Farmer Input Support Programme FISP in Zambia and State of Food security at house level in Chiawa District

The main purpose of this study was to establish the state of food security at household level as a result of Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) in Chiawa District, Zambia. The study employed a qualitative approach to generate data. Data was analysed using thematic analysis and simple statistics. Heterogeneous purposive sampling technique was employed to sample the participants. Data was collected through focus group discussions and interviews. An interview guide was administered to a sample of 21 FISP beneficiaries who were interviewed on one to one basis. A focus group guide was administered in three (3) Focus Groups. Six (6) Village headmen and two (2) Ministry of Agriculture (MA) officials were purposively selected and data was also collected through an interview guide. The main finding was that FISP had not resulted in household food security because of the following reasons; inadequacy of seeds and fertiliser, late delivery of inputs, limited seed varieties, lack of funds by some beneficiaries to pay the required farmer contribution to access inputs, sale of inputs by some beneficiaries. Based on the research findings, the study recommended among others that the government should consider subsidising the FISP pack further to enable the ajority of the small-scale farmers’ access it. Since the area is drought prone, the Ministry of Agriculture should consider including drought tolerant seed crops such as sorghum in the FISP, not just maize alone.