1 INTRODUCTION: Agricultural growth is undoubtedly the key to fostering broader economic growth in any primarily agrarian society. This economic growth occurs through linkages with other sectors of the economy. Where this growth is slow, economic transformation is weak, and the pace at which development objectives are attained remains frustratingly low. Thus, a fast-growing agricultural sector remains an essential aspiration in developing countries. However, despite this well-known fact, African agriculture faces critical challenges, both controllable and uncontrollable. The administrative decisions around trade and taxes, coupled with weather and pest and disease attacks continue to ravage the entire agricultural sector and agri-businesses. As a result of these challenges, agricultural and economic growth have both reduced. Within the agricultural sector, profits have reduced due to increasing costs of production. This has led to the downscaling of operations and in some cases, the exit of grain traders and processors from the market. In Zambia, the challenges in the agricultural sector are readily observable among commercial farmers. Close to forty commercial farmers have lost their farms to the banks due to the events and policies of the last 3-4 years, with the print media advertising bank-repossessed farms. Of particular concern is that this category of farmers is usually resilient to exogenous shocks (i.e. droughts, pests, and diseases), and also tends to be very productive. The observed issues raise concerns around the future of agriculture, and more importantly, about its potential to reduce poverty and contribute to attaining food security among the millions of vulnerable smallholders and the country at large. Summary 1. The timing of Food Reserve Agency (FRA) stock rotations and the debt swap with maize transporters have adversely affected maize marketing. 2. Trade restrictions continue to be a key problem affecting commodity marketing, especially maize grain and maize products. 3. The impact of policy inconsistencies in the agricultural sector has led to an increase in the exit or down-scaling of investors in the industry. 4. The cost of doing business keeps increasing. This is partly as a result of demands by schemes like NAPSA, council levies, the non-auctionable tobacco regulation, and changes made to the deductible level of the Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) – which has the ability to lessen access to finance among agribusinesses. 5. Stakeholder consultation with respect to the formulation of new regulations, and revision of rules and regulations governing the sector has been minimal. Farmer representation on various key boards or advisory councils of authorities in charge of key resources is also lacking. Indaba Agricultural Policy R esearch Institute POLICY BRIEF Number 98 Lusaka, Zambia February 2019 (Downloadable at http://www.iapri.org.zm) Agricultural Sector in Peril: Is Zambia Killing the Goose That Lays the Golden Egg? By Paul Samboko, Antony Chapoto, Alefa Banda and Brian Chisanga