The Farmer Input Support Program (FISP, formerly the Fertilizer Support Program) has
expanded the scale of its fertilizer distribution from 48,000 metric tons (MT) in 2002/03,
when the program started, to nearly 183,000 MT in the 2012/2013 farming season. Yet,
after more than a decade of input subsidies, rural poverty rates have remained persistently
high at around 80%. Poor targeting of FISP inputs may partially explain the lack of
progress on addressing persistently high rural poverty levels over the last decade.
2. Approximately 73% of smallholder farm households in Zambia cultivate 2 hectares of land
or less. These tend to be the poorest households. However, these households account for
only 56% of the total number of smallholder households receiving FISP fertilizer. In
contrast, households cultivating more land are more likely to receive FISP. Moreover,
among FISP beneficiaries, households cultivating less land tend to receive significantly less
FISP fertilizer than households cultivating more land.
3. Because of the strong correlation between land size and income status, focusing FISP
targeting on households cultivating between 0.5 to 2 hectares will improve FISP’s impact
on rural poverty.
4. As a way of increasing transparency in the selection procedure, the current camp
agricultural committee (CAC), which identifies and selects beneficiaries, should be
expanded to include representation from different stakeholders in the camp. Lists of
selected beneficiaries should be published to ensure transparency.
5. A well implemented e-voucher system of FISP should improve the monitoring of the
program as individual beneficiaries are linked electronically through NRC numbers.