subsidies for fertilizer and seed are once again the cornerstone of many SSA governments’ agricultural development and poverty reduction strategies. Zambia is a prime example. In the last decade, the Government of Republic of Zambia (GRZ) has devoted a considerable share of its agricultural budget to input subsidies. Between 2004 and 2011, spending on the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) accounted for an average of 30% of total GRZ agricultural sector spending, and 47% of GRZ agricultural sector Poverty Reduction Programme spending. Through FISP, GRZ provides beneficiary farmers with subsidized fertilizer and hybrid maize seed.