ISHS Acta Horticulturae 758: X International Symposium on the Processing Tomato
DYNAMIC DEMAND ANALYSIS FOR TOMATO IN TUNISIA |
| Authors: | R. Khaldi, B. Dhehibi, Z. Rached |
| Keywords: | tomato consumption, budget coefficients, logarithmic demand model, price and expenditure elasticities, forecasting, Tunisia |
| Abstract:
With the supported development of the processed tomato branch and with the evolution of the practices and behavior of the consumers towards a greater consumption of fresh products and the increasing concern for a balanced diet, the aim of this article is to analyse the demand of fresh and processing tomato, their evolution, their degree of substitution and their future consumption tendency. Results shown that budget share, of the processing tomato is around 21%, while the fresh tomato reaching only 9%. Hence, a slight deference between rural and urban area is outlined. In terms of quantities, the relative importance of fresh tomatoes consumption (11 kg/person) with respect to processing tomatoes (7.6 kg/person, which correspond to 42.6 kg of fresh tomatoes) can be observed. It appears also from this analysis that a higher consumption for both fresh and processing tomatoes can be noted especially in urban areas and the Tunis district where the consumption of the processing tomato is growing more less than in rural areas. The response of the fresh and processing tomato to prices and total food expenditure is realised by the logarithmic model. The sample period covers data from 1980 to 2000. Empirical results indicate that the demand of fresh tomato is more sensitive to variations in total food expenditure than in prices. Calculated elasticities show that expenditure elasticity of the fresh tomato is close to the unity, indicating that it can be considered as a normal good. In comparison, the expenditure elasticity of processing tomatoes is less than the unity and it can be considered a necessity in the Tunisian diet. Result from own-price elasticities indicates that the resulting demand for the fresh tomato is elastic. Own price elasticity of fresh tomatoes is the largest and greater than the unity, in absolute terms, implying that consumption of this product is highly sensitive to price change. In the case of the processing tomato, the demand is affected only by the variation in total food expenditure. Cross-price elasticities show the strongest substitution relationship between the fresh and processing tomato, implying that consumption of fresh tomato is influenced by the price of the processing tomato. Finally, results of a long term projection tendency of tomato demand consumption, indicating that under this projection procedure, the processed tomato consumption should exceed fresh tomato if the prices of fresh tomato continue to increase with the same rate. | |
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