Government has presented Supplementary Estimates of Expenditure No. 2 of 2026, amounting to K19.9 billion, to Parliament for approval, with the bulk of the proposed spending going towards agriculture.
Finance and National Planning Minister, Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane, presented the estimates in Lusaka on Thursday in accordance with Article 203 of the Constitution.
Musokotwane said additional expenditure obligations had arisen since Parliament approved the 2026 National Budget in December 2025, including the purchase of more grain than initially planned by the Food Reserve Agency (FRA).
He said the increased spending on crop purchases was driven by Government’s decision to take advantage of the bumper harvest to replenish food reserves ahead of an anticipated lean period in 2027 due to El Niño.
“The higher spending on crop purchases is mainly due to Government’s decision to take advantage of this year’s bumper harvest to stock up on food reserves in view of the anticipated lean period in 2027 due to El Nino,” Musokotwane said.
Of the K19.9 billion proposed, K15.8 billion, representing 79 percent, has been allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture.
Musokotwane said K14.7 billion of the amount was required to pay farmers who supplied maize to the FRA in 2026.
“As Members of the House may be aware, Madam Speaker, the FRA purchased 2.7 million metric tonnes of maize just this year alone, against the target of 500,000 metric tonnes,” he said.
A further K1.1 billion has been proposed to support the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP), to ensure effective implementation of the 2026/2027 e-voucher programme.
Under the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, K1.3 billion, representing 6.3 percent of the supplementary estimates, has been proposed.
Of this amount, K1 billion is earmarked for the remittance of 2026 Asycuda processing fees by the Zambia Revenue Authority.
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The remaining K232 million is required to capture additional World Bank grants for the Catalysing Climate Risk Protection Shield for Zambian Smallholder Farmers, the Zambian Mineral Investments, Governance and Economic Sustainability, and the Irrigated and Sustainable Agriculture for Transformation projects.
The education sector has been allocated K540 million, representing 2.7 percent of the supplementary estimates, to enable the Higher Education Loans and Scholarship Board to meet shortfalls in tuition and allowance obligations for university students in 2026.
A further K422.5 million, representing 2.1 percent, has been proposed for the Ministry of Defence to support higher-than-anticipated operational costs of the security wings, while K300 million has been allocated to the Contingency Vote.
To finance the supplementary estimates, Government has proposed raising K18 billion through domestic borrowing.
Other financing sources include K82.9 million in savings from external debt service, K510.8 million in additional donor funds, K27.3 million in unspent balances from 2025 carried forward to 2026, and K1.3 billion in additional revenue collections.
Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti said the estimates had been referred to the Expanded Planning and Budgeting Committee for consideration, and that the committee would submit its report in due course.
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