There are plenty of reasons alleged here for the failure of Zambian agriculture but no mention of the single most important factor: property rights - or the lack of rights, especially for women. "Under the customary laws of many ethnic groups in Zambia, women have lesser property rights than men, and are often left with nothing when widowed or divorced," says Human Rights Watch. But everyone has poor rights in the country that stole the land twice: first under socialism, when the State took everything; now under alleged reforms where the State can sell the bits it wants to anyone (regardless of the people living there) and has created "communal rights" for the rest. Individual rights don't stand a chance, so agriculture doesn't stand a chance: all the State interventions suggested in this article cannot alleviate the absence of property rights and the freedom to buy and sell - that's how rich countries got rich and how successfully developing countries are developing successfuly.

I know that great leaders such as the late Mr Mwanawasa come once in a while. I hope the person elected by the good people of Zambia continues with his great legacy of democracy, so may God bless Zambia with that continued democracy, stability and peace.