MARKETING DECISIONS OF RURAL HOUSEHOLDS AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN MOZAMBIQUE

The vast majority of households in Mozambique live in rural areas and agriculture is still the main economic activity. They rarely produce for the market and are highly dependent on climate for their subsistence. In this study I analyse basic food marketing decisions of rural households using a dou- ble- hurdle estimator, also considering non-market factors as influencing the participation decisions in the basic food agricultural market. Moreover, results from disaggregated quantile analysis are presented, evidencing the differences in the estimated coefficie nts of some key variable at different quantiles. Finally, a basic fuzzy set poverty index is constructed and a series of qualitative analyses is conducted. The dataset used (Trabalho do Inquerito Agricola, TIA 2005) refers to the 2004/2005 agri- cultural season, and contains more detailed data on agricultural prices and quantities with respect to the household survey previously used for similar studies. This allows a better understanding of the dynamics involved in the process of marketing decisions. Preliminary findin gs say that that first, lack of infrastructures, technology and information may play a very important role in determining the mar- keting decisions of basic food commodities; second, market participation is associated with greater asset endowments, even though there is no clear causation. Policy implications are finally drawn for Mozambican agriculture development.