Agriculture and agribusiness play animportant role in the Zambian economy, contributing around20 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in recent yearsand about 12 percent of national export earnings.Agriculture employs nearly 70 percent of the labor force andremains the main source of income and employment for most ofthe people living in rural areas. The objective of theZambia agribusiness indicators (ABI) country report is toexamine factors that have affected agriculturalproductivity, market access, and the policy environment foragriculture in Zambia. This report presents findings of adata collection exercise carried out to compile a set ofpilot ABI for Zambia. The pilot indicators presented arebased on a review of the literature, government statisticalbulletins, and primary interviews in the seed, fertilizer,mechanization, agricultural finance, and transportsubsectors. The resulting indicators are presented in matrixform, together with notes indicating the specific datasource (or sources) used for each indicator. A set ofquestionnaires was developed for this part of the exercisebased on guidelines. Perception indicators on the quality ofroad infrastructure and other transport sector issues wereadded to supplement the checklist guidelines. Theanticipated impact of the presentation of countryperformances will be to raise the competitiveness of Africanagriculture by bringing into sharper focus measures of howindividual countries are transitioning towards a morecommercial agriculture. This report consists of followingseven chapters: chapter one gives introduction; chapter twopresents access to and use of improved seed; chapter threefocuses on fertilizer access and availability; chapter fourfocuses on access to farm machinery and tractor hireservices; chapter five presents access to agricultural andagri-enterprise finance; chapter six gives cost andefficiency of transport in Zambia; and chapter sevenpresents policy and enabling environment for agribusiness development.
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