The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has a stated goal of lifting more than a quarter of millions of rural farmers out of poverty in Zambia’s Eastern Province through the implementation of the Feed the Future program (FtF). Part of the program’s goal will be achieved through investments in several key value chains in the agricultural sector. Investing in sunflower may be ideal for promoting rural welfare, however much poverty reducing potential may go unrealized in Zambia’s rural areas if the current status quo is unchanged.