Aggregate acreage response of cashew nut and sesame to commodity price and non price factors in southeastern Tanzania

This study aimed at investigating the impact of price and non-price factors on cashew and sesame acreage in Nachingwea and Mtwara rural Districts. Growth rates analyses were also conducted through linearlized exponential growth model to trace the trends for area, yield (productivity) and production of the two crops for the period 1995-2010. The general trend showed positive growth rates in area, yield and production, but with few exceptions. Meanwhile, the logarithmic functional form of the linear Nerlovian adjustment model was employed on time series data from 1995-2010 to estimate acreage response to price and non-price factors. Results revealed that there was a positive and significant relationship of sesame acreage with price, and non-significant relationship with rainfall (non-price factor) in both districts. Similarly, cashew acreage was observed to have positive and significant relationship with price and positive but insignificant relationship with rainfall in Nachingwea District. In Mtwara rural, positive relationship existed between cashew acreage and price, while with rainfall the relationship was negative. The study further established that short and long run price elasticities of sesame acreage were 0.264 and 0.515, respectively in Nachingwea, whereas short and long run price elasticities in Mtwara rural were 0.478 and 1.65, respectively, which implies that farmers are more responsive to price changes in the long run than they are in the short run. Similarly, non-price short and long run elasticities for sesame were 0.035 and 0.06, respectively in Nachingwea; and 0.032 and 0.11, respectively for Mtwara rural District. For cashew acreage, the short and long run price elasticities were 0.326 and 1.364, respectively for Nachingwea while in Mtwara rural short and long run price elasticities were 0.37 and 0.885, respectively. Meanwhile the study found that short and long run non price elasticities for Nachingwea were 0.033 and 0.049, respectively. However, the elasticities though positive, they generally fell in the inelastic range suggesting that price incentive in itself is essential but not sufficient.

Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH)