Wilfred Mwangi

Factors affecting adoption of improved maize seeds and use of inorganic fertilizer for maize production in the intermediate and lowland zones of Tanzania

This paper examines factors influencing the adoption of improved maize seeds and the use of inorganic fertilizer for maize production by farmers in the intermediate and lowland zones of Tanzania. The results indicate that availability of extension services, on-farm field trials, variety characteristics and rainfall were the most important factors that influenced the extent of adopting improved maize seeds and the use of inorganic fertilizer for maize production. Farmers preferred those varieties which minimize field loss rather than maximizing yields. Future research and extension policies should emphasize farmer participation in the research process and on-farm field trials for varietal evaluation and demonstration purposes.

Low use of fertilizers and low productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa

Up to the year 2000 and beyond, the population of SSA is expected to grow at a rate of more than 3% per year, while food production is likely to grow at a rate of 2% or less a year. Closing this gap and increasing food production will require intensive agriculture based on modern technologies, including fertilizers. Such changes are particulalry crucial because many regions of SSA are no longer land abundant. Land scarcity is compounded by low soil fertility, resulting from the shortening or elimination of the fallow period without concurrent efforts to increase soil nutrients through fertilizer application or other soil management practices. Output per hectare will need to grow by raising the productivity of land and labor. Increased use of fertilizer has a key role to play in this process. Because of the high labor intensity and low quality of organic fertilizer, restoration of soil fertility increasingly requires the use of inorganic fertilizer. SSAs consumption of this critical input is very low. In 1990, farmers in SSA used 8.4 kilograms per hectare of plant nutrients, far short of what is needed to compensate for the harvested nutrients. A stable policy environment conducive to change is absolutely critical for promoting growth in fertilizer use. Such growth is especially important if small-scale farmers are to increase production, ensure food security, and protect the environment. Policy particularly needs to address the issue of subsidies. Although they will inevitably be removed in the long run, in short and medium run they should be retained while policies address other important issues such as credit and the need to support appropriate agricultural research, to develop and maintain infrastructure, and to foster the development of a viable private sector-all of which will lead to increased fertilizer use.

Drivers of improved maize variety adoption in drought prone areas of Malawi

This study identifies the determinants of adoption and adoption-intensity of improved maize varieties in Malawi. We estimated a double hurdle model based on household-level survey data collected in the districts of Balaka and Mangochi in 2008 and found that labour endowment, access to rural credit, livestock wealth, access to agricultural extension, farm size and access to off-farm employment all significantly increase the likelihood of adoption. Households where the head had membership of a social group were also found to be less likely to have adopted. The intensity of adoption was found to be negatively related to livestock wealth and fertilizer use. Conversely, the age of the household head, the labour endowment of the household and the proportion of household members engaged in off-farm activities were factors that were found to be positively related to intensity of adoption. The study suggests the need to enhance adoption and intensity of adoption of improved maize varieties in Malawi among other things improving access to rural finance through credit and improving access to agricultural extension. Agricultural extension enhances provision of timely and quality agricultural information which is vital to smallholder farmers’ production and marketing decisions and hence, key to decisions to adopt new and improved technologies such as improved maize varieties.

Economic, production and poverty impacts of investing in maize tolerant to drought in Africa: An ex-ante assessment

The potential impacts of investing in drought tolerant maize (DTM) in 13 countries of eastern, southern and western Africa were analyzed through an innovative economic surplus analysis framework, to identify where greatest economic returns and poverty reduction may be achieved. Assuming a potential full replacement of improved varieties with DTM varieties, by 2016 there would be economic gains of US

Political and economic features of the maize seed industry in southern Africa

907 million over all countries under conservative yield gains, or US

Adoption of maize production technologies in Southern Tanzania

1,535 million under optimistic yield gains. Largest gains in terms of consumer and producers surplus are in Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Malawi. However, in terms of production gains and poverty reduction, the countries gaining most are Nigeria, Kenya and Malawi (in terms of production); and Zimbabwe, Malawi and Kenya (number of people out of poverty). A total of 4 million people — both producers and consumers— would have their poverty greatly reduced in all countries. To achieve these impacts, deployment strategies are discussed and various options are suggested, which depend on local context and state of the national seed sectors.

ADOPTION OF MAIZE AND WHEAT TECHNOLOGIES IN EASTERN AFRICA: A SYNTHESIS OF THE FINDINGS OF 22 CASE STUDIES

ABSTRACT The seed industry in southern Africa (Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe) has three important features: first, dominance of the government as buyer and distributor of seed; second, a high market share and power of few seed companies; and third, a sustained but incomplete effort to harmonize the seed policy in the region. The challenges the seed industry is facing are lack of basic seed, poor production infrastructure, lack of skill in seed production, challenges to access and multiply seeds of varieties released from public institutions, lack of purchasing power among smallholder farmers, high transaction cost of seed marketing, market-distorting interventions by governments, lack and misuse of market information, free riding, lack of working capital financing, and breaching of contract by seed growers. Important policy implications have been drawn from this study, which include strengthening national research systems, strategic capacity building along the maize seed value chain, improving the access to financial services, developing and implementation of agreed protocols of SADC for seed policy harmonization.