Project: Accelerating Climate Smart Innovations in Zambia
Client: Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA)
Date: April 2022 – January 2024
The Problem
Smallholder farmers in Zambia face challenges related to climate change, including water scarcity and reduced agricultural productivity. There was a need to scale climate information services (CIS) and climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices to enhance water and food resilience.
The Solution
Agova convened a consortium of five partners, including Plant Catalyst, Corteva, iDE, and ZARI, to successfully secure the AICCRA Zambia Accelerator grant. Agova oversaw activities such as:
- Establishing 500 demonstration plots
- Hosting 160 seed fairs
- Distributing 2,000+ input packages
- Facilitating market linkages for 3,632 farmers and 1,979 savings groups
- Organizing 100 farmer field schools and training 200 lead farmers and community agents
- Broadcasting three radio programs to promote awareness.
Results
The project exceeded its milestones, directly benefiting over 10,000 smallholder farmers across Central, Eastern, and Southern Provinces. Farmers showed strong demand for climate-resilient solutions, especially innovative water management systems (provided by iDE) and organic input alternatives to chemical fertilizers (provided by Plant Catalyst).
