[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/iaae12/126669.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Is Older Better? Maize Hybrid Change on Household Farms in Kenya

Author

Listed:
  • Olwande, John
  • Smale, Melinda
Abstract
A globally-recognized maize “success story” since the 1970s, Kenya’s first maize hybrid diffused faster than did hybrids in the U.S Corn Belt during the 1930s-1940s. Today, a hybrid released in 1986 still dominates on farms in Kenya, despite the dramatic increase in the number of hybrids, breadth of seed suppliers, and range of hybrids sold as seed markets liberalize. Claims of stagnating yields and stagnating adoption are offset here, at least in part, by longitudinal survey data showing rising yields and adoption rates on farms. However, as the overall percent of maize farmers growing hybrids tops 80 percent and the seed industry matures, the slow pace of hybrid replacement may still be cause for concern. This paper begins an exploration of factors affecting the age of hybrids on farms in Kenya. We find a strong farmer response to the seed-to-grain price ratio—evidence of a commercial orientation even on household farms, and also of the need to “get (seed) prices right” in the industry.

Suggested Citation

  • Olwande, John & Smale, Melinda, 2012. "Is Older Better? Maize Hybrid Change on Household Farms in Kenya," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 126669, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:iaae12:126669
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.126669
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/126669/files/Olwande.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.126669?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kirimi, Lilian & Sitko, Nicholas & Jayne, Thom S. & Karin, Francis & Muyanga, Milu & Sheahan, Megan & Flock, James & Bor, Gilbert, 2011. "A Farm Gate-to-Consumer Value Chain Analysis of Kenya's Maize Marketing System," Working Papers 202597, Egerton University, Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development.
    2. Smale, Melinda & Byerlee, Derek & Jayne, Thom, 2011. "Maize revolutions in Sub-Saharan Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5659, The World Bank.
    3. Tavneet Suri, 2006. "Selection and Comparative Advantage in Technology Adoption," Working Papers 944, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    4. Chamberlin, Jordan & Jayne, Thomas S., 2009. "Has Kenyan Farmers’ Access to Markets and Services Improved? Panel Survey Evidence, 1997-2007," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 58545, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    5. Hugo De Groote & George Owuor & Cheryl Doss & James Ouma & Lutta Muhammad & K. Danda, 2005. "The Maize Green Revolution in Kenya Revisited," The Electronic Journal of Agricultural and Development Economics, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, vol. 2(1), pages 32-49.
    6. Langyintuo, Augustine S. & Mungoma, Catherine, 2008. "The effect of household wealth on the adoption of improved maize varieties in Zambia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 550-559, December.
    7. Haggblade, Steven & Hazell, Peter B. R. (ed.), 2010. "Successes in African agriculture: Lessons for the future," IFPRI books, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), number 978-0-8018-9503-6.
    8. Suri, Tavneet, 2006. "Selection and Comparative Advantage in Technology Adoption," Center Discussion Papers 28445, Yale University, Economic Growth Center.
    9. Hassan, Rashid M. & Mekuria, Mulugetta & Mwangi, Wilfred, 2001. "Maize Breeding Research In Eastern And Southern Africa: Current Status And Impacts Of Past Investments Made By The Public And Private Sectors, 1966-97," Impact Studies 23723, CIMMYT: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.
    10. Tavneet Suri, 2011. "Selection and Comparative Advantage in Technology Adoption," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 79(1), pages 159-209, January.
    11. Derek Byerlee & Greg Traxler, 1995. "National and International Wheat Improvement Research in the Post-Green Revolution Period: Evolution and Impacts," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 77(2), pages 268-278.
    12. Smale, Melinda & Singh, Joginder & Di Falco, Salvatore & Zambrano, Patricia, 2008. "Wheat breeding, productivity and slow variety change: evidence from the Punjab of India after the Green Revolution," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 54(4), pages 1-14.
    13. Van Dusen, M. Eric, 2000. "In Situ Conservation Of Crop Genetic Resources In The Mexican Milpa System," Dissertations 11941, University of California, Davis, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    14. Karanja, Daniel David, 1996. "An Economic and Institutional Analysis of Maize Research in Kenya," Food Security International Development Working Papers 54693, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    15. Jacob Ricker-Gilbert & Thomas S. Jayne & Ephraim Chirwa, 2010. "Subsidies and Crowding Out: A Double-Hurdle Model of Fertilizer Demand in Malawi," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 93(1), pages 26-42.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Frank Davenport & Chris Funk & Gideon Galu, 2018. "How will East African maize yields respond to climate change and can agricultural development mitigate this response?," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 147(3), pages 491-506, April.
    2. Gharib, Mariam H. & Palm-Forster, Leah H. & Lybbert, Travis J. & Messer, Kent D., 2021. "Fear of fraud and willingness to pay for hybrid maize seed in Kenya," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    3. Tripp, Robert & Mensah-Bonsu, Akwesi, 2013. "Ghana's commercial seed sector: New incentives or continued complacency?:," GSSP working papers 32, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. Olwande, John & Smale, Melinda & Mathenge, Mary K. & Place, Frank & Mithöfer, Dagmar, 2015. "Agricultural marketing by smallholders in Kenya: A comparison of maize, kale and dairy," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 22-32.
    5. Mutoko, Morgan C. & Hein, Lars & Bartholomeus, Harm, 2014. "Integrated analysis of land use changes and their impacts on agrarian livelihoods in the western highlands of Kenya," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 1-12.
    6. Gitonga, Zachary M. & De Groote, Hugo, 2016. "Role of hybrid maize adoption on food security in Kenya: an application of two-step generalized method of moments (gmm2s)," 2016 Fifth International Conference, September 23-26, 2016, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 246315, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    7. Jones, Ashley D. & Dalton, Timothy J. & Smale, Melinda, 2012. "A Stochastic Production Function Analysis of Maize Hybrids and Yield Variability in Drought-Prone Areas of Kenya," Working Papers 202593, Egerton University, Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Melinda Smale & John Olwande, 2014. "Demand for maize hybrids and hybrid change on smallholder farms in Kenya," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 45(4), pages 409-420, July.
    2. Smale, Melinda, 2011. "Does Household Headship Affect Demand for Hybrid Maize Seed in Kenya? An Exploratory Analysis Based on 2010 Survey Data," Food Security International Development Working Papers 118475, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    3. Mathenge, Mary K. & Smale, Melinda & Olwande, John, 2012. "The Impact of Maize Hybrids on Income, Poverty, and Inequality among Smallholder Farmers in Kenya," Food Security International Development Working Papers 146931, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    4. Ogada, Maurice & Nyangena, Wilfred, 2015. "Impact of Improved Farm Technologies on Yields: The Case of Improved Maize Varieties and Inorganic Fertilizers in Kenya," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212590, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Jaleta, Moti & Yirga, Chilot & Kassie, Menale & De Groote, Hugo & Shiferaw, Bekele, 2013. "Knowledge, Adoption and Use Intensity of Improved Maize Technologies in Ethiopia," 2013 Fourth International Conference, September 22-25, 2013, Hammamet, Tunisia 161483, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    6. Nyangena, Wilfred & Juma, Ogada Maurice, 2014. "Impact of Improved Farm Technologies on Yields: The Case of Improved Maize Varieties and Inorganic Fertilizer in Kenya," RFF Working Paper Series dp-14-02-efd, Resources for the Future.
    7. Smale, Melinda & Mason, Nicole M., 2013. "Hybrid Seed, Income, and Inequality among Smallholder Maize Farmers in Zambia," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 146929, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    8. Scheiterle, L., 2018. "Soil, striga or subsidies? Determinants of maize productivity in northern Ghana," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277405, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    9. Jones, Ashley D. & Dalton, Timothy J. & Smale, Melinda, 2012. "A Stochastic Production Function Analysis of Maize Hybrids and Yield Variability in Drought-Prone Areas of Kenya," Working Papers 202593, Egerton University, Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development.
    10. Christina Handschuch & Meike Wollni, 2016. "Improved production systems for traditional food crops: the case of finger millet in western Kenya," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(4), pages 783-797, August.
    11. Tadele Tefera & Stephen Mugo & Yoseph Beyene, 2016. "Developing and deploying insect resistant maize varieties to reduce pre-and post-harvest food losses in Africa," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(1), pages 211-220, February.
    12. Kathage, Jonas & Qaim, Matin & Kassie, Menale & Shiferaw, Bekele A., 2012. "Seed market liberalization, hybrid maize adoption, and impacts on smallholder farmers in Tanzania," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 126231, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Adejuwon, Olawale O. & Ilori, Matthew O. & Taiwo, Kehinde A., 2016. "Technology adoption and the challenges of inclusive participation in economic activities: Evidence from small scale oil palm fruit processors in southwestern Nigeria," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 111-120.
    14. Jeremy Foltz & Ursula Aldana & Paul Laris, 2014. "The Sahel's Silent Maize Revolution: Analyzing Maize Productivity in Mali at the Farm Level," NBER Chapters, in: African Successes, Volume IV: Sustainable Growth, pages 111-136, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Timothy G. Conley & Christopher R. Udry, 2010. "Learning about a New Technology: Pineapple in Ghana," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(1), pages 35-69, March.
    16. Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob & Jones, Michael, 2015. "Does storage technology affect adoption of improved maize varieties in Africa? Insights from Malawi’s input subsidy program," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 92-105.
    17. Mathenge, Mary K. & Smale, Melinda & Olwande, John, 2014. "The impacts of hybrid maize seed on the welfare of farming households in Kenya," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 262-271.
    18. Olwande, John & Smale, Melinda & Mathenge, Mary K. & Place, Frank & Mithöfer, Dagmar, 2015. "Agricultural marketing by smallholders in Kenya: A comparison of maize, kale and dairy," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 22-32.
    19. Michelson, Hope & Fairbairn, Anna & Ellison, Brenna & Maertens, Annemie & Manyong, Victor, 2021. "Misperceived quality: Fertilizer in Tanzania," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    20. Sheahan, Megan & Black, Roy & Jayne, Thomas S., 2012. "What is the Scope for Increased Fertilizer Use in Kenya?," Food Security International Development Working Papers 135283, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Consumer/Household Economics; Crop Production/Industries;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:iaae12:126669. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iaaeeea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.