Jon Hellin

Adapting maize production to climate change in sub-Saharan Africa

Given the accumulating evidence of climate change in sub-Saharan Africa, there is an urgent need to develop more climate resilient maize systems. Adaptation strategies to climate change in maize systems in sub-Saharan Africa are likely to include improved germplasm with tolerance to drought and heat stress and improved management practices. Adapting maize systems to future climates requires the ability to accurately predict future climate scenarios in order to determine agricultural responses to climate change and set priorities for adaptation strategies. Here we review the projected climate change scenarios for Africa’s maize growing regions using the outputs of 19 global climate models. By 2050, air temperatures are expected to increase throughout maize mega- environments within sub-Saharan Africa by an average of 2.1°C. Rainfall changes during the maize growing season varied with location. Given the time lag between the development of improved cultivars until the seed is in the hands of farmers and adoption of new management practices, there is an urgent need to prioritise research strategies on climate change resilient germplasm development to offset the predicted yield declines.

Assessing the vulnerability of traditional maize seed systems in Mexico to climate change

Climate change is predicted to have major impacts on small-scale farmers in Mexico whose livelihoods depend on rain-fed maize. We examined the capacity of traditional maize seed systems to provide these farmers with appropriate genetic material under predicted agro-ecological conditions associated with climate change. We studied the structure and spatial scope of seed systems of 20 communities in four transects across an altitudinal gradient from 10–2,980 m above sea level in five states of eastern Mexico. Results indicate that 90% of all of the seed lots are obtained within 10 km of a community and 87% within an altitudinal range of ±50 m but with variation across four agro-climate environments: wet lowland, dry lowland, wet upper midlatitude, and highlands. Climate models suggest a drying and warming trend for the entire study area during the main maize season, leading to substantial shifts in the spatial distribution patterns of agro-climate environments. For all communities except those in the highlands, predicted future maize environments already are represented within the 10-km radial zones, indicating that in the future farmers will have easy access to adapted planting material. Farmers in the highlands are the most vulnerable and probably will need to acquire seed from outside their traditional geographical ranges. This change in seed sources probably will entail important information costs and the development of new seed and associated social networks, including improved linkages between traditional and formal seed systems and more effective and efficient seed-supply chains. The study has implications for analogous areas elsewhere in Mexico and around the world.

Conservation Agriculture in Maize- and Wheat- Based Systems in the (Sub)tropics: Lessons from Adaptation Initiatives in South Asia, Mexico, and Southern Africa

Conservation agricultures underlying principles—minimal soil disturbance, soil cover and crop rotation—are increasingly recognized as essential for sustainable agriculture. This article summarizes three contrasting cases of adapting conservation agriculture (CA) to smallholder conditions in the (sub)tropics: a) irrigated rice-wheat systems in South Asia; b) rainfed maize/wheat and irrigated wheat systems in Mexico; and c) rainfed maize in Southern Africa. In the South Asia case, farm surveys show rapid and widespread adoption of zero tillage wheat—primarily due to a substantial cost saving (15–16%). In the other cases, uptake so far has been limited—although long-term trials show continuously higher and more stable yields both for maize and wheat. Under marginal conditions CA can generate substantial yield increases—averaging some 50% over conventional smallholder maize yields of 1 ton per ha over 6 years in on-farm trails in Southern Africa. The diverse experiences attest to the wide adaptability of CA systems, which can generate clear economic and potentially enormous environmental benefits. The case studies and wider literature however also reiterate the substantial challenges in terms of targeting, adapting and adopting CA—particularly for smallholders in the (sub)tropics. CA systems are best developed in situ through a multi-stakeholder adaptive learning process to create viable CA-based options that are technically sound, economically attractive, and socially acceptable.

Improving market access and agricultural productivity growth in Africa: what role for producer organizations and collective action institutions?

The history of producer organizations in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a mixed one. In the past, producer organizations often failed to provide desired services due to dependence on government support, which led to heavy political interference as well as internal leadership and managerial problems. However, the hasty retreat of the state following adjustment and market liberalization reforms left an institutional void that the private sector has failed to fill. This study reviews the role that producer organizations can play, and the challenges they face in improving access to markets and technologies for enhancing productivity of smallholder agriculture in SSA in the post-adjustment era. The paper critically examines the evidence for improving access to markets, information and technologies, and the conditions that facilitate the success of producer organizations in providing such services. Emphasis is on the characteristics of user groups, institutional arrangements, governance mechanisms, types of products (staples, perishables and other commodities), and the role of the public and private sector service providers. We conclude that while recent experiences are mixed, good governance, more homogeneous and optimal group size, transparency and market orientation can enhance the role of producer organizations in improving access to markets. However, ideally these organizations need to prioritise agribusiness opportunities over social welfare objectives even though this may mean that some households are unable to take advantage of them. Donors and governments have important roles to play in stimulating the emergence and development of economically viable and self-sustaining producer organizations. The private sector is also critical in terms of providing producer organizations with financial and business development services.

Agricultural Extension, Collective Action and Innovation Systems: Lessons on Network Brokering from Peru and Mexico

Abstract Purpose: New approaches to extension service delivery are needed that stimulate increased agricultural production, contribute to collective action and which also foster the emergence of agricultural innovation systems. Research in Peru and Mexico explores some of these new approaches. Design/methodology/approach: In both countries, a qualitative value chain mapping methodology was used to explore the challenges of providing extension provision to resource-poor farmers in ways that stimulate collective action and agricultural innovation systems. Findings: In Peru, collective action and the development of an agriculture innovation system required the network broker activities of initially a non-governmental organization (NGO) and then increasingly trusted local farmers known as Kamayoq. In Mexico, collective action took place in the context of a linear transfer-of-technology approach focused on access to improved maize seed and there was no evidence of the emergence of innovation networks. Practical implications: Different extension modalities can foster collective action but this in itself is not enough to encourage innovation. Extension needs to focus on combining collective action with networking amongst sets of heterogeneous value chain actors. Originality/value: The Peruvian and Mexican case studies demonstrate that the debate about the modalities of pluralistic and diversified extension systems has obscured the reality that the development community still has some way to go to achieve comprehensively the paradigm shift from a linear transfer-of-technology approach to one that supports the emergence of agricultural innovation systems.

Maize diversity, poverty, and market access: lessons from Mexico

Crop genetic diversity and poverty are linked: first, resource-poor farmers often maintain genetic diversity; and second, crop diversity, when properly valued by the market, has the potential to alleviate poverty. This article examines this supposition by drawing on three case studies of the intersection of the market with poverty and maize diversity in Mexico. These suggest that the bulk market for maize offers little room for maize landraces (local maize varieties known as criollo maize), in that it does not reward qualitative variation in maize grain and instead presents incentives that make planting ‘improved’ maize germplasm the rational economic choice for small-scale farmers. Meanwhile, attempts to add value to maize landraces via market differentiation have had varying success. Although there is potential for differentiated markets to contribute to successful business models and poverty alleviation, these cases exhibit trade-offs between product consistency, investment of labour and resources, and genetic-diversity conservation.

Maize Landraces and Adaptation to Climate Change in Mexico

Mexico is the primary center of origin and diversity for maize (Zea mays L.). Farmers grow the crop largely under rain-fed conditions. Mexico is at considerable risk from climate change because of predicted rising temperatures, declining rainfall, and an increase in extreme weather events. Small-scale maize farmers are particularly vulnerable because of their geographical location as well as their limited adaptive capacity. Recommended climate change adaptation strategies include farmers’ increased use of heat and drought stress-tolerant maize. Farmer adoption of improved germplasm has been disappointing because of inefficient seed input chains and farmers’ preference for landraces for culinary, agronomic, and cultural reasons. Scientists have tended to overlook the fact that maize landraces have a critical role to play in climate change adaptation. Landraces may already exist that are appropriate for predicted climates. Furthermore, within the primary gene pool of maize and its wild relatives there exists unexploited genetic diversity for novel traits and alleles that can be used for breeding new high yielding and stress-tolerant cultivars. The breeding component of adaptation strategies should focus more on improving farmers’ landraces. The desired result would be a segmented maize seed sector characterized by both (improved) landraces and improved maize varieties. The public and private sector could continue to provide farmers with improved maize varieties and different actors, including farmers themselves, would generate seed of improved landraces for sale and/or exchange.

Maize-Poultry Value Chains in India: Implications for Research and Development

Rapid growth of the poultry industry in India has caused an increased demand for maize (Zea mays L.). Poultry feed contains 60–65% of maize and approximately 50% of Indias annual maize harvest of 19 million tons is used for poultry feed. This article reports on a qualitative study of maize-poultry value chains. It identifies bottlenecks in the value chains and highlights some of the impediments to the uptake of quality-protein maize (QPM; maize with elevated levels of the essential amino acids lysine and tryptophan), which is being heavily promoted by Indian maize breeders. Further research is needed to produce QPM varieties that outperform normal maize varieties and to work more closely with the poultry industry so that QPM value chains become more demand than supply-driven.

Smallholder Farmers and Maize in Mexico: A Value-Chain Approach to Improved Targeting of Crop-Breeding Programs

Research on agricultural value chains can identify strategies for farmers to improve their incomes and livelihood security. The trend in such research, however, has often been to focus on making the chains more effective and efficient via improvements in the relationships between chain actors. Value-chain research has less frequently been applied to the seed sector in identifying how plant breeding can best produce seeds that generate a product with the quality characteristics demanded by output markets. In this article, we report on a research initiative to support maize-seed improvement for the central highlands of Mexico. The research was designed to identify quality traits, demanded in regional maize markets, to add to the list of targeted traits which typically guide plant breeding. We report on the methodological approach and the research findings. We then discuss how these findings are being integrated into ongoing maize-breeding programs for the central highlands of Mexico. We suggest that a value-chain analysis can provide useful guidance to crop-breeding programs, providing plant breeders with information on agronomic characteristics required by producers and quality traits demanded by the market.

The evolution of the MasAgro hubs: responsiveness and serendipity as drivers of agricultural innovation in a dynamic and heterogeneous context

ABSTRACT Purpose: Little is known about effective ways to operationalize agricultural innovation processes. We use the MasAgro program in Mexico (which aims to increase maize and wheat productivity, profitability and sustainability), and the experiences of middle level ‘hub managers’, to understand how innovation processes occur in heterogeneous and changing contexts. Design/methodology/approach: We use a comparative case study analysis involving research tools such as documentary review, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and reflection workshops with key actors. Findings: Our research shows how a program, that initially had a relatively narrow technology focus, evolved towards an innovation system approach. The adaptive management of such a process was in response to context-specific challenges and opportunities. In the heterogeneous context of Mexico this results in diverse ways of operationalization at the hub level, leading to different collaborating partners and technology portfolios. Practical implications: MasAgro experiences merit analysis in the light of national public efforts to transform agricultural advisory services and accommodate pluralistic agricultural extension approaches in Latin America. Such efforts need long-term coherent macro level visions, frameworks and support, while the serendipitous nature of the process requires meso-level implementers to respond and adapt to and move the innovation process forward. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the debate on how to operationalize large programs by showing that the innovation support arrangements enacted in the field should allow for diversity and have a degree of flexibility to accommodate heterogeneous demands from farmers in different contexts as well as continuous changes in the politico- institutional environment.