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Subsidies promote use of drought tolerant maize varieties despite variable yield performance under smallholder environments in Malawi

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  • Stein Holden
  • Monica Fisher

Abstract

This study used a three-year panel dataset for 350 Malawian farm households to examine the potential for widespread adoption of drought tolerant (DT) maize varieties, a technology that holds considerable promise for helping smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) adapt to drought risk. Regression results revealed that DT maize cultivation increased substantially from 2006 to 2012, with the main driver being the Malawi Farm Input Subsidy Program. Recently experienced drought and farmer risk aversion stimulated adoption of DT maize. In yield performance, improved maize varieties performed significantly better than local maize during the 2011/12 drought year. However, DT maize did not perform significantly better than other improved maize varieties used in Malawi, which is in contradiction to results obtained from on-station and on-farm trials. A plausible explanation is that the severe drought in Malawi in the 2011/12 season occurred early in the rainy season and DT maize primarily provides an advantage in the case of late droughts during the silking/grain filling stage of the crop. Preliminary results herein suggest that it was lack of rainfall in December 2011 that constrained maize yield while rainfall in January and February was less limiting. Additionally, the length of the longest dry spells in December and February further strengthens the evidence in favor of this explanation, but further research is needed to reach a conclusion. Copyright The Author(s) 2015

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  • Stein Holden & Monica Fisher, 2015. "Subsidies promote use of drought tolerant maize varieties despite variable yield performance under smallholder environments in Malawi," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 7(6), pages 1225-1238, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ssefpa:v:7:y:2015:i:6:p:1225-1238
    DOI: 10.1007/s12571-015-0511-4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Stein T. Holden & Rodney W. Lunduka, 2014. "Input Subsidies, Cash Constraints, and Timing of Input Supply," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 96(1), pages 290-307.
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    12. Rodney Lunduka & Jacob Ricker-Gilbert & Monica Fisher, 2013. "What are the farm-level impacts of Malawi's farm input subsidy program? A critical review," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 44(6), pages 563-579, November.
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    1. Holden, S.T. & Quiggin, J., 2018. "Probability Weighting and Fertilizer Use in a State-Contingent Framework," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277355, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. Hongyun Zheng & Wanglin Ma & Gucheng Li, 2021. "Learning from neighboring farmers: Does spatial dependence affect adoption of drought‐tolerant wheat varieties in China?," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 69(4), pages 519-537, December.
    3. Hansen, James & Hellin, Jon & Rosenstock, Todd & Fisher, Eleanor & Cairns, Jill & Stirling, Clare & Lamanna, Christine & van Etten, Jacob & Rose, Alison & Campbell, Bruce, 2019. "Climate risk management and rural poverty reduction," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 28-46.
    4. Spielman, David J. & Smale, Melinda, 2017. "Policy options to accelerate variety change among smallholder farmers in South Asia and Africa South of the Sahara," IFPRI discussion papers 1666, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    5. Stein T. Holden & John Quiggin, 2017. "Climate risk and state-contingent technology adoption: shocks, drought tolerance and preferences," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 44(2), pages 285-308.
    6. Martey, Edward & Etwire, Prince M. & Kuwornu, John K.M., 2020. "Economic impacts of smallholder farmers’ adoption of drought-tolerant maize varieties," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    7. Clifton Makate & Marshall Makate & Nelson Mango, 2019. "Wealth-related inequalities in adoption of drought-tolerant maize and conservation agriculture in Zimbabwe," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(4), pages 881-896, August.
    8. Mwale, Martin Limbikani & Kamninga, Tony Mwenda, 2022. "Land rights and the impact of farm input subsidies on poverty convergence," MPRA Paper 112431, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Samson P. Katengeza & Stein T. Holden & Rodney W. Lunduka, 2019. "Adoption of Drought Tolerant Maize Varieties under Rainfall Stress in Malawi," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(1), pages 198-214, February.
    10. Holden, Stein T., 2018. "The Economics of Fertilizer Subsidies," CLTS Working Papers 9/18, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 16 Oct 2019.
    11. Lunduka, R. & Kassie, G. & Tahirou, A. & Babu, S., 2018. "Do households that sell their surplus maize reinvest in improved maize seed? Case of southern Africa," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277378, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    12. Samson P. Katengeza & Stein T. Holden, 2021. "Productivity impact of drought tolerant maize varieties under rainfall stress in Malawi: A continuous treatment approach," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 52(1), pages 157-171, January.
    13. Tesfay, M., 2018. "Adoption of diversified farm technology in a semi arid of northern Ethiopia: A Panel Data Analysis," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 276008, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    14. Laura A Paul, 2021. "Heterogeneous and conditional returns from DT maize for farmers in Southern Africa [Long term consequences of early childhood malnutrition]," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 48(5), pages 1224-1248.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Improved maize varieties; Drought; Drought tolerance; Timing of drought; Input subsidies; Maize yields; Agricultural adaptation; Risk aversion; Q12; Q18;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q12 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Micro Analysis of Farm Firms, Farm Households, and Farm Input Markets
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy

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