This comprehensive review was commissioned by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) through the CGIAR Initiative on Diversification in East and Southern Africa, commonly known as the Ukama Ustawi (UU) Initiative. It explores gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) challenges and opportunities within the East and Southern Africa (ESA) region, with a specific focus on Zambia’s agribusiness sector. The review adopts a systematized literature search and narrative synthesis of evidence on GESI issues within agribusiness in Zambia. This will guide the developmentn of a GESI capacity assessment and development strategy for agribusiness network actors. In doing so, it will inform tailored capacity strengthening interventions that contribute to UU Work Package (WP) 4 work on developing learning alliances to enhance GESI-compliant agribusiness interventions. The scope encompasses an overview of gender mainstreaming in Zambia; the status of GESI in the country’s agribusiness ecosystem; findings on potential GESI core capacities and related case studies; discussion of key findings; conclusions and recommendations focused on future outlook, opportunities, and research gaps.

The review emphasizes the demographic hurdles Zambia’s youthful population presents and the struggles smallholder farmers face, particularly women and youth. Despite being dominated by smallholder farming, the agribusiness landscape encounters challenges like limited access to productive resources, including land, capital, credit, technologies and innovations, knowledge and advisory services. Such challenges are driven by deeply rooted harmful sociocultural norms and misaligned laws that contribute to social inequalities. However, there are opportunities for growth and innovation in commercial agriculture and agroprocessing, aligning with the government’s commitment to developing agribusiness.