Zambian policy recognizes that crop diversification is one of the key essentials for achieving
food and nutrition security and ultimately agricultural transformation among smallholder
farm households. Although crop diversification targets are prominent in almost all
development objectives it appears difficult for the country to attain its desired level of
diversification as most of the land remains typically mono-cropped with maize dominating
agricultural production. The dominance of maize in Zambia’s agriculture systems appears to
be a direct result of the country’s policy focus on promoting maize production since
independence by consistently spending more than two thirds of the country’s public
allocation to the agricultural sector on maize input and marketing subsidies.