Zambia is one of the three targeted countries in Africa that will benefit directly from the project. At the national level, Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) of Zambia will be the partner farmers' organisation that will lead in implementation of plans.

In Zambia, as in other Southern African countries, large scale farmers account for a significant share of farm output, about 20% of grain production and nearly 40% of marketed surplus of grain. Farm sizes for smallholder farmers in Zambia is between 2 and 5 hectares, but there is a growing population of 'emerging farmers' with farm holdings ranging from 20 to 50 hectares. Hence, smallholder farmers in Zambia face significant competition.

Over 95% of smallholder farm households in Zambia are engaged in crop production while only 29% undertake livestock farming.

Though successfully piloted for grains in 2003-05, the WRS in Zambia remains under-utilised because of uncertainty regarding enforceability of rights of holders of the receipts and the regulatory framework for the system.

Scaling up access to the recently established Zambia Agricultural Commodity Exchange (ZAMACE) is a priority for Zambian stakeholders. Currently, most of the trade on ZAMACE continues to be limited to its use to facilitate food aid procurement.