The majority of Zambia’s poorest people rely on small-scale farming for their livelihood and food security. Therefore, improving their crop yields through the use of agricultural lime would assist smallholder farmers in producing enough food to feed their families and increase their income. Studies have shown that enhancing market access and use of agricultural lime among smallholder farmers could help correct soil acidity leading to an improvement in crop yields. Although agricultural lime is produced in Zambia and used mainly by large-scale farmers, its use among small-scale farmers remains significantly low, at less than 1 per cent. Through this challenge fund window, Musika intends to support, catalyse and stimulate investments by private Zambian companies that seek to address the challenges smallholder farmers are encountering in their quest to adopt the use of agricultural lime. Therefore, Musika is prepared to offer technical support and early stage catalytic financial support incentives for commercial entities across the agriculture sector to develop new strategies, business models and outreach channels that provide a real benefit to smallholder farmers and is gender inclusive.
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Private, for-profit Zambian companies interested in partnering with Musika in this initiative are requested to develop and submit a short concept note to Musika no later than 17:00hrs on Friday, October 9, 2020.
Download the full Request for Concept Note document with details of the competition and the format of the concept note HERE
Adverts/Tenders Stimulating Zambia’s Agriculture Lime Sub-Sector by the Private Sector Targeting Smallholder Farmers