CARE then aggregates orders from field agents and tenders them for bid. Orders are filled and delivered by local suppliers. Total fertilizer use rose in both countries in the 1980s, but then fell in the 1990s, especially in Zambia. In Zambia , total fertilizer use per year averaged 210,000-230,000 tons from 1980 to 1992. After the general liberalization and market subsidy cut in 1992, the yearly average dropped significantly to 160,000 tons.
Key lessons follow.
Sustainable strategies for increasing fertilizer use must address these fundamental problems . But the subsidies and guaranteed markets proved to be fiscally unsustainable. Despite more business competition for the largeholder fertilizer market, smallholder fertilizer purchases dropped because the fundamental problems were not resolved by liberalization alone . Those organizations have developed pilot projects to train farmers, and serve as their intermediaries with fertilizer firms to reduce the risk of credit and transactions. These public actions are discussed below.