Tue, 04 Jul 2017 10:47:12 +0000 By BUUMBA CHIMBULU ZAMBIA is among the 10 Sub-Saharan African countries that spends roughly US$1.2 billion annually on input subsidies, particularly on fertilisers and yet yielding low positive results, the World Bank has revealed. Other countries in the category are Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mali, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia. The Bank in its 9th Zambia Economic Brief: Reaping Richer Returns from Public Expenditures in Agriculture launched last week, said despite such huge amount of funds being spent, the increment in total fertiliser use was smaller than was distributed. For Zambia in particular, the Bank said the agriculture budget was unbalanced as it was dominated by the Farmers Input Support Programme (FISP) and the Food Reserve Agency (FRA). “The savings from more efficient and effective agriculture expenditure are not expected to contribute to the pressing need for fiscal consolidation, instead, any resources made available from the improved […]
