Supply Response of Export Crops in Zambia: The Case of Coffee

1) Export diversification has long been at the centre of Zambia’s economic diversification policies. This article focuses on the coffee sector as a potentially important source of export diversification and examines its supply response to changes in various incentives. 2) Zambian coffee exhibits asymmetric short-run supply adjustments to long-run equilibrium such that production rises significantly after prices rise while changing little after prices fall. 3) The fact that coffee in Zambia is mainly grown for export, the changes in real exchange have the most significant effect on supply in that a depreciation in the Zambian Kwacha leads to an increase in coffee supply.