Production Incentives for Small Scale Farmers in Zimbabwe: The Case of Cotton and Maize

The paper presents an empirical investigation of the production response of small scale producers of maize and cotton for communal agriculture in Zimbabwe. The error correction model, which employs the concept of cointegration to avoid spurious regressions, is used in the analysis. The factors affecting maize output were the price of maize relative to seed, the number of marketing depots established in the communal areas and the number of loans provided to these farmers. The factors affecting cotton output were the increase in communal lands due to the resettlement program, the number of loans extended to small scale farmers and the price of cotton relative to seed. The weather played the most significant role in determining the quantity of maize sold