Ts. Jayne et M. Rukuni, DISTRIBUTIONAL EFFECTS OF MAIZE SELF-SUFFICIENCY IN ZIMBABWE - IMPLICATIONS FOR PRICING AND TRADE-POLICY, Food policy, 18(4), 1993, pp. 334-341
Maize self-sufficiency has normally been an explicit policy goal throu
ghout Eastern and Southern Africa because of the perception that it co
uld be achieved at prices below import parity and that it contributes
to rural income growth. However, this analysis, based on household sur
vey data from Zimbabwe and the results of an econometrically based sim
ulation model, indicates that a pricing policy geared towards maize se
lf-sufficiency would mainly benefit a small set of well-off farmers an
d require either greater subsidies or higher prices to consumers, many
of whom are low-income rural farmers in low-rainfall areas. The broad
er implications of this analysis are that, even if the producer price
needed for self-sufficiency is below import parity, the pursuit of foo
d self-sufficiency may inflate food costs and exacerbate rural and urb
an food insecurity compared to a self-reliance policy involving import
s.