Government invested heavily in that sector, with much of investment focused on rural feeder roads and the growing of tobacco as a major foreign exchange earner. Given limited private sector capacity at the time, government strengthened 1/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  ADMARC to become a major player in agriculture marketing including exporting of produce.
Make no mistake, the macroeconomic framework just described was made possible by a generous donor community that financed much of the external imbalances, thereby sustaining the Kwacha as a strong currency among its neighbors. The price the country has paid in terms of failed economic diversification and entrenched import dependence is for another day.