LUSAKA, May 18 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank has approved an International Development Association (IDA) grant of 37.2 million US dollars to support the agricultural development in Zambia, The Post newspaper reported on Thursday.

    The agricultural development support project aims to increase the commercialization of small holder agriculture by promoting thedevelopment of network of well-functioning and competitive value chains, according to the report.

    It will also address the equity aspects of agricultural commercialization by lowering the barriers of entry for small holders into agricultural value chains through demand driven matching grant facility, it reported.

    Agriculture and agro-processing account for more than 40 percent of the GDP of the country and contribute about 12 percent of its export earnings.

    The southern African country has 42 million hectares of arable land, of which only 1.5 million hectares is cultivated every year.Enditem