Grain, Root Crop and Oilseed Processing Plants for Zambia

Maize is a major food crop of Zambia, and the main summer cereal harvest is predominantly maize, with the Central, Copperbelt and Eastern provinces together producing about half of the domestic crop. This makes it a natural raw material for flour, starch and animal-feed plants. Soybeans are grown by commercial farmers and supply oil and a protein meal that poultry feed producers use. In the wetter northern part of the country, roots and tubers are most important, and cassava is the staple for much of the population of Luapula Province, though fresh roots deteriorate quickly and need to be processed close to where they are harvested.

Rice is a minor crop nationally but is important in parts of Northern Province, where paddy has to be parboiled, dried and milled to a consistent grain quality. Zambia is landlocked, the rains fall between November and April, and an electricity supply constraint hindered irrigation in a recent season, so processing close to the farm, and drying or concentrating products to cut weight and spoilage, has particular value.

Likely users are agro-processors, milling companies, feed manufacturers and cooperatives who must move product over road and rail connections that FAO has described as inadequate, to reach regional and port markets.