Agriculture as a Determinant of Zambian Economic Sustainability

Joseph Phiri, Karel Malec, Socrates Majune (), Seth Nana Kwame Appiah-Kubi, Zdeňka Gebeltová, Mansoor Maitah (), Kamil Maitah and Kamal Tasiu Abdullahi
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Joseph Phiri: Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences, 16500 Prague, Czech Republic
Karel Malec: Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences, 16500 Prague, Czech Republic
Zdeňka Gebeltová: Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences, 16500 Prague, Czech Republic
Kamil Maitah: Department of Trade and Finance, Faculty of Economics and Management, Czech University of Life Sciences, 16500 Prague, Czech Republic
Kamal Tasiu Abdullahi: Department of Economics, Social Sciences Institute, Marmara University, 34722 Istanbul, Turkey

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 11, 1-14

Abstract: For several years, the Zambian economy relied on the mining sector, which has been affected by fluctuations in commodity prices. The new century enhanced the calls for economic diversification, with the agricultural, manufacturing, and services sectors amongst those pronounced. This article focused on the role of agriculture in supporting the economy, particularly, the effect of agriculture on economic growth. The data analyzed was reviewed for the period 1983–2017. The ARDL Bounds Test was applied in order to meet the said objectives. The ECM results suggest that agriculture, manufacturing, services, and mining converge to an equilibrium and affect economic growth at the speed of adjustment of 90.6%, with the effect from agriculture, mining, and services being significant. The impact of agriculture on economic growth was significant in both the short-run and long-run, with coefficient unit effects of 0.428 and 0.342, respectively. The effects are strong because more than two-thirds of the rural population rely on farming, and agriculture has stood as a catalyst for food security. For the effect of agriculture to be much more profound, farmers must be supported with adequate infrastructure, accessibility to markets, farming inputs, better irrigation techniques, which would address the problem of reliance on rain, all of which were inconsistent in the last decade. Additionally, governments must ensure the institutionalization of food processing industries which add more value to the national income.

Keywords: agriculture; economic sustainability; economic growth; ARDL bounds test; Zambia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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