Raphael Banda | February 21, 2022
News Brief
Ms. Ziwa is a small-scale farmer who lives in Feni village, about 30 kilometres from Chipata city in the eastern province in Zambia. She grows soybeans to generate income for her family and grows maize for consumption only. Last year, Ms. Ziwa planted 50 25-kilogram bags of soybean seed, harvested 172 bags of soybeans weighing 70 kilograms each, and earned 168,560 Zambian Kwacha (US $9,124). Fredrick Mwanza is the agriculture coordinator for Chipangali District. He says that, although many farmers in Zambia earn a living from soybean farming, it is prudent for them to not completely abandon maize because that may lead to food shortages at both the household and national level. Mr. Mwanza says he expects that the price of soybeans will decrease in the 2022 marketing season because of oversupply, since many farmers are growing the crop. For her part, Ms. Ziwa says that soybean farming has helped her build an iron-roofed house, open an agro-shop, and support her children to go to school.
It’s partly cloudy, the cool morning breeze is blowing gently, and there is no sign that rains will fall anytime soon. Tomaidah Ziwa is walking in her maize field, a smile on her face. The 52-year-old mother of four is inspecting and weeding her knee-high, dark green maize plants. They’re looking healthy and strong and Ms. Ziwa is optimistic that she’ll get a larger harvest this year.
She takes a small packet of soybean seed and a small hoe to the other side of her farm and starts planting soybeans. She says, “In this 2021/2022 farming season, I have planted soybeans on four hectares of land.”
She adds: “I grow more soybeans than maize because the crop is not labour-intensive. The cost of production is low compared to other crops like maize. In addition, the crop has a good price on the market, which I believe will not go down soon.”
Ms. Ziwa is a small-scale farmer who lives in Feni village, about 30 kilometres from Chipata city in the eastern province in Zambia. She grows soybeans to generate income for her family and grows maize for consumption only.
Ms. Ziwa decided to grow crops like soybeans that don’t require many inputs in order to maximize her profits because she considers farming as a business.
She says: “Imagine, a bag of maize fertilizer costs about 800 Zambian kwacha (US $43). On each hectare, I need to use four bags of fertilizer—which is too expensive, considering that I also need to pay costs for labour. So I am opting to grow soybeans on vast land because the cost of production is far lower than maize.”
Last year, Ms. Ziwa planted 50 25-kilogram bags of soybean seed and harvested 172 bags of soybeans weighing 70 kilograms each. She says, “I made 168,560 Zambian Kwacha (US $9,124) last season from soybeans. I was selling each kilogram at 14 kwachas (US $0.76).”
Isaac Soko is a small-scale farmer in Petauke district in the eastern province, about 140 kilometres from Chipata city. He turned to soybean farming because it’s profitable and because input and production costs are low.
He says, “In the 2021 season, I harvested 80 50-kilogram bags of soybeans. I made enough money to solve problems in my family.”
Mr. Soko says that soybean is easy to grow because, as a nitrogen-fixing legume, it doesn’t require either chemical or organic fertilizer application. He adds, “The crop is not easily affected by pests and it has a steady good market in April and May each year.”
According to Mr. Soko, there is almost no possibility that soybean prices will be low in the 2022 marketing season due to high demand for the crop in Zambia. Buyers use soybeans to make sausages and nutritious meals for their families, as well as livestock feed, cooking oil, and many other products.
Christopher Phiri is a soybean farmer who lives in Chilembwe village in Petauke district. He says that soybean farming is becoming increasingly profitable for many farmers in his area.
Mr. Phiri explains: “I grow maize, groundnuts, and sunflower, but with a bias towards soybeans because it has a ready market with better prices. However, the challenge is that the cost of soybean seed is becoming gradually more expensive. Last season, I purchased 25-kilogram bags of seed at 800 Zambian kwacha (US $43) each.”
Fredrick Mwanza is the agriculture coordinator for Chipangali District. He says that, although many farmers in Zambia earn a living in soybean farming, it is prudent for them not to completely abandon maize because that may lead to food shortages at both the household and national level.
Mr. Mwanza explains, “As much as farmers need money, they should also grow maize as it is the staple food. This may help them to be food secure.”
Contrary to what many soybeans farmers are anticipating, Mr. Mwanza says he expects that the price of soybeans will decrease in the 2022 marketing season because of oversupply, since many farmers are growing the crop.
He adds: “Demand and supply effects can come into play. But you can’t really blame the farmers for overproduction because the prices for other crops such as maize have dropped, while prices for soybeans have gone up.”
For her part, Ms. Ziwa says that soybean farming has helped her build an iron-roofed house, open an agro-shop, and support her children to go to school. She says, “I am financially independent. This shows that soybeans can help single women, whether widowed or divorced, to survive through farming.”
This resource was supported with the aid of a grant from The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) implementing the Green Innovation Centre project.
Photo: Tomaidah Ziwa shows her soy fields. Credit: Raphael Banda.