Agricultural production is one of the major activities within the Zambian Prisons Service. It includes both animal husbandry and crop production for the feeding of prisoners and sale to the general public.

The Zambian Prison Service has succeeded in ensuring that it is completely self sustaining in the production of Maize meal and vegetables. Maize is cultivated in almost every prison in Zambia while vegetables are grown at all provincial centers and some selected prisons for both inmate consumption and commercial purposes.

In Open Air Prisons like the Kalonga Prison Farm located in the Central Region of Zambia, a maize milling plant which is expected to have the capacity of supplying the entire nation’s maize meal needs is currently under construction.

In addition to that, the metal fabrication division of the Prison Service which produces door and window frames, grill doors, garden forks, steel gates, among others also produces and repairs the milling plants used by some of the prisons like the Mpima Remand Prison in Zambia.

Through the active involvement of the inmates, a lot of the needs of the Zambian Prison Service are met within without reliance on any other institution. For example the involvement of inmates in the construction of new accommodation buildings for prison officers ensured that the Prisons Service saved about 50% of the budgeted amount required for the construction process.

This process does not only enable inmates to obtain necessary technical skills, while in Prison they are provided with the opportunity of applying the already acquired skills and this fuels their confidence that they can be self reliant upon release.