Zambia ranks as one of the lowest cost producers of sugar. However, Zambia’s domestic sugar price has been high and volatile and is substantially higher than the world price. This has raised concern among stakeholders and further raises questions about the efficient functioning of the market. The study sought to determine and explain efficiency and integration in Zambia’s sugar value chain by analysing price spreads, price formation, and price transmission through a price transmission and partial equilibrium model. The study hypothesised that the Zambian sugar market is both inefficient and it is not integrated with the world market. This was tested through the price transmission and partial equilibrium models. Price transmission is conceptually premised on the Law of One Price (LOP) which postulates that in a frictionless undistorted market, the difference between markets spatially separated should only be explained by transaction costs. To test the hypothesis long-run equilibrium between prices was tested through a series of cointegration tests and an Error Correction model (ECM) was built for cointegrating price series. Model simulations were run and tests for asymmetry for cointegrating price series were conducted. A partial equilibrium framework was developed to determine price formation for Zambia’s sugar market from a number of behavioural equations. The study establishes cointegration in the spatial price transmission (between world sugar prices and Zambia’s wholesale prices) and vertically (between the domestic wholesale prices and sugarcane prices). The ECM for the spatial price transmission reveals low integration and efficiency evidenced by the low speed of adjustment, the Error Correction Term (ECT) of -0.09 and the model simulation, which shows that it takes approximately 3 years for the markets to revert to long run equilibrium after experiencing a price shock. The study also establishes that the spatial price adjustment is asymmetric. The vertical price transmission analysis reveals that it is relatively more integrated and efficient as it has a higher speed of adjustment (ECT of 0.199) which is twice that of the spatial price transmission. The model simulation reveals that it takes about 1 year and 6 months to revert to long run equilibrium after experiencing a shock. The vertical price adjustment is also found to be symmetric. A negative short-run elasticity of -0.29 is found for the spatial price transmission while the long-run transmission is found to be inelastic (0.91 ) which is close to unitary elasticity. The short-run vertical transmission is found to be very inelastic (0.009 ) while the long-run transmission of 0.94 is similar to the spatial transmission (inelastic but close to unitary). Farm to Retail Price Spreads are found to be widening with growing volatility owing to the volatile nature of the Retail Value. While the Farm Value has been increasing, recent spikes experienced in the Retail Value have resulted in an overall widening of the Farm to Retail Price Spread. The partial equilibrium analysis indicates that the price formation in Zambia’s sugar market is determined by the world price through the export parity price, domestic demand, supply conditions as well as policy. The elasticity between Zambia’s sugar price and the export parity price is found to be unitary (1.09). The price space analysis reveals that although Zambia’s domestic price is correlated with the export parity prices it is trending closer to the import parity price. This suggests that there are distortions in the sugar market, which may include high transaction costs, high concentration in the market structure as well as inappropriate policies such as high taxation, high interest rates and a policy requiring fortification of all sugar with Vitamin A, which are driving the domestic price upwards to exceed the export parity price. The sugar baseline for Zambia is generated for 2012 to 2015 based on a number of assumptions in the exogenous variables. Sugar production domestic use and exports are on the rise while the domestic price rises in 2011, falling between 2013 and 2014 then rising in 2014 to 2015. Model simulation of the removal and/or modification of the policy requiring sugar fortification reveals that there is an increase in the flow of imports to about 25,000 tons per year. This results in a 3.2 per cent loss in production and a 6.1 per cent gain in exports while the domestic sugar price falls by 23.9 US Cents/kg (18.8 per cent). Thus Zambia gains in terms of increased consumer welfare and producer welfare because production losses are offset by revenue gains through exports since the world price also increases. The study recommends that transaction costs which include transportation costs, energy, taxation which are pushing the domestic price upwards need to be lowered. The study emphasises the need to promote investments in the sugar industry especially for smaller emerging sugar mills by lowering interest rates and taxes as well as a need to strengthen competition laws governing the industry which will protect consumers,would-be- investors and cane producers from uncompetitive pricing. It further recomments the lifting and /or modification of the barrier on imports of unfortified sugar but stresses that government can allow raw sugar imports which can be fortified in Zambia. A more open and undistorted sugar market in Zambia will result in a competitive, efficient and integrated market governed by market dynamics. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc(Agric))--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

Cette thèse propose trois essais sur les perturbations tout au long de la chaîne de distribution des produits alimentaires à haute valeur nutritionnelle. Elle contribue à notre compréhension des menaces liées à la réalisation des objectifs de sécurité alimentaire dans les pays émergents. Contribuant à l'analyse économique de la chaîne de distribution et des questions agricoles, la thèse est fondée sur différents éléments théoriques relatifs à la chaîne de valeur, la croissance du marché, la transmission des prix et met en œuvre des techniques d'économétrie appliquée (économétrie des données de panel, économétrie des séries temporelles) à partir de base de données originales. L'objectif est d'analyser les sources et l'ampleur des perturbations dans la chaîne de distribution des produits à haute valeur nutritionnelle.La première partie de la thèse analyse les perturbations sur les marchés des produits alimentaires à haute valeur non-transformés et moins transformés. Le Chapitre 2 examine les perturbations en amont et en aval de la chaîne de distribution de ces produits. Le Chapitre 3 étend l’analyse du Chapitre 2 en prenant en compte les perturbations relatives aux produits ayant subi un niveau de transformation élevé. Dans les deux chapitres, les perturbations sont analysées en termes de changement de prix et de quantité, à la fois en amont et en aval. Le changement de quantité est considéré comme une perturbation préliminaire alors que celui de prix est secondaire. Utilisant le marché de São Paulo comme sujet d'étude, le Chapitre 4 analyse les effets du prix du diesel sur les différents segments de la chaîne de distribution des produits alimentaires à haute valeur nutritionnelle. Un modèle à correction d’erreur (MCE) qui prend en considération les effets des prix entre les différents produits est estimé pour vérifier si les chocs provenant du prix du diesel sont plus élevés en amont qu'en aval. Ce chapitre est analytiquement fondé sur la théorie de la transmission des prix.Les résultats des Chapitres 2 et 3 montrent que les désastres climatiques sont des sources dominantes de perturbation de la chaîne de distribution des produits alimentaires à haute valeur nutritionnelle. Leur effet est négatif pour tous les produits analysés, bien que l'ampleur de perturbation varie d’un produit à l’autre. Les résultats du modèle à correction d’erreur (MCE) du Chapitre 4 montrent que les effets du prix du diesel sur les prix des produits alimentaires à haute valeur nutritionnelle sont positifs et significatifs, alors que les effets en aval sont plus élevés que ceux en amont. Les résultats de la thèse ont des implications importantes pour le développement et la mise en œuvre des politiques d’alimentation dans les pays émergents. Le Chapitre 1, introduction générale, justifie l'étude des différences entre l'ampleur de perturbation en amont et celle en aval, et situe la thèse dans les littératures existantes. Une conclusion générale est proposée en Chapitre 5 avec des propositions pour de futurs travaux de recherche. / This dissertation presents three essays on disruptions along nutritional high-value food supply chains in emerging countries. It extends our understanding of threats to the attainment of food security in emerging countries. With a contribution to agricultural economics, the dissertation relies on value chain, market growth and price transmission theories and applies both panel data and time series econometric techniques to analyse the sources and magnitudes of the disruption of nutritional high-value food chains.The first part of the dissertation examines disruptions in unprocessed and minimally processed nutritional high-value food markets. Chapter 2 examines upstream and downstream disruptions along these food chains. Chapter 3 extends the analysis in Chapter 2 by assessing how disruptions change when nutritional high-value foods are highly processed. For each of the two chapters, disruptions are studied in terms of changes in upstream and downstream quantities and prices, with the disruption of quantity considered primary while that of prices is secondary.Using the São Paulo food market as a case study, Chapter 4 analyses the effect of diesel price shocks on different segments of the nutritional high-value food supply chain. A Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) that takes into account upstream and downstream cross-price effects is estimated to ascertain if diesel price shocks are higher downstream based on price transmission theory.The results of Chapters 2 and 3 show that climatological disasters are the most dominant source of disruption of nutritional high-value food supply chains and the direction of impact is negative for all foods under study. The magnitude of disruption, however, varies by food. From the VECM results in Chapter 4, we see that the price of diesel has a positive and significant effect on food prices, while the effects downstream are lower than those upstream. These results have significant implications for the design and implementation of food policies in emerging countries.As a general introduction, Chapter 1 justifies the need to study upstream and downstream differences in the magnitude of supply chain disruption, by situating the dissertation in the existing supply chain and food price transmission literature. Chapter 5 concludes the study and offers suggestions for future research.

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Maize production remains low in Eswatini. The small country is still unable to meet the local demand through local production. Maize is Eswatini’s staple food but the country has not yet reached self-sufficiency. This deficiency or shortfall in local maize production has been a persistent problem since the country’s independence. To fight this shortfall and reach self-sufficiency, the National Maize Corporation (NMC) was formed in 1985. The main purpose of the NMC is to keep the local demand satisfied. The NMC, as the only importer of white maize into Eswatini, does this by importing the deficit demand from South Africa. Stability of the local white maize price is also one of the responsibilities of the NMC. This study’s overarching aim was to determine whether or not a significant relationship exists between the maize prices as quoted on SAFEX and the local maize price in Eswatini. This is done to see if the importer of maize in Eswatini, the NMC, can hedge the price risk on SAFEX. The study also maps the Eswatini imported and local maize value-chain through the current price discovery mechanism. Secondary data offered by the NMC and data from the Ministry of Agriculture in Eswatini and educational journals were used in the study. Econometric time series methods were used along with monthly data from 2008 to 2019. Two hypotheses were tested during the study. The first hypothesis tested for the existence of a significant relationship between maize prices as quoted on SAFEX and the local maize price in Eswatini. The second hypothesis follows the first, determining whether or not hedging on SAFEX could be used as a tool to minimise price risk on the domestic price market in Eswatini. The study confirms that a long-run relationship exists between the South African maize market and the Eswatini maize market. The study showed that a 1% increase in the South African price led to a 0.67% increase in the local Eswatini prices. This indicates a slow rate shift in prices. Short-run dynamics indicated a 12.5% adjustment to equilibrium per term, which is a slow adjustment as a result of market conditions in Eswatini. The study also revealed asymmetry in price transmission and that the Eswatini prices only respond to positive changes (price increase) in the South African prices. This reveals that the two markets are poorly integrated. Due to the significant relationship between the two markets, it can be acknowledged that SAFEX could be used to hedge price risk by Eswatini through the NMC. Through mapping down the maize value-chain, the study discovered that the Eswatini maize market is not a liberalised one and value addition to maize through the chain is minimal. The relationship between the two maize markets, as well as the maize market of Eswatini, could still improve if means to liberate the market were to be exercised by the NMC and local government. This study can serve as the basis for understanding how risk management tools could be used by the Eswatini maize market and how the market could be improved or liberalised. / Dissertation (MSc Agric (Agricultural Economics))--University of Pretoria, 2021. / African Research Consortium (AERC) / Collaborative Master of Science Programme in Agricultural and Applied Economics (CMAAE) / Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / MSc Agric (Agricultural Economics) / Unrestricted

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Thesis (M.A. Agricultural Management (Agricultural Economics)) -- University of Limpopo -- 2020 / Potato is the most important vegetable crop in South Africa in terms of contribution to the gross value of agricultural production, export earnings and contribution to food supply base and food security in the SACU region. Despite the importance of this commodity, very little is known about the nature of price transmission between different levels of potato value chain in South Africa. The study aims to determine the nature of price transmission in the South African potato market. The objectives of the study are to investigate the existence of long-run equilibrium relationship between producer, wholesale and retail prices; to determine characteristics of the relationship; and to determine the direction of price causality. The study made use of Error Correction Model and Granger Causality test. The Empirical results reveal the existence of price asymmetry in the South African potato value chain. Furthermore, the results show that retail prices are more responsive producer price increases than they are to producer price declines. The Granger causality test shows that prices in potato value chain are determined mainly at the wholesale level (i.e. at the National Fresh Produce Markets). The study recommends further research focusing on price transmission for other basic food commodities and that the government retains and strengthens the existing food price monitoring system. / Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Thesis (M.A. Agricultural Management (Agricultural Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / Wheat forms part of the most essential grain crop produced in South Africa after maize. In South Africa, most of the wheat produced is used mainly for human consumption while the remaining is used for animal feed and seed. The wheat industry in South Africa is undergoing severe pressure, with drastic decreases in the area planted to wheat production while imports of wheat continued to increase since the year 1997. This has in return affected the performance and competitiveness of the South African wheat industry at the international stage and its ability to produce enough to meet local demand, hence continuous reliance on imports which later affect domestic wheat prices. Regardless of wheat as one of the most essential grain crop produced in South Africa, very little research is done to evaluate the co-movement, magnitude and speed of price transmission from world to domestic wheat market in South Africa. The study intends to analyse the transmission of world wheat prices to the domestic wheat market in South Africa using average weekly prices for wheat for the period between January 2010 and December 2019. The objectives of the study are to determine the level of cointegration or long run relationship between the world wheat prices and the domestic wheat prices in South Africa, and to assess the degree of world wheat price transmission to the domestic wheat prices in South Africa, with the application of the Error Correction Model. While several authors indicted that long run relationship does exist between spatially separated markets, this study also finds evidence of cointegration or long run relationship between world wheat markets and the domestic wheat market in South Africa. The results confirmed this priori expectation, that in a long run world wheat prices are ultimately transmitted to the domestic market in South Africa. The results further indicate that the speed of corrections or adjustments towards equilibrium conditions were established to be fairly low for domestic wheat prices. The study recommends further research with more emphasis on vertical price transmission from wheat to wheat flour and other wheaten products such as bread and cereals. Further recommendation suggested by the study is that government intervention through implementation of Dollar-Based Reference Price and Variable Tariff Formula for wheat must continue with more caution and improved speed for a quicker response, once there is a newly triggered import duty. / Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development

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Submitted by Jaqueline Silva (jtas29@gmail.com) on 2014-10-20T16:16:37Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Elsie Estela Moratoya - 2014.PDF: 1759354 bytes, checksum: c262cfaeef59e283285f32b837fdee16 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Jaqueline Silva (jtas29@gmail.com) on 2014-10-20T16:16:54Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Elsie Estela Moratoya - 2014.PDF: 1759354 bytes, checksum: c262cfaeef59e283285f32b837fdee16 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-20T16:16:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Elsie Estela Moratoya - 2014.PDF: 1759354 bytes, checksum: c262cfaeef59e283285f32b837fdee16 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-28 / This study presents an empirical analysis of price and volatility transmission for soybean and corn prices, between an international market, represented by the Chicago Board of Trade, and four domestic markets in Brazil: State of Goiás, Mato Grosso, Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul. Daily soybean and corn prices were collected for the period January, 2008 to June 2013 from the Centre for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics and the Institute of Agricultural Economics in Brazil. Henceforth, returns for the nominal price series were calculated and logaritmized for a preliminary to assess the behavior of the series, in which all were found to be integrated of order (1). Furthermore, the international market and domestic markets were found to be highly correlated. Co-movement and price transmission speed for both crops in all domestic markets and international market were measured using the Johansen cointegration test and the error correction model. Empirical results for the soybean prices presented the state of Rio Grande do Sul as the market that more rapidly adjusts to international market prices, at a rate of speed of 55%. Soybean prices in the state of Goiás corrected at a rate of 40%, Mato Grosso at a rate of 46%, and Paraná at a rate of speed of 55%. In terms of corn prices, the state of Goiás was the first to arrive at equilibrium with those of CBOT, at a rate of speed of 1.12%. Corn prices in the state of Mato Grosso corrected at a rate of 0.67% and Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul at a rate of 0.83%. Volatility transmission was determined with the use of a lower triangular GARCH - BECK model and the Impulse Response Function. The results showed that, in the case of soybean prices, the state of Goiás was the only one that presents no evidence of volatility transmission. Evidence of volatility transmission was found from CBOT to Mato Grosso, Parana to CBOT and bi-directional transmission between CBOT and Parana. Furthermore, results of the impulse response function show that a shock in the international soybean prices on prices of the State of Goiás did not normalize within a period of twenty four months. Other domestic markets showed a tendency to stabilize on an average of twenty months. In the case of corn prices, evidence of bi-directional volatility transmission was found between CBOT prices and Goias, Mato Grosso and Parana. Volatility transmission was unidirectional for Rio Grande do Sul and CBOT. The reaction to a shock in prices in the international market showed that the persistence of the shock in the domestic markets lasted an average of ten days before normalizing. The results show that price and volatility transmission between the domestic markets for the commodities analyzed and CBOT do exist and new information within the individual markets play a bigger role on returns volatility than new information from CBOT. / Este estudo apresenta uma análise empírica de transmissão de preços e de volatilidade nos preços da soja e do milho entre o mercado internacional, representado pela CBOT, e quatro mercados domésticos no Brasil: o Estado de Goiás, Mato Grosso, Paraná e Rio Grande do Sul. Para isso, foram selecionados os preços diários da soja e do milho, para o período entre janeiro de 2008 e junho de 2013. Os preços foram obtidos junto ao Centro de Estudos Avançados de Economia Aplicada e o Instituto de Economia Agrícola; em seguida, foram convertidos em retornos e logaritimizados para as análises. Posteriormente, foi feita uma análise preliminar dos preços nominais para avaliar o comportamento das séries temporais, em que foi verificada a estacionariedade de ordem (1) para todas as séries de preços. Foi também constatada uma alta correlação entre o mercado internacional e os mercados domésticos. O comovimento e a velocidade da transmissão dos preços foram estimados mediante o uso do teste de cointegração de Johansen e o modelo de correção de erros. Os resultados apontaram uma cointegração entre os mercados domésticos e o mercado internacional para as duas culturas. Os resultados empíricos dos testes para os preços da soja mostraram que o Estado do Rio Grande do Sul é o mercado que mais rapidamente se ajusta e se equilíbra com os preços da CBOT, numa velocidade de 55%. Os preços da soja no Estado de Goiás se ajustam a uma velocidade de 40%, o de Mato Grosso a uma velocidade de 46%, e o Paraná a uma velocidade de 55%. Quanto aos preços do milho, o Estado de Goiás é o que mais rapidamente se equilibra com os preços da CBOT, com uma velocidade de 1,12%. Os preços do Mato Grosso se corrigem a uma velocidade do 0,67% e os mercados do Paraná e Rio Grande do Sul a uma velocidade de 0,83%. A análise empírica da transmissão de volatilidade foi estimada pelo uso do modelo GARCH-BECK triangular inferior. Os resultados para a soja apontam que o mercado do Estado de Goiás foi o único que não apresentou evidência de transmissão de volatilidade. Existência de transmissão de volatilidade foi encontrado da CBOT para Mato Grosso, do Paraná para CBOT, e bidirecional entre Rio Grande do Sul e CBOT. Além disso, os resultados da Função Resposta ao Impulso mostram que um choque do mercado internacional no mercado do Estado de Goiás não chega à estabilidade em um período de vinte e quatro meses. Os outros mercados domésticos mostraram uma tendência de se estabilizar, em média, a partir de vinte meses. No caso do milho, foram encontradas evidências de transmissão de volatilidade bidirecional nos Estados de Goiás, Mato Grosso e Paraná, e transmissão unidirecional de Rio Grande do Sul para CBOT. A reação a um choque da CBOT mostra que a persistência do choque nos mercados domésticos leva, em média, dez dias para se estabilizar. Portanto, os resultados mostram que existe transmissão de preços e de volatilidade entre os mercados domésticos para os commodities analisados com a CBOT, além do que as novas informações dos proprios mercados possuem maior papel na volatilidade dos retornos que das informações da CBOT.

O mercado do milho no Brasil tem demonstrado algumas mudanças nos últimos anos aumentando sua importância no agronegócio. Por esse motivo, tem sido maior a necessidade de estudo de suas características. O objetivo da presente dissertação consiste em verificar como se dá a transmissão de preços entre os mercados regionais dessa commodity no Brasil a nível de produtor, com foco nos estados da região Sul e Centro-Oeste, devido à sua importância para a produção nacional. Além disso, também foi buscado analisar como os preços dos estados analisados reagem ao preço cotado na bolsa de valores para saber qual sua relação com o mercado externo. O método de pesquisa utilizado foi: teste de raiz unitária; teste de cointegração; vetor de correção de erro; teste de causalidade de Granger e teste de impulso-resposta. Os resultados do teste de cointegração indicam que há transmissão de preços entre todos os estados analisados, bem como os estados respondem a oscilações de preços do mercado externo a longo prazo. O fato de existir cointegração entre os estados é condição suficiente para se afirmar que existe relação linear de equilíbrio para a qual o sistema converge, validando os pressupostos da Lei do Preço Único e a integração. Todos os estados apresentaram resposta significativa a mudanças de preços no estado de Santa Catarina pelo vetor de correção de erro (VEC), mostrando que esse estado tem forte influência na formação de preços dos estados das duas regiões analisadas. No curto prazo foi observado que os estados de Mato Grosso e Rio Grande do Sul não recebem influência direta das oscilações de preços dos outros mercados, enquanto os estados de Paraná, Santa Catarina e Goiás parecem ser interdependentes a curto prazo, pois apresentam relativa correlação. Além disso, a função impulso resposta demonstra também que um impulso nos preços do estado de Santa Catarina gera resposta significativa nos preços dos outros estados de forma geral, e um impulso no preço do estado de Goiás também gera uma reação forte no preço do estado do Mato Grosso. / The corn market in Brazil has shown some changes in recent years increasing its importance in agribusiness. For this reason has increased the need for more studies related to this market’s characteristics . The objective of this dissertation is to check how is the price transmission between regional markets in Brazil at producer level for this commodity, focusing on states of the South and Midwest of the country, because of its importance to the national production. Furthermore, it was also sought to analyze how the prices of the analyzed states react to the price quoted on the stock market, looking for understanding how is its relationship with the external market. The research method used was: the unit root test , cointegration test , vector error correction; Granger causality test and impulse response test. The result of the cointegration test indicates that there is price transmission between all the states analyzed as well as states respond to price fluctuations on the stock market in the long run . The existence of cointegration between the states is sufficient to say that there is a linear equilibrium relationship to which converges the sistem, validating the assumptions of the Law of One Price and the integration condition. All states showed significant responses to price changes in the state of Santa Catarina by the vector error correction ( VEC ) , showing that this state has a strong influence on the pricing of the states on the two regions. In the short term it was observed that the states of Mato Grosso and Rio Grande do Sul receive no direct influence from the prices of other markets, while the states of Paraná, Santa Catarina and Goiás seem to be interdependent in the short term because they present a correlation. As well, the impulse response function also shows that a surge in prices in the state of Santa Catarina generates a significant response in prices of other states in general, and a boost in the price of Goias also generates a strong reaction in the price of Mato Grosso.