Crop Choice and Infrastructure Accessibility in Tanzania: Subsistence Crops or Export Crops?

35 Pages Posted: 10 Jan 2017 Last revised: 21 May 2020

See all articles by Atsushi Iimi

Atsushi Iimi

International Monetary Fund (IMF); World Bank

Richard Martin Humphreys

Independent

Sevara Melibaeva

World Bank - Sustainable Development Network

Date Written: June 15, 2015

Abstract

Africa has great potential for agriculture. Although international commodity prices have been buoyant, Africa?s supply response seems to be weak. A variety of constraints may exist. Using the case of Tanzania, the paper examines the impact of market connectivity, domestic and international, on farmers? crop choices. It is shown that the international market connectivity, measured by transport costs to the maritime port, is important for farmers to choose export crops, such as cotton and tobacco. Internal connectivity to the domestic market is also found to be important for growing food crops, such as maize and rice. Among other inputs, access to irrigation and improved seed availability are also important factors in the crop choices of farmers. The size of land area is one constraint to promote the crop shift. The paper also reports the finding that farmers are not using market prices effectively in their choice of crop, even after the endogeneity of local prices is taken into account.

Keywords: Crops and Crop Management Systems, Climate Change and Agriculture, Transport Services, Food Security, Electric Power, Nutrition

Suggested Citation

Iimi, Atsushi and Humphreys, Richard Martin and Melibaeva, Sevara, Crop Choice and Infrastructure Accessibility in Tanzania: Subsistence Crops or Export Crops? (June 15, 2015). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 7306, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2895405

Atsushi Iimi (Contact Author)

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

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Washington, DC 20431
United States

World Bank ( email )

1818 H Street NW
Washington, DC 20433
United States

Sevara Melibaeva

World Bank - Sustainable Development Network

United States

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