This report was generated to serve as a reference document for Musika and its implementing partners. Musika Development Initiatives (Musika) is a non-profit company that works to stimulate private sector investments in rural agricultural markets.
Grown almost exclusively by low-income smallholder farmers, cassava is one of the few staple crops that can be produced efficiently on a small scale, without recycled inputs and in marginal areas with poor soils and unpredictable rainfall (Food and Agricultural Organisation, 2013). However, its potential as a commercial crop has received far less attention in Zambia owing to the limited access to markets farmers are faced with. Only one-third of households in 2014/15 were engaged in cassava commercialisation (RALS, 2015) and according to FSRP and ACF (2010), growth prospects in smallholder cassava production remain limited if farmers access to commodity markets continues to be a challenge. In view of this, Musika provided a MPF with equipment and logistical support in 2016, to facilitate the development of an out-grower for cassava coupled with extension services to the smallholder farmers in Kawambwa and Mansa. It is envisaged that this initiative will lead to a beneficial outcome for the MPF, and at the same time, will help provide assured cassava market to farmers. Following this, Musika conducted a survey in the targeted intervention areas to assess farmers’ level of participation in the cassava markets and identify market needs in the cassava sub-sector