Browsing by Author "Gwanongodza, Tafara"

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    Agricultural exports and economic growth in Zimbabwe
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-03) Gwanongodza, Tafara; Punt, Cecilia; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Agricultural Economics.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The main objective of the study is to establish the relationship between agricultural exports and GDP, a proxy for economic growth. The other objective is to establish the relationship between the non-agricultural export sectors with GDP. The study will provide a roadmap for policy making towards the economic growth of Zimbabwe. Secondary data was used in the analysis for a period from 1990 to 2016. The Johansen cointegration results confirmed a long run relationship between the variables. The regression results show that agricultural raw exports have a negative relationship with economic growth, whereas food exports and non-agricultural exports have a positive relationship with GDP. The Granger causality test shows the direction of causation of the variables. The agricultural raw exports and food exports do not Granger cause GDP growth but non-agricultural exports cause GDP growth. The food exports require agricultural produce for raw materials, the growth of the food exports boosts a demand in the agricultural sectors which leads to a surplus for the export market thus stimulating agricultural exports. Food exports include processed high value products which earn more foreign currency on the international market. The non-agricultural sector capital is invested into the food subsector. The non-agricultural exports in Zimbabwe influence productivity in the agricultural sector, boosting food exports which rely on the availability of agricultural raw products. The Zivot-Andrews unit root test with structural breaks shows that dollarization had an impact on GDP and capital. Although the government came up with policies to boost agricultural productivity, such as the Command Agriculture initiative, literature shows that focus should also be on the quality of produce since it has a positive impact on the agricultural export earnings and other export sector earnings.