Strengthening veterinary services in Zambia

Abstract: Zambia’s agriculture sector– particularly the livestock subsector– is an important component of the nation’s economy. The country has a cattle population of over 4 million – a third of which is in Southern Province. The industry plays an important role in food production and income generation for smallholder farmers and helps provide food security for the nation.

In 2012, Musika began facilitating the development of a robust private sector veterinary product distribution and service provision market to link vet companies and their intermediaries to smallholder farmers.
This case study looks at how the intervention has helped eliminate barriers that hindered livestock service companies from serving rural smallholder farmers, paving the way for farmers to access affordable health, nutrition and genetics products and services for a range of livestock, and backed by technical knowledge provision and training.