Latest Resources
2 August 2024
The decline of FISPs in Malawi – debt, corruption and hunger
What future for smallholder farmers and realising agroecology?
18 July 2024
Is Zambia’s food system collapsing?
Zambia’s collapsed food system: never-ending debt, climate shocks, biodiversity loss and FISPs – the indispensability of transitioning to agroecology In this briefing, we look at how Zambia is facing a gathering food crisis of serious proportions. Amidst repeated droughts and floods, energy rationing, and shortages of drinkable water, food prices are rising and millions are at risk […]
25 February 2020
Insights from farmer dialogues in Kalulushi, Zambia
In 2019, the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) co-hosted four farmer exchanges in Zambia. The first was in Kalulushi, Copperbelt Province, in partnership with the Zambia College of Horticultural Training (ZCHT) Chapula, Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre (KATC), and the Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity (ZAAB). ACB Advocacy and Research Officer Rutendo Zendah gives an […]
21 October 2019
Transforming the farm input support programme (FISP) to diversified agroecology practices in Mong...
This fourth briefing in a series of four highlights key issues raised at a farmer exchange and learning event held in August 2019 in Mongu District, Western Province, Zambia. Namushakende Farming Institute (NFI) hosted the field visit and dialogue together with the Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity (ZAAB), Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre (KATC) and […]
14 October 2019
Transforming the FISP to diversified agroecology practices, Pemba District, Southern Province, Za...
The third in the series of four farmer exchange meetings in Zambia took place in July, in Pemba District, Southern Province. Through a partnership between the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) and the Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity (ZAAB), Kanchomba Farming Institute (KFI) hosted the field visit and dialogue, together with Kasisi Agricultural Training […]
2 August 2019
Transforming the Farm Input Support Programme (FISP) to diversified agroecology practices in Shib...
This is a second briefing paper to come out of farmer exchange events held in Zambia in May. The first exchange took place in Kalulushi District, Copperbelt Province, and you can find that briefing paper here. Then a second exchange was convened in Shibuyunji District, Central Province, where the objective was to continue sharing ideas […]
23 July 2019
Moving from the Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP) to Agroecology in the Kalulushi District, Cop...
This briefing highlights key issues raised at a farmer exchange and learning event held in May 2019 in Kalulushi District, in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. The overall objective of the meeting was to share and exchange ideas on transitioning to a smallholder support system for diversified agroecological farming. Participants discussed the roles that farmers, […]
27 May 2019
Securing equitable farmer support and the transition from the Farm Input Subsidy Programme in Zambia
We are pleased to share with you this discussion paper, co-published by the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) and the Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity (ZAAB). In Zambia, as in many other African countries, decisions related to food production and consumption increasingly lie outside the control of those responsible and accountable for food and […]
15 May 2019
Input Subsidies in Mozambique: the future of peasant farmers and their seed systems
In this report, the African Centre for Biodiversity outlines and assesses input subsidy programmes in Mozambique, as part of the larger agriculture policy landscape, and the impact this has had on the agricultural sector, particularly on smallholder farmers. In Mozambique, peasant farmers feed the country mostly using their own seed. Yet the majority of (donor-funded) […]
16 April 2019
Agroecology as an alternative (Video four of a four-part series)
In August 2018, the Rural Women’s Assembly (RWA) and the African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) hosted a speak-out for SADC smallholder farmers in Windhoek, Namibia, on Farm Input Subsidy Programmes (FISPs). FISPs are government agricultural programmes that promote Green Revolution inputs produced by multinational corporations, such as chemical fertilizers. In Ghana, for example, up to […]