["Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, Volume 33, Issue 3, Page 4437-4450, May 2026. ", "\nABSTRACT\nThis paper examines how corporate social responsibility (CSR) tools and practices influence firm performance using Zambia's listed agro‐food companies as a focal case. CSR practices are operationalised through a composite social score built on ISO IWA 48:2024 standards across three dimensions: employee welfare, community investment, and diversity initiatives. An explanatory sequential mixed‐methods design was applied, combining a 2014–2024 panel regression with thematic analysis of sustainability and governance reports. Quantitative results suggest that CSRs influence on profitability in the short run is minimal, but nuanced and non‐linear. Qualitative results show that qualitative CSR improves accountability, reputation, and trust among stakeholders which accumulate in larger firms, and with better governance mechanisms. These findings add to the CSR–performance debate by explaining how supplemented frameworks of accountability, collaborations with communities, and participatory approaches inscribe into social and competitive advantage over time. This study provides practical advice to managers and policymakers on embedding CSR into their reporting systems, disclosure processes and stakeholder engagement. This study contributes to the CSR literature in the Zambian context by anchoring the CSR measurement scale to the ISO stand and the CSR indicators to the SDGs and offers an example of how firms operating in resource constraint context are integrating social investment into long‐term performance value.\n"]