The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group approved on 19 June 2013, a US$ 18 million (UA 12 million) African Development fund (ADF) concessional loan to Zambia to finance the Country's Livestock Infrastructure Development Support Project (LISP).
The project aims to improve smallholder livestock production and productivity, create market linkages and increase household income in nine districts in the Northern and Muchinga Provinces of Zambia.
The specific project objectives are to:
increase land area available for all season agriculture by the development of water resources,
promote crop diversification and value chain development for improved food and nutrition security, wealth creation and rural employment especially for women,
expand drought resistant cropping which will serve as a safeguard against the effect of climate change and also serve as viable raw materials for industrial use and import substitution, and
enhance the capacity of both the public and private sectors in order to improve service delivery functions to smallholder farmers.
Activities to be implemented under the project include the building of 177 livestock service centres, three milk collection centres, two livestock markets, eight livestock slaughter facilities, 80 km of feeder roads, two Regional and seven district veterinary laboratories; two veterinary quarantine stations, and five veterinary check points.
The project is expected to directly benefit 100,000 livestock keeping households including 33,600 households headed by women.
It will train and empower individual members of the farmer groups as well as increase employment opportunities in livestock husbandry and marketing, and livestock products value chain.
Public service capacity for the delivery of livestock services, especially disease prevention and control, will be enhanced. The Project will also facilitate participation of the private sector through leasing out some of the structures within the Livestock Service Centres which will be used as outlet for veterinary drugs and livestock feeds supplements.
About 800,000 people, including 400,000 women, will indirectly benefit from the improved supply of quality livestock products.
The project is in line with the AfDB's commitment to support the Zambian Government in its efforts to achieve economic diversification, inclusive economic growth and poverty reduction.
The Government has launched a nationwide programme to scale-up the development of the livestock sub-sector and enhance its contribution to the national economy in line with its economic diversification strategy.
The project will also support the Government's efforts towards the attainment of Vision 2030 which aims to transform Zambia into a prosperous middle income country, through the achievement of goals and targets of the Sixth National Development Plan (SNDP), which is consistent with the Bank's 2011-2015 Country Strategy.
