Empowering Women and Youth in Agriculture: A Success Story

In the heart of Zambia, Sylvia Chisangano Horemans is empowering women and small-scale farmers through her expanding seed business, Kamano Seed. Thanks to the World Bank-supported Zambia Agribusiness and Trade Project (ZATP) Kamano seed has seen remarkable growth, and Sylvia has increased the number of farmers she is helping from 800 to 2,900. 

Sylvia's journey began with a passion for improving the lives of women. She has done so by supporting them in crop production and teaching them how to cook diverse types of nutritious meals from their harvest. 

"I believe that apart from teaching life skills to women, teaching them about nutrition is also cardinal as this improves the health of the families and leads to increased productivity," said Sylvia. Her dedication to empowering women is evident in Kamano Seed's workforce, where the majority of employees are female.  

Her company specializes in seed production, processing and distribution of seeds for maize, beans, groundnuts, and soybeans working with local farmers in communities to grow seed crops which are then processed, treated and packaged for distribution. Kamano Seed also trains farmers about climate-smart agriculture to help ensure sustainable farming practices.

The funding from the World Bank has enabled Kamano Seed to make strides in infrastructure development to help the company grow and be able to maintain high-quality seeds. They’ve been able to install one of the largest processing machines in Zambia and increased the number of female farmers and youth involved in seed production as job creation for youth and women is a critical for fostering inclusive economic growth in Zambia. Through the project 700 new farmers were recruited. The support from the project also included procuring parent seeds, training farmers, seed treatment chemicals, meeting overhead costs, vehicles and materials required for a cold room aimed at preserving seed viability and enhancing long-term profitability.

ZATP, a project of the Government of the Republic of Zambia was implemented through the Ministry of Commerce Trade and Industry (MCTI) with support from the World Bank. The ZATP closed in May 2024, and supported growth-oriented agribusiness SMEs by investing in their technical and productive capabilities and business management skills reaching 240,735 direct beneficiaries across five provinces and created 3,919 full-time jobs. Sylvia is a beneficiary of this support, which has enabled her to link her business into the supply chain with the large buyers and grow into a sustainable venture that is increasing agricultural production and trade and create jobs. Through the project supported financing 53 permanent jobs were created consisting of 30 female and 23 male workers, and 426 temporary workers were recruited, and the company increased its production from 2,100 metric tons to 3,500 metric tons.

Kamano Seed has successfully extended its business operations into the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola, gaining regional recognition, and Sylvia hopes to go even further. 

Following this successful implementation, the follow on ZATP-II was designed with an expanded geographic coverage and an increased role for the private sector in the provision of financing, and further improvements to the business enabling environment and trade. ZATP-II will be active until December 2028. Some of the expected results are 12,550 full-time jobs, reaching 133,500 beneficiaries, reduction of time for clearances at border crossing and reduction of number of agencies at the border posts.