Evaluating the Effectiveness of Out-Grower Projects in Reducing Poverty in Rural Zambia: A Case of the Eastern Province

The main objective of the out-grower schemes was poverty reduction. This was mainly aimed at improving the well-being of the people living in the rural area of Zambia. However, the trend shows that the poverty level still remains high in the rural area of Zambia and predominantly a rural phenomenon. The general objective of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the out-grower schemes in reducing poverty in rural Zambia and the study sought to answer the general research question on: How effective were the out-grower schemes in reducing poverty in rural Zambia. Pragmatism was the philosophical view that underpinned the study and it applied to the mixed research method approach for this study. The convergent parallel strategy of the mixed research methods approach was used. The findings from the study revealed that the out-grower schemes implementation contributed positively to poverty reduction among smallholder farmers participating in the out-grower scheme. It also established that the out-grower farmers had improved their knowledge in understanding the operation of the out-grower scheme. In this regard, the study concluded that the out-grower schemes had been effective in reducing poverty in the rural areas of Zambia. The study however recommended that there was need to address the issue of power imbalance between the out-grower farmers and the out-grower firms and also to address the high illiteracy levels among the rural farmers that required document transactions, by translating contracts in the local language for ease of understanding.