LocationsInnovative solutions are addressing post-harvest losses, aggregation and transforming smallholder farmers' market access across Zambia
Boosting Rural Livelihoods Through Agro-Bulking Centres in Zambia
December 8, 2025
Aerial view of a bulking centre under the SCRALA project.
Photo by: Vanessa Akibate/UNDP Zambia
Following a major El Niño-induced drought in the 2023/2024 farming season, Zambia’s farmers, who contribute approximately 80 percent of the country’s food production, made an impressive recovery, producing a bumper maize harvest of 3.6 million metric tonnes in the 2025 season. However, this success risks being wasted, as across the country, post-harvest losses often reach 30–40 percent, primarily due to inadequate storage, poor handling practices, and lack of transport.
In Mambwe District of Eastern Province, smallholder farmers who usually cultivate maize, groundnuts, sunflower, and soybeans produced about 29,082 metric tonnes of maize in the 2024/2025 farming season. Despite this achievement, many farmers face persistent post-harvest challenges, including limited storage facilities, scarce access to structured markets, high transport costs, and poor road networks. These constraints often force farmers to travel long distances to reach buyers and sell their crops at low prices to avoid spoilage, leaving much potential income untapped, making it difficult to plan for future harvests, and further exacerbating poverty levels.
Recognising this urgent need, the Government of Zambia, through the Ministry of Agriculture, and with financial support from the Green Climate Fund and technical assistance from the United Nations Development Programme, World Food Programme, and the Food and Agriculture Organization, is implementing the Strengthening Climate Resilience of Agricultural Livelihoods in Agro-ecological Regions I and II (SCRALA) project. One of the project’s key initiatives is the establishment of agro-bulking centres, to achieve this, the project is in the process of delivering bulking centres across 16 target districts in the country to improve storage, aggregation, and market access while reducing post-harvest losses.
These centres allow farmers to aggregate produce safely, use modern storage technologies including hermetic bags, and maintain grain quality, reducing losses caused by pests or climate-related shocks. This is particularly important to avoid post-harvest losses caused by climate change and ensures that farmers have a safety net to protect their products and overall incomes in times of climate-related shocks.
Through bulking centres, farmers can store and sell crops collectively, access better markets, sell at higher prices, and reduce transport burdens. The centres also provide training in climate-smart agriculture, post-harvest handling, and financial literacy. Additionally, participatory governance ensures that cooperatives manage the facilities, fostering accountability, leadership, and long-term sustainability.
Bulking centres have the potential to transform the agriculture sector in Zambia, and their impact is already evident. The Kabuyu Bulking Centre in Kazungula, commissioned in 2023, enabled farmers to diversify crops, access structured markets, and earn collective income. The Kabuyu cooperative reported earnings of over ZMW 700,000 (USD 24,800) through bulk sales in 2024. Members secured a contract with the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to supply 300 bags of cowpeas (50 kg each) and 300 containers of cooking oil, successfully delivering the quantities and strengthening bargaining power. The cooperative further invested in a wire fence and processing centre, adding value to their products and fetching better prices.
Similarly, the Msoro Bulking Centre, launched in September 2025 in Mambwe District, is set to benefit over 7,000 farmers, offering storage for 700 metric tonnes of produce. With modern storage and aggregation, farmers can reduce losses, maintain grain quality, and sell at favourable prices. This system allows them to take advantage of high prices during periods of low supply, encourages reinvestment in farms, strengthens resilience to climate change, and enables farmers to better align sales with seasonal market opportunities.
Agro-bulking centres under SCRALA are transforming rural agriculture in Zambia. By linking smallholder farmers to storage, aggregation, value addition, and structured markets, these centres enable agriculture to be seen as a viable business rather than mere survival. They boost incomes, strengthen household food security, and build climate resilience, offering a pathway to economic growth and prosperity across Mambwe and other districts.