An Econometric Analysis of Maize Farmer’s Choice of Land Ownership System: Evidence Using Panel Data from Tanzania

This paper determines the socioeconomic and physical characteristics that influence maize farmer’s choice of land ownership systems in Tanzania, i.e., owned, sharecropped, and rented title land. The paper uses the Tanzania National Panel Survey (TZNPS) data basing on 2,073 observations comprising of a sample size of 691 households in three consecutive waves 2008/2009, 2010/2011, and 2012/2013. Using a t-test for mean comparison, the paper found that there is a significant difference between male and female-headed households across socioeconomic and physical factors determining the choice of land ownership systems among maize smallholder farmers. Moreover, the paper findings revealed that 90 percent, 7 percent, and 3 percent of the sampled maize smallholder farmers chose to farm under-owned, shared, and rented title land system respectively. Furthermore, the econometric analysis which is grounded from the multinomial logit regression model showed that accessibility, farm size, quantity harvested, accessibility of extension services, gender, household size, and age are all pertinent in influencing the smallholder maize farmer’s choice of land ownership. The paper recommends that these characteristics of the smallholder maize producers should be critically considered when formulating any land and agricultural policies to enhance proper decision making by smallholder farmers on the choice of land ownership system that may led to sustainable agricultural production, productivity, and food security in developing countries particularly in Tanzania.