Agriculture as a Determinant of Zambian Economic Sustainability

For several years, the Zambian economy relied on the mining sector, which has been affected by fluctuations in commodity prices. The new century enhanced the calls for economic diversification, with the agricultural, manufacturing, and services sectors amongst those pronounced. This article focused...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2020-06, Vol.12 (11), p.4559
Main Authors: Phiri, Joseph, Malec, Karel, Majune, Socrates Kraido, Appiah-Kubi, Seth Nana Kwame, Gebeltová, Zdeňka, Maitah, Mansoor, Maitah, Kamil, Abdullahi, Kamal Tasiu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural economics
Agricultural management
Agriculture
Agronomy
Catalysts
Copper
Economic development
Economic diversification
Economic growth
Farming
Food industry
Food processing
Food processing industry
Food security
GDP
Gross Domestic Product
Hypotheses
Impact analysis
Land area
Macroeconomics
Manufacturing
Mining industry
Per capita
R&D
Research & development
Rural populations
Sustainability
Sustainable development
Unemployment
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Summary:For several years, the Zambian economy relied on the mining sector, which has been affected by fluctuations in commodity prices. The new century enhanced the calls for economic diversification, with the agricultural, manufacturing, and services sectors amongst those pronounced. This article focused on the role of agriculture in supporting the economy, particularly, the effect of agriculture on economic growth. The data analyzed was reviewed for the period 1983–2017. The ARDL Bounds Test was applied in order to meet the said objectives. The ECM results suggest that agriculture, manufacturing, services, and mining converge to an equilibrium and affect economic growth at the speed of adjustment of 90.6%, with the effect from agriculture, mining, and services being significant. The impact of agriculture on economic growth was significant in both the short-run and long-run, with coefficient unit effects of 0.428 and 0.342, respectively. The effects are strong because more than two-thirds of the rural population rely on farming, and agriculture has stood as a catalyst for food security. For the effect of agriculture to be much more profound, farmers must be supported with adequate infrastructure, accessibility to markets, farming inputs, better irrigation techniques, which would address the problem of reliance on rain, all of which were inconsistent in the last decade. Additionally, governments must ensure the institutionalization of food processing industries which add more value to the national income.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su12114559