• Farmer participation

Farmer participation in research

This report summarises efforts to monitor the process of engagement between stakeholders within the agriculture sector in Zambia on spending and policy development.Zambia is one the first countries on the path to aligning its development plans to the Common African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), a framework endorsed by African Heads of State in 2003. The report puts the effectiveness of the CAADP framework under the spotlight as well as policy making processes (political, institutional, and administrative) related to agricultural development in Zambia.

The report identifies factors that influenced the CAADP consultation process and outcomes, particularly the role of civil society, the extent of its participation and how this participation was realised. It also highlights the extent to which marginal and often isolated smallholders farmers were included in the processes leading to the signing of the Country Compact.

The author summarises the strengths and weaknesses on how consensus was reached on key priority areas at the stakeholder meeting. The major weaknesses that were noted include:

• poor consultation led to limited awareness about CAADP among stakeholders and members of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MACO)
• as documentation was not ready for presentation, input from stakeholders was not maximized
• poor communication was evident in levels of awareness of issues
• almost all participants were from Lusaka and rural stakeholders were not included
• private sector participation was lower than expected

The report concludes that the stakeholder meeting was a major step towards the CAADP roundtable, designed to take on board the views of the various stakeholders who make up the agricultural sector. The process can be repeated to ensure an adequate level of participation by each category of stakeholder and ensure that the plan reflects their input.

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