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ACF News
Fertilizer
Support Programme (FSP) Review
Given government and
stakeholder concerns about achieving greater
effectiveness from GRZ budget allocations to the
Fertilizer Support Programme (FSP),
the Ministry of
Agriculture and Cooperatives (MACO)
established a representative study team at the end
of 2008 to review the FSP implementation and come up
with recommendations to improve its effectiveness
and efficiency.
The study team
comprised of stakeholders from the MACO, Ministry of
Finance and National Planning (MOFNP), the
Conservation Farming Unit (CFU), Zambia National
Farmers Union (ZNFU), Programme Against Malnutrition
(PAM), SeedCo Zambia, the Agricultural Consultative
Forum (ACF) and the Food Security Research Project
(FRSP).
The study team collected and
reviewed numerous assessments of Zambia’s experience
with FSP, and as well as studies of similar
programmes in neighboring countries. In January
2009, the study team organized and conducted a study
tour to Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi. These three
countries are known to have improved the efficiency
and effectiveness of their agricultural input
distribution programmes which the study team needed
to learn.
In the same vein, the study
team also sought-out input from key Zambian
stakeholder assessments and a number of relevant
on-going agricultural input and productivity
enhancement projects.
A
study tour and review report was developed by
the study team, and was subjected to review and
debate by stakeholders in
two specific review sessions. Results of this review
exercise are summarized in
ACF Advisory Note on
proposed reforms for the Zambian Fertilizer Support
Programme
that has since been submitted to MACO.
Participants at the FSP
review meeting held on 19th
February 2009 at the
ACF Offices
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