Imagine a maize farmer in Sesheke, in Zambia’s Western Province. Let’s call her Martha. She has a good harvest this year, bags of maize stored neatly, ready for sale. But there’s a problem: the local market is saturated, prices are low, and buyers are slow to pay. Just across the border in Namibia, however, traders are offering better prices. Martha dreams of taking her maize there, but passports and paperwork stand in the way. This is where ID based travel for Zambian farmers comes into play.

Now imagine if all she needed was her national registration card (NRC). No expensive passport, no unnecessary red tape. With one simple document, Martha could cross into Namibia, explore prices, and sell her maize where demand is stronger. This is the promise of ID-based travel between Zambia, Namibia, and Botswana.

How it started in SADC

In 2023, Botswana and Namibia signed a historic agreement allowing their citizens to cross borders using only national identity cards, removing the need for passports for visits of up to 90 days. Namibia has since expressed interest in extending the same arrangement to Zambia. While no formal deal has yet been signed, the idea has sparked discussion about how such a policy could affect ordinary people, particularly farmers in Zambia.

1. Lowers Barriers for Small Farmers

For farmers like Martha, passports can be a real barrier. Many rural families can’t afford the fees or the trip to Lusaka to process documents. ID based travel would cut out these costs, making it easier for smallholders to participate in cross-border trade. A simple NRC could be the difference between being locked into low local prices and accessing better-paying regional markets.

You might also like: Top Crops Grown in Zambia

2. Opens Up Regional Markets

With easier movement, Zambian farmers could sell maize, groundnuts, or livestock to Namibian and Botswanan markets where demand often outpaces local supply. Urban centers like Windhoek and Gaborone are growing, and they need more food. Farmers near the borders could take advantage of this demand, whether it’s Martha selling maize, or her neighbors supplying tomatoes, goats, or cassava.

3. Encourages Cooperation and Knowledge Sharing

Martha’s opportunities wouldn’t stop at selling. She could attend agricultural fairs in Namibia, meet suppliers of better seed varieties from Botswana, or even join cross-border cooperatives. Easier travel fosters collaboration. Farmers learn from each other, share techniques, and build stronger networks across Southern Africa.

4. Boosts Informal and Household Trade

It’s not just large harvests at stake. Many women in rural Zambia sell vegetables, chickens, or milk in small quantities. With ID-based travel, they could cross into Botswana or Namibia and tap into new customer bases. For households, this means more income, better food security, and stronger resilience when times are tough.

Challenges with ID based travel

Of course, easier movement won’t erase every problem. Governments will still need to regulate trade, protect against disease spread, and ensure fair taxation. There’s also the risk of competition. Farmers from Namibia or Botswana could bring their goods into Zambia, affecting local prices. But these challenges can be managed through strong border systems and regional cooperation.

For Martha and thousands of Zambian farmers like her, ID based travel could be transformative. It could unlock markets, increase incomes, and build stronger livelihoods. Farmers in border regions would no longer be trapped by paperwork and costs; instead, they would be free to take advantage of the opportunities that lie just a few kilometers away.