Unlocking Rural Maize Seed Markets: Are Zambian Smallholder Farmers Ready for Digital Solutions?

Zambia is a regional seed production hub with several multinational companies operating under stiff competition. The objective of this study was to report on the readiness of smallholder farmers for digital solutions in the maise seed market in Zambia. For this reason, a literature search was conducted using Google Scholar, Boolean Logic, and Scimagojr for research publications from accredited journals and reports from sub-Saharan Africa and Asia published between the years 2020 and 2023. The results show that farmers’ production and livelihood will improve when they adopt digital solutions; smartphones can be a game changer for seed companies as they can easily roll out their Apps; all the digital solutions innovations in Zambia were mobile phone-based; by addressing these aspects, the adoption digital solutions by smallholder farmers will increase; and rural poverty, illiteracy, poor infrastructure, language barriers are among top factors. We conclude that farmers’ production and livelihood will improve when they adopt digital solutions, and seed companies can target the one million plus smallholder farmer market that already uses phones to access government input subsidies. This paper contributes to science because it offers opportunities for conversations on smallholder farmer digital solutions and rural market access.