The dynamics of smallholder cattle business systems in Zambia: Geographical opportunities, challenges and sustainability business implications

Figures & data

Figure 1. The cascading cattle growth and development in Zambia from 1961 to 2022 (FAO, 2023a; Zambia Statistics Agency & Ministry of Fisheries & Livestock, 2022).

Table 1. Flows of cattle stocks per province (Zambia Statistics Agency & Ministry of Fisheries & Livestock, 2022).

Province	Total cattle raised		Population Change
	1st May 2021	30th April, 2022	Increase/Decrease	+/− % adjustment
Central	784,872	786,842	1,970	0.3
Copperbelt	79,050	77,823	−1,226	−1.6
Eastern	699,734	716,368	16,634	2.4
Luapula	13,414	14,072	658	4.9
Lusaka	152,049	146,828	−5,222	−3.4
Muchinga	72,906	88,277	15,371	21.1
Northern	95,660	104,760	9,100	9.5
North-western	65,193	64,897	−296	−0.5
Southern	2,223,397	2,216,076	−7,321	−0.3
Western	447,147	483,030	35,883	8.0
Zambia	4,633,422	4,698,972	65,551	1.4

Table 2. Smallholder cattle herd configuration by province as of April 30, 2022 (Zambia Statistics Agency & Ministry of Fisheries & Livestock, 2022).

Province	Cattle Category Raised (%)
	Total Cattle	Cows	Heifers	Bulls	Untrained Oxen	Trained Oxen	Tollies Steers	Calves
Central	689,117	231,005	114,667	38,099	54,451	143,226	41,509	66,160
Copperbelt	50,625	17,596	4,792	8,806	907	9,478	2,306	6,740
Eastern	713,297	257,067	71,981	37,944	21,549	185,979	33,008	105,769
Luapula	10,560	4,435	1,216	1,619	256	–	602	2,432
Lusaka	130,862	57,368	17,526	6,375	4,503	19,466	7,411	18,213
Muchinga	83,528	47,555	6,016	8,516	3,212	3,843	2,336	12,050
Northern	102,821	37,809	9,172	12,820	2,167	24,203	3,677	12,973
North-western	57,909	28,987	3,675	4,782	541	14,390	813	4,721
Southern	2,096,084	777,724	330,986	98,340	154,638	290,742	165,871	277,783
Western	476,847	200,107	51,520	39,837	17,094	96,571	25,519	46,199
Number	4,411,650	1,659,653	611,551	257,138	259,318	787,898	283,052	553,040
Percentage	100%	37.6%	13.9%	5.8%	5.9%	17.9%	6.4%	12.5%

Figure 2. The distribution of livestock (cattle) across different regions in Zambia.

Table 3. The top 40 cattle-producing districts in Zambia’s ten (10) Provinces.

Provincial cattle statistics	Districts with higher cattle population	Total Number of Cattle Raise by Small households	Total cattle number
Western
450,116	Mongu	80,242
	Nalolo	72,318
	Senanga	45,844
	Sioma	39,064	237,468
Southern
1,534,813	Monze	284,713
	Namwala	183,557
	Kalomo	176,047
	Itezhi-Tezhi	284,132	928,449
North-Western
95,484	Zambezi	33,434
	Mwinilunga	16,548
	Mufumbwe	10,897
	Chavuma	8,980	69,859
Northern
47,841	Mbala	32,150
	Mungwi	7,934
	Kasama	3,285
	Luwingu	2,596	45,965
Muchinga
79,442	Mafinga	23,278
	Mpika	20,032
	Nakonde	19,558
	Isoka	7,756	70,624
Lusaka
121,983	Shibuyungi	38,147
	Chongwe	32,112
	Kafue	14,036
	Chilanga	23,182	107,477
Luapula
10,789	Kawambwa	6,527
	Mansa	2,228
	Samfya	1,275
	Chipili	663	10,693
Eastern
599,536	Petauke	143,351
	Chipata	119,470
	Sinda	91,650
	Katete	70,313	424,784
Copperbelt
74,628	Mpongwe	40,246
	Kitwe	14,490
	Lufwanyama	6,202
	Masaiti	3,769	64,707
Central
459,463	Kapiri Mposhi	59,884
	Chibombo	154,687
	Mumbwa	114,956
	Chisamba	70,751	400,278
National head 3,474,095.00	40 Districts	Total from 40 District 2,438,974 (70%)	2,360,304
Province		70% Provincial contributions	Provincial contributions

Figure 3. Top 10 districts in Zambia with the highest population of cattle.

Figure 4. Map of Zambia showing number of veterinary camps per province as of 2022 including 110 (12%) from North-Western (MFL, 2022).

Figure 5. Cattle population distribution for Southern Province (Zambia Statistics Agency & Ministry of Fisheries & Livestock, 2022).

Table 4. Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (MFL) - 2022 allocations contrasted with releases.

MFL Programmes	2022 Budget*	Releases by Sept	% Released
	(ZMW^1’million)	(ZMW^1’million)
Management and Support Services	108.6	71.8	66
Animal Health Services	357.2	140.9	39
– o/w Animal Health Extension Services	69.3	29.9	43
– o/w Animal Disease Control	20.0	7.2	36
Livestock Production and Productivity	303.4	130.1	43
– o/w R&D	4.2	4.2	100
– o/w Production and Extension Services	62.6	30.3	48
Fisheries Production and Productivity	155.8	45.5	29
– Extension Services	35.8	16.7	47
– o/w R&D	0.9	0.7	78%
Technical and Support Services	3.8	2.7	70
Total	928.8	390.9	42

Figure 6. Selected provinces that were declared drought-risk and an emergency by the president of Zambia and the cattle population by sex orientation.

Figure 7. Contrast between intensive livestock feeding system and smallholder farmers associated extensive grazing depending on natural veld.

Figure 8. Challenges faced by the Zambian smallholder livestock system.

Figure 9. Conceptual Framework for advancing sustainable cattle business system.

Table 5. Sales of Live Cattle in Households and Establishments (1st May 2022 - 30th April 2022).

Province	Total number of cattle sold live	Sales in households	Percent	Sales in establishments	Percent
Central	52,873	40,374	16.6	12,499	37.9
Copperbelt	16,691	15,359	6.3	1,332	4.0
Eastern	33,732	33,415	13.8	317	1.0
Luapula	1,615	1,364	0.6	251	0.8
Lusaka	10,545	7,403	3.1	3,142	9.5
Muchinga	6,444	6,148	2.5	296	0.9
Northern	7,662	7,525	3.1	137	0.4
North-Western	3,457	3,013	1.2	444	1.3
Southern	133,073	118,965	49.0	14,108	42.8
Western	9,563	9,093	3.7	470	1.4
Total	275,655	242,658	100.0	32,997	100.0

Figure 10. Milk production and distribution according to each province in Zambia (Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, 2020; Zambia Statistics Agency & Ministry of Fisheries & Livestock, 2022).

Figure 11. Volume of raw milk being sold in both formal and informal markets from 2017 to 2021.

FAO. (2023a). FAOSTAT. Crops and livestock products—Food and Agriculture Data. Crops and livestock products https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QCL

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Zambia Statistics Agency & Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock. (2022). 2022 Livestock survey report. www.zamstats.gov.zm

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Fisheries, ZAMSTAT, and Livestock with MOFL. (2020). National aquaculture trade development strategy and action plan 2020 – 2024. Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry and Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock. Zambia www.mcti.gov.zm.

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Data availability statement

Upon reasonable request, the corresponding authors will provide all supplemental files, data generated and analyses.