Determinants of zonal competitiveness and comparative economic advantage of rice production in Unguja and Pemba

PhD Thesis

Rice is the main food staple in Zanzibar, accounting for about 54 percent of the total caloric intake. Zanzibar imports about 80 percent of its rice requirements. Based on the potential of 3 tons per hector in rain fed and 6 tons per hector in irrigated rice. The government of Zanzibar intends to reduce external dependency from current 80 to 40 percent as part of country’s food self-sufficiency goal. This study intends to inform policy by providing quantitative evidence about farming system zones where the potential can be exploited to increase production profitably and by using domestic factors efficiently. The specific objectives of the study were: - (i) To determine technical and socio-economic characteristics that differentiate rice farmers in terms of yield in central north, central south and zone 3 Pemba farming system zones; (ii) To analyse the competitiveness of rice production under different technological packages in central north, central south and zone 3 Pemba; (iii) To analyse the comparative economic advantage of rice production under different technological packages in central north, central south and zone 3 Pemba; and (iv) To examine the level of protection of the rice sub-sector in central north, central south and zone 3 Pemba. The study used 3-stage sampling with stratification to draw 464 rice farmers. The analytical tools used to address the study objectives were: Descriptive analysis and Policy Analysis Matrix. The result shows that 90 percent of rice farmers using irrigation, improved seeds and fertilizer fall in the high yield category in all three zones, while rice farmers using rain fed and local seeds only are higher in low yield category in all farming system zones (P<0.00). Policy Analysis Matrix indicators show a positive financial profitability for rice farmers using irrigation improved seeds and fertilizer in all three zones. The Domestic Resource Cost value was less than 1 for rice farmers using irrigation, improved seeds and fertilizers in central north and central south zone only. The Domestic Resource Cost values for rice farmers in zone-3 Pemba are greater than one, implying that rice farming in zone 3 Pemba farming system zone has no comparative economic advantage in rice production under the prevailing technological packages, since the opportunity cost of using domestic factors in rice production is higher than value added generated at social prices. In general, the current government efforts are the better-off options to complement and support rice production in all ten farming system zones of Unguja and Pemba. But in the long-run, without putting much effort on central north and central south farming system zones, rice production might be unsustainable.