Tsedeke Abate

Modeling preference and willingness to pay for drought tolerance (DT) in maize in rural Zimbabwe

Highlights • Farmers’ willingness to pay for traits determines adoption of improved varieties.• Maize breeding efforts need to consider trait preferences of farmers.• Farmers are willing to pay more for drought tolerance than any other maize trait.• Trait-based promotion and marketing of improved maize varieties is recommended.

Poverty in maize growing rural communities of southern Africa

This study provides a detailed analysis of the extent and determinants of poverty in the maize-based rural economies of selected districts in southern African countries of Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia. Poverty profiles showed that households that were absolutely poor had significantly smaller family sizes, fewer livestock, smaller farm sizes, smaller number of illiterate household members, and less number of important assets such as phones and radios. The study also details the extent and determinants of poverty in the study countries using quantile regression. The importance of maize technology use and resource allocation to the crop in determining the magnitude of poverty is an important finding as the sampled households were essentially semi-subsistent with limited market orientation. This finding also justifies the effort being exerted on the development and deployment of maize and maize-related technologies in rural communities of southern Africa.

Potential for Scaling up Climate Smart Agricultural Practices: Examples from Sub-Saharan Africa

Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is predominantly rain-fed, and erratic weather patterns and extreme weather events, exacerbated by the changing climate, adds to the challenges faced by smallholder farmers in producing enough food to feed the ever growing population of the region. While the farming communities are responding to these challenges, there is an intensive need for scaling-up adoption of appropriate interventions that can help increase crop yields and resilience to climate change. A review and analysis of potential climate-smart agricultural practices (CSAs) in SSA indicate that some CSAs are increasingly adopted by farmers and show potential for scaling up. Some particularly promising CSAs include drought tolerant (DT) maize varieties and sustainable intensification through crop associations which are increasingly adopted across SSA regions. Other CSA’s which also offer promise include water harvesting and small-scale irrigation, climate information, and natural resource conservation. The presence of successful smallholder CSA practices in SSA means that opportunities exist for cross-country learning and scaling up by supporting farmers’ efforts through exchange of knowledge, incentives and policies.