Global fluctuations in cereal prices since 2008 have created significant uncertainty and flux in international commodity markets. Projections are that prices over the next 10 years will generally be higher than they have been over the past half-century. Because of major heterogeneity in resources and farming conditions, farmers in agrarian societies like Zambia face a diverse range of challenges and opportunities in responding to these higher commodity prices. This thesis investigates the supply response of maize growing households in Zambia. A production function is created to identify the main determinants of ability to expand area under maize and maize yields among smallholder households. The study uses panel survey data on 5,400 farm households from the 2001, 2004 and 2008 Supplemental survey to the Post Harvest Survey of 1999/2000 agricultural season. Fixed effects analysis is used to model the response of households to different explanatory variables such as maize prices, household demographic characteristics, and asset holdings.I find that farm households' ability to respond to higher maize prices by expanding area under cultivation and yield are significantly affected by their resource endowment
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