Production and supply of tomato in Cameroon: Examination of the comparative effect of price and non-price factors

Abstract

This study analyses the effects of price and non-price factors on the supply response of tomatoes in Cameroon. Exploiting the Nerlovian Expectation Model, the results show a long-run supply elasticity of 0.83 and short-run supply elasticity of 1.8 which signify that farmers are more sensitive to price fluctuations in the short run than in the long run. These findings corroborate and extend the literature on the supply response of field crops in the context of developing nations. We show that tomato producers respond more to price incentives than non-price factors. Given this finding, we recommend policies that focus more on agricultural price control as a means of stabilising agricultural production.

Keywords

• Tomato
• Supply response
• Price factors
• Non-price factors