02/06/2026
"What does Zambia actually import? Let's look at the numbers."
Chama Mweshi asked a fair question in our comments. So here's the honest answer.
You're right that most of what Zambians eat daily; nshima, vegetables, chicken, fish from the market, comes from local farmers and traders. That's real, and it matters.
But here's what the data shows:
Zambia is a net importer of chicken, fish, and vegetable oil; despite having the land, water, and climate to produce all three at scale.
In 2024, Zambia spent $797 million importing agricultural products; up from $604 million the year before.
Zambia's wheat imports alone grew by 192% in 2024. That's the bread, the buns, the biscuits, the pasta; all of it increasingly coming from outside.
The top sources? South Africa, Thailand, India, Turkey, Namibia.
So Chama is right that your nshima and your roadside tomatoes are local. But the cooking oil you fry them in, the bread you eat in the morning, and the chicken in many urban markets? A growing share of that is imported.
The gap isn't in the basics yet. It's in processed food, protein, and fats; exactly the categories where demand is rising fastest as Zambia urbanises.
One research estimate suggests that if Zambia used just half of its currently fallow arable land at half of attainable yields, focused on poultry, fish, maize, and vegetable oil, it could unlock $32 billion in additional output. Four times the value of copper exports.
The question isn't whether Zambia imports food.
The question is: who is going to build the businesses that stop it?
