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Abstract
Increased attention on government pricing policies among African nations leads directly to a need for information
about producer responses to price adjustments. This is especially true in the case of Zambian maize production.
Maize is the most important crop grown in Zambia. It accounts for more than 80% of the value of marketed food
crops, is heavily relied on for subsistence consumption, and is a staple food in the diet of all Zambian citizens. This
paper analyzes the aggregate price response of maize supply in Zambia using a dynamic regression analysis. As a
result, short, intermediate and long-run multipliers/elasticities are measured which can be used to analyze the effect
of future price policy changes.
It was found that a second-order rational distributed lag model best fits the available data. Estimates of short-run
elasticities of supply for maize and fertilizer prices are 0.54 and - 0.48, respectively. The corresponding estimated
long-run elasticities are 1.57 and -1.44.