Leveraging Cooperative Visibility for Sustainable Rural Development in Africa: Insights from Zambia

Abstract

Rural populations in sub-Saharan Africa, despite occupying a large land area, face a form of pre-urbanization, with minimal engagement in the global economy disrupting their social structure. This fluid situation leads to a lack of cooperative visibility, hindering collaborative efforts. Development strategies often overlook this complexity, resulting in neglect and inefficiency. As current policies focus on micro-farming, they are primarily back capital-intensive agriculture, yielding limited benefits for smallholders. Consequently, rural development shifts to a service-oriented model, grappling with income and wealth disparities. Investment strategies enhance competitiveness in export-oriented value chains for large farms, while public investments in infrastructure and land expropriation can undermine local farmers. Although lessons from emerging economies could inform adaptive models, the unique aspects of local farming systems must be considered. Transitioning from unsustainable practices to cooperative visibility involves five interconnected levels of innovation. Recognizing these levels can reveal agricultural opportunities, especially in Zambia, and assess the broader potential of this approach across sub-Saharan Africa.