"Optimizing The use of the Barotse Flood Plain for Socio Economic Development" is an attempt to show how best the economy of the Barotse Flood Plain in Western Province of Zambia may be changed for the better by adopting modern crop farming techniques, cattle rearing and fish farming in order to move out of the current situation in which the community is very vulnerable to drought and floods. The use of research to guide national development planning is key in achieving this desire.