At the SNRD conference Strengthening Rural Resilience: Zambia’s Experience in Emerging Pathways conference, Anthony Chapoto, Executive Director of the African Network of Agricultural Policy Research Institutes (ANAPRI), delivered a keynote speech that combined powerful metaphors with data-driven insights and sharp policy challenges.

Chapoto’s research covers agricultural development, food systems transformation, climate change and natural resources, agricultural technology, productivity, smallholder commercialization, and food markets, trade, and policy. This expertise shaped his keynote, which addressed both Zambia’s opportunities and the broader African context.

Using the metaphor of a car and cranes collapsing into the water, Chapoto illustrated how attempted solutions can create bigger problems. He stressed that Africa often relies on external support and frameworks such as the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which themselves depend strongly on international organizations for funding and implementation. True resilience, he argued, requires African ownership and leadership from within.

From Zambia’s data, Chapoto emphasized several underappreciated facts:

• Poverty is everywhere: 64% of Zambians are chronically poor, across all provinces.

• Youth dividend or bomb: With over 60% of the population under 25, failing to create opportunities risks instability.

• Agricultural paradox: Most farmers are land-constrained, liquidity-constrained, and excluded from finance.

• Maize reality: More than 60% of maize farmers are net buyers. Policies raising prices help large producers but harm the majority.

He highlighted the devastating 2024 drought that affected nearly 10 million people and 1.1 million households. Data shows Zambia’s disaster hotspots are consistent over time, yet responses remain reactive. Chapoto argued for evidence-based, adaptive policies that invest in irrigation, infrastructure, and resilience instead of repeating politically expedient subsidies.

Quoting Nobel laureate Arthur Lewis, he reminded the audience that Africa cannot simply import applied science: without investment in research and development, local solutions remain hidden. His closing reflections included three pressing questions:

• How can Africa move beyond politically expedient programs toward long-term investments?

• How can adaptive policymaking be institutionalized to address climate and disaster risks?

• How can power imbalances across institutions, markets, and knowledge systems be overcome?

Ending with Albert Einstein’s words — “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them” — Chapoto urged policymakers and practitioners to rethink priorities and direct resources toward those most in need.

“Our policies have been giving those who can already pick the fruits more resources, and those who cannot pick them, very little. Let’s work together to change that.” — Anthony Chapoto

🎥 Watch the full keynote on the left.