GROWING OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH

There is a whole range of farming enterprises in Zambia producing commodities for domestic and international markets. Farms in Zambia include livestock, fishery and agricultural farming and they present a variety of opportunities for investment.

Zambia is the only country land-linked to eight southern African countries, which provides immense potential for accessing regional markets for agricultural commodities. The Zambian economy has also shown remarkable resilience to the global economic downturn, and the policies being put in place by the recently elected new government promise to add value to the agricultural industry and increase investment.

The sector generates around 18% of GDP and employs an estimated 67 percent of the national workforce (of which most are smallholder farmers). Potential arable land covers 47 percent of the country, but currently only 15 percent is being cultivated. As a member of SADC and COMESA, Zambia has easy access to growing consumer markets. It is also strategically located near other booming countries, including Tanzania, Angola and Mozambique.

 42 million hectares of which only 1.5 million hectares is cultivated every year. There are abundant water resources for irrigation and the country has 40 percent of the water in Central and Southern Africa.

Agricultural output in Zambia increased from 18 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2008 to about 20 percent of GDP in 2009. This was as a result of increased area planted, good rainfall patterns in the whole country, as well as favorable agriculture policies by the government. The country recorded increased production of major crops during the 2009/10 agricultural season compared to the 2008/09 season, including; sunflower (118 percent increase), soya beans (50 percent increase), rice (39 percent increase), maize (31 percent increase), tobacco (7 percent increase) and wheat (5 percent increase).

The agricultural sector continues to be the backbone of the Zambian economy as it contributes to the growth of the economy and also to exports. Primary agriculture contribute about 35 percent to the country’s total non traditional exports (all the country’s exports other than copper and cobalt) and about 10 percent of the total export earnings for the country.

We strongly believe that; “people in developing nations do not want charity, – they simply need to be accorded a chance to tap into their God ordained potential and possibilities; so that in turn they will create an atmosphere to provide for themselves, their families and their communities”.

The Agri-Quest Project is a multi-million dollar project and we know that with the global economic stress worldwide we have decided to break the project down in sectors to make financial investment more attractive and reasonable. Our approach to this project would begin with the Chicken egg layers and grow as listed above in the agribusiness section.