Although there have been calls to ramp up efforts to design and implement a fertiliser
programme that recognises the spatial variability of soil fertility and climatic conditions in the
country, Zambia continues to rely heavily on the general fertiliser recommendation, which is
uniform across geographic locations and crops. This could be one of the main reasons why
Zambia continues to record low crop productivity growth. In this regard, many have questioned
the logic and sustainability of blanket fertiliser recommendations due to soil variability across
the landscape. It is against this background, that this study was carried out to inform policy
makers of strategies that could be used to raise agricultural productivity in Zambia. In particular,
we present a comparative analysis of location specific fertiliser application versus blanket
recommendation and application in Zambia using soil analysis and household data collected
during the Rural Agricultural Livelihoods Survey (RALS) of 2012. This survey was conducted
by IAPRI in collaboration with Central Statistical Office (CSO) and Ministry of Agriculture
(formerly Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock).