Under the scorching African sun in Kafue, Lusaka Province, farmer Grace Nyirongo Phiri tends to rows of thriving crops nourished by a modern irrigation system. Unlike a few years ago, when watering with hose pipes consumed entire days and left crops unevenly hydrated, she now benefits from a network that delivers water directly to each plant’s roots, ensuring healthier, more uniform growth.
Meanwhile, at the University of Zambia (UNZA), civil engineering student Kangwa Bwalya sits among 350 peers in a bright, modern lecture theatre—a striking contrast to the cramped, century-old classrooms of the past. Across the country in Kabwe, entrepreneur Joseph Banda opens the doors to his agribusiness shop, a venture made possible by the skills, confidence, and opportunities fostered through recent development support.
Although Phiri, Bwalya, and Banda have never met, their lives share a common link: transformative interventions by the African Development Fund, the concessional financing arm of the African Development Bank Group. Through targeted investments, the Fund is enabling sustainable agriculture, modern educational infrastructure, and entrepreneurial growth, sowing seeds of progress and opportunity across Zambia.
