Competitiveness of sojiculture in Mozambique: an analysis based on the experience of local producers

Abstract

Soy farming, on a global level, is among the economic activities that, in the last decades, presented more expressive growth. Therefore, the objective was to analyze the competitiveness of Mozambican soybean farming using multivariate statistical techniques, based on the theory of systemic competitiveness. The survey used primary data, obtained from January to March 2018, in Mozambique. The sample consisted of 120 soybean growers, in which the sampling technique was non-probabilistic and the choice of producers was based on the “snowball” technique. Descriptive statistics and multivariate statistics (Exploratory Factor Analysis and Cluster Analysis) were used as a reference for data compilation and treatment. The factor analysis made it possible to group 20 variables into seven factors, which simultaneously explain 81% of the total sample variance. This grouping allowed for the interpretability of the existing relations between them, that is, their interdependencies and the influence on the growth and development of soybean and impact on the competitiveness of the soy production chain in Mozambique. Therefore, with the cluster analysis it was possible to group soybean farmers into four clusters: those who are most engaged in the evolution of Mozambican soybean and receive the most contribution from public and private policies; those with medium productive evolution and withless institutional support; those who had less productivity growth and received more support and those who had no support. Therefore, it was possible to conclude that the action of public and private policies in the studied regions provided better soybean production indexes.