Factors affecting intra-regional staple food trade in the East African community: a case study of rice from Tanzania

This study examined factors affecting intra-regional staple food trade in the East African Community, using a case study of rice from Tanzania. The study used time series data from 2001 to 2018, and the methodology was based on the Gravity Model. The study was guided by three objectives which are population size, GDP size of Tanzania and Common market. The study employed ARDL model to find the factors affecting intra-regional staple foods trade and the findings suggest that GDP of Tanzania, population of East Africa negatively influences intra-regional trade in the region. Therefore, the study recommends that the level of trade informality in the region needs to be reduced to improve access to trade information for research and policymaking purposes, and also strategic and good governance needs to be implemented to enhance agricultural trade exports.