MKTG. & PROCESS.

closed

The project aims at increasing agricultural production in response to recently adopted economic reforms. It will assist Zambia to transform its highly regulated financial sector, and inefficient maize marketing and milling, fertilizer distribution, and rural transportation systems into more competitive and efficient ones. The main objectives of this project are to: (i) support and deepen the implementation of financial reforms initiated under the stabilization and structural adjustment programs; (ii) stimulate private sector participation in these activities; (iii) commercialize these activities by drastically reducing government involvement, making them more responsive to free market prices and commercial bank financing and less dependent on budgetary subsidies; (iv) rehabilitate rural roads and transportation that are essential for increased agricultural production; (v) rehabilitate, on pilot basis, abandoned and underutilized commercial farms in areas of high production potential; and (vi) promote women's access to credit and job opportunities generated by the project.