June 8, 2016

Social impact agricultural investment firm, AgDevCo, has invested $4.5 million in partnership with Saise Farming Enterprises into a seed potato production project in the Northern Province of Zambia, reports the Daily Mail. AgDevCo’s director in Zambia, Peter MacSporran, revealed that 15 hectares of fields and pivots have been prepared for the planting of potato seed, noting that the project is designed to be a catalyst for greater agricultural investment in the region.

“In total, AgDevCo has invested US$4.5 million in a partnership which will primarily be a seed potato farm hub and act as an anchor investment within the Northern hub,” said MacSporran.

The project will modernize the supply chain through the inclusion of irrigation systems and climate controlled warehouses for crop storage until it is distributed to farmers the following season.

This is the second agricultural investment announced on behalf of AgDevCo in Zambia within a month’s time. Earlier in May, the firm announced that it has invested $1.1 million in the Zambian feedlot business, Ilobezi Limited – a growing enterprise in a growing sector. At current estimates, it is expected that the company will purchase 8,200 head of cattle from the region’s smallholders per year.

Zambia’s nascent cattle sector is becoming recognized more and more as a sector with great growth potential, accounting for 7% of the country’s GDP according to the National Agriculture Policy Draft of December 2013, reports Zambia-Invest. As of December 2015, Zambia has a beef cattle herd of between three million and three and a half million head, however, the country has the potential to be able to carry a herd of up to 15 million head, according to Francis Grogan, Zambeef Products Plc’s Joint Chief Executive Officer.

Much like AgDevCo’s feedlot investment, the potato seed project is aiming to create a steady local supply from affordable inputs that can replace imports and may even create an export market for the crop.

“Surrounding us here is a market of 354 million people in SADC and SADC needs to start feeding itself, says Grogan. “Zambia is self-sufficient in the production of all the basic foodstuffs such as maize, wheat, soya, beef, chicken, dairy, pork, which is a major achievement over the last 20 to 30 years. Now we need to keep improving on that so we can export our surplus to these 354 million people we have around us.”

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Lynda Kiernan