Challenges of Smallholder Soybean Production and Commercialization in Eastern Province of Zambia

The high protein content of soybean, approximately 40%, makes it a valuable crop for both human consumption and livestock feed. Additionally, soybean can be transformed into edible oils, with the by-product acting as a high-quality protein source for livestock feed rations. Despite the clear benefits of soybean production, smallholder soybean production in Zambia remains low, with only 15% of domestic demand supplied by smallholder farmers. This is attributed to several factors, including limited availability of high-yielding soybean seed, limited incentive for private investment in smallholder soybean seed multiplication, and poor agronomic practices such as late planting and poor disease management. Low production levels also result in small quantities of soybeans being sold, with most farmers selling less than 500 kilograms, which limits their access to higher prices. The soybean market in Eastern Province, Zambia's leading soybean-producing region, is characterized by a lack of subsidized markets for smallholder farmers. However, when farmers put a soybean seed in the ground, there is little risk that there will be no one to buy the beans come harvest time. The market is successful in moving commodities from the farm gate to the processing sector, but constraints exist for smallholder income generation and poverty alleviation. These constraints include distress sales, where the poorest farmers sell their products at the earliest possible moment in the marketing season and at the lowest prices, and distrust between farmers and traders. Input supply and production constraints are significant challenges for smallholder soybean production in Eastern Province. The predominant use of recycled local soybean varieties is due to their low cost, self-pollination, and ability to be recycled for more than five years with little reduction in output production per seed. However, the availability of commercially produced and open-pollinated seeds has been unreliable in recent years, leading to unmet demand within the smallholder sector. Seed contamination is also a major concern, with farmers involved in seed multiplication co-mingling pure seed with non-seed beans to give the appearance of greater production. A critical input in soybean production is inoculum, which enhances both production and nitrogen fixation. However, very few farmers in Eastern Province are aware of the benefits of inoculation, and those who are aware find it difficult to acquire due to the limited availability of inoculum in liquid form, which requires cold storage and has a short shelf life. The development of a powder inoculum by the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute overcomes some of the limitations of liquid inoculum but introduces the need for training farmers on the re-hydration and application of the input. Marketing challenges in the soybean sector include distress sales, where the poorest farmers sell their products at the earliest possible moment in the marketing season and at the lowest prices, and distrust between farmers and traders. The bulk of the total marketed volume is sold during the first three months after harvest, with only 15% of the marketed volume sold during the period when prices start to increase. This implies that the benefits of higher prices do not accrue to poorer households.