Application of a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) Fixed-Price Multiplier Model to Analyze SADC Regional Trade Outcomes for Zimbabwean Household Nutrition and Food Security

Chido Rutendo WAMAMBO

Master's thesis

Food Security and Regionalism: Analysis of SADC Trade Outcomes for Zimbabwe

Abstract:

African regional integration is an emerging concept in the context of globalization and socio-economic convergence. The Southern African Development Community (SADC), of which Zimbabwe is a founding member, plays both an advisory and regulatory role in policy design and recommendations for regional food security, and increasing inter-regional trade has been proposed by the SADC as a part of the solution to reaching zero hunger in Southern Africa. This study aims to describe the disaggregated effects of SADC trade on Zimbabwean households. Using a Social Accounting Matrix Fixed-Price Multiplier Model, the full impact of SADC imports on crucial food commodities was computed. The result showed that SADC inflows have a more significant impact on smallholder farming than large-scale, are more interlinked with dairy, processed food goods, and maize than other agricultural commodities and have a more substantial multiplier effect on rural households than urban households. The findings also show that, through import prices, inter-regional trade directly impacts the four pillars of food security (access, availability, utilization, and stability) but has an unclear effect on the nutritional status of Zimbabweans facing the double burden of malnutrition (obesity and stunting). Policymakers can implement similar methodologies to map out the beneficiaries of trade policies and identify the distributional impacts of such policies on welfare indicators such as health and nutrition. This understanding can assist decision-makers in tailoring macroeconomic policy design for meso socio-economic outcomes.

Abstract:

African regional integration is an emerging concept in the context of globalization and socio-economic convergence. The Southern African Development Community (SADC), of which Zimbabwe is a founding member, plays both an advisory and regulatory role in policy design and recommendations for regional food security, and increasing inter-regional trade has been proposed by the SADC as a part of the solution to reaching zero hunger in Southern Africa. This study aims to describe the disaggregated effects of SADC trade on Zimbabwean households. Using a Social Accounting Matrix Fixed-Price Multiplier Model, the full impact of SADC imports on crucial food commodities was computed. The result showed that SADC inflows have a more significant impact on smallholder farming than large-scale, are more interlinked with dairy, processed food goods, and maize than other agricultural commodities and have a more substantial multiplier effect on rural households than urban households. The findings also show that, through import prices, inter-regional trade directly impacts the four pillars of food security (access, availability, utilization, and stability) but has an unclear effect on the nutritional status of Zimbabweans facing the double burden of malnutrition (obesity and stunting). Policymakers can implement similar methodologies to map out the beneficiaries of trade policies and identify the distributional impacts of such policies on welfare indicators such as health and nutrition. This understanding can assist decision-makers in tailoring macroeconomic policy design for meso socio-economic outcomes.

Keywords

Food and Nutrition Security, Inter-Regional Trade, Nutrition Transition, Regional Integration, Social Accounting Matrix, Southern African Development Community, Zimbabwe

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 30. 6. 2023

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Mgr. Martin Schlossarek, Ph.D.

Palacký University Olomouc

Faculty of Science

Master programme / field:
Global Development Policy / Global Development Policy