@article{Morris:172164,
      recid = {172164},
      author = {Morris, Michael L.},
      title = {Wheat Policy Options in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of  Zimbabwe},
      journal = {Agricultural Economics: The Journal of the International  Association of Agricultural Economists},
      address = {1989-05},
      number = {968-2016-75410},
      pages = {16},
      year = {1989},
      abstract = {Like many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Zimbabwe is  experiencing rapid growth in wheat
consumption and imports.  Policy makers in Zimbabwe and elsewhere must decide whether  increased
domestic wheat production might reduce dependency  on imports and at the same time
contribute to economic  efficiency and food security goals. The domestic resource  cost framework
was used to assess Zimbabwe's comparative  advantage among six major irrigated crops and to
measure  the effects of current government policies on producer  incentives. The results indicate
that irrigated wheat  production represents an efficient use of Zimbabwe's  resources during times
of abundant rainfall, but the nation  enjoys a comparative advantage in tobacco, maize, and  cotton
production during times of water scarcity. Existing  agricultural policies provide disincentives for
commercial  farmers, because private profitability is less than social  profitability for the major
irrigated crops. However, this  tax occurs across all commodities with similar incidence,  so that
the private incentives among crops are not greatly  distorted from their social pattern. Sensitivity
analysis  confirms the robustness of these findings under a range of  possible future economic and
political developments. The  domestic resource cost approach used in this study provides  an operational
method for measuring comparative advantage  and should be of interest to policy analysts
throughout  sub-Saharan Africa.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/172164},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.172164},
}