IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/ragrxx/v52y2013i2p104-127.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • G.T. Kassie
  • O. Erenstein
  • W. Mwangi
  • J. MacRobert
  • P. Setimela
  • B. Shiferaw

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.

Suggested Citation

  • G.T. Kassie & O. Erenstein & W. Mwangi & J. MacRobert & P. Setimela & B. Shiferaw, 2013. "Political and economic features of the maize seed industry in southern Africa," Agrekon, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(2), pages 104-127, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:ragrxx:v:52:y:2013:i:2:p:104-127
    DOI: 10.1080/03031853.2013.798067
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/03031853.2013.798067
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/03031853.2013.798067?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Smale, Melinda & Jayne, T.S., 2003. "Maize in Eastern and Southern Africa: 'seeds' of success in retrospect," EPTD discussion papers 97, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    2. Langyintuo, Augustine S. & Mwangi, Wilfred & Diallo, Alpha O. & MacRobert, John F. & Dixon, John & Banziger, Marianne, 2008. "An analysis of the bottlenecks affecting the production and deployment of maize seed in Eastern and Southern Africa," Economics Program Papers 56189, CIMMYT: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.
    3. 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.
    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. Makate, Clifton & Angelsen, Arild & Holden, Stein Terje & Westengen, Ola Tveitereid, 2023. "Evolution of farm-level crop diversification and response to rainfall shocks in smallholder farming: Evidence from Malawi and Tanzania," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    2. Hugo De Groote & Nilupa S. Gunaratna & Monica Fisher & E. G. Kebebe & Frank Mmbando & Dennis Friesen, 2016. "The effectiveness of extension strategies for increasing the adoption of biofortified crops: the case of quality protein maize in East Africa," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(6), pages 1101-1121, December.
    3. Clifton Makate & Marshall Makate, 2022. "Do Rainfall Shocks Prompt Commercial Input Purchases Amongst Smallholder Farmers in Diverse Regions and Environments in Malawi?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-31, November.
    4. Jason Donovan & Pieter Rutsaert & Ciro Domínguez & Meliza Peña, 2022. "Capacities of local maize seed enterprises in Mexico: Implications for seed systems development," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(2), pages 509-529, April.
    5. Erenstein, Olaf & Kassie, Girma Tesfahun, 2018. "Seeding eastern Africa’s maize revolution in the post-structural adjustment era: a review and comparative analysis of the formal maize seed sector," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 21(1).

    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. Tavneet Suri, 2006. "Selection and Comparative Advantage in Technology Adoption," Working Papers 944, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    2. Smale, Melinda & Byerlee, Derek R. & Jayne, Thomas S., 2011. "Maize Revolutions in Sub-Saharan Africa," Miscellaneous Publications 113651, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    3. Adu-Gyamfi Poku & Regina Birner & Saurabh Gupta, 2018. "Why do maize farmers in Ghana have a limited choice of improved seed varieties? An assessment of the governance challenges in seed supply," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 10(1), pages 27-46, February.
    4. Erenstein, Olaf & Kassie, Girma Tesfahun, 2018. "Seeding eastern Africa’s maize revolution in the post-structural adjustment era: a review and comparative analysis of the formal maize seed sector," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 21(1).
    5. MacRobert, John F., 2009. "Seed Business Management in Africa," Manuals 56174, CIMMYT: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center.
    6. Langyintuo, Augustine S. & Mwangi, Wilfred & Diallo, Alpha O. & MacRobert, John & Dixon, John & Bänziger, Marianne, 2010. "Challenges of the maize seed industry in eastern and southern Africa: A compelling case for private-public intervention to promote growth," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 323-331, August.
    7. 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.
    8. Langyintuo, Augustine S. & Mwangi, Wilfred & Diallo, Alpha O. & MacRobert, John F. & Dixon, John & Banziger, Marianne, 2009. "An analysis of the challenges of the maize seed industry in eastern and southern Africa," 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China 51713, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    9. Spielman, David J. & Mekonnen, Dawit Kelemework & Alemu, Dawit, 2012. "Seed, fertilizer, and agricultural extension in Ethiopia," IFPRI book chapters, in: Dorosh, Paul A. & Rashid, Shahidur (ed.), Food and agriculture in Ethiopia: Progress and policy challenges, chapter 4, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    10. 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.
    11. Tchale, H. & Sauer, J., 2007. "Soil Fertility Management and Agricultural Productvity in Malawi," Proceedings “Schriften der Gesellschaft für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaues e.V.”, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA), vol. 42, March.
    12. Nin Pratt, Alejandro & Yu, Bingxin, 2008. "An updated look at the recovery of agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa:," IFPRI discussion papers 787, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    13. Govereh, Jones & Haggblade, Steven & Nielson, Hunter & Tschirley, David L., 2008. "Maize Market Sheds in Eastern and Southern Africa. Report 1," Food Security Collaborative Working Papers 55374, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    14. Ortega, David L. & Waldman, Kurt B. & Richardson, Robert B. & Clay, Daniel C. & Snapp, Sieglinde, 2016. "Sustainable Intensification and Farmer Preferences for Crop System Attributes: Evidence from Malawi’s Central and Southern Regions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 139-151.
    15. Di Falco, Salvatore & Chavas, Jean-Paul & Smale, Melinda, 2006. "Farmer management of production risk on degraded lands: the role of wheat genetic diversity in Tigray Region, Ethiopia," EPTD discussion papers 153, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    16. Gin, Xavier & Yang, Dean, 2009. "Insurance, credit, and technology adoption: Field experimental evidencefrom Malawi," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 1-11, May.
    17. Spielman, David J. & Byerlee, Derek & Alemu, Dawit & Kelemework, Dawit, 2010. "Policies to promote cereal intensification in Ethiopia: The search for appropriate public and private roles," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 185-194, June.
    18. 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.
    19. Maganga, Assa M., 2010. "Determinants of smallholder maize supply to private traders and profitability: evidence from lilongwe district in central Malawi," MPRA Paper 34371, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. David Kraybill, 2013. "Rural development in sub-Saharan Africa," Chapters, in: Gary Paul Green (ed.), Handbook of Rural Development, chapter 14, pages i-ii, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    More about this item

    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:taf:ragrxx:v:52:y:2013:i:2:p:104-127. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/ragr20 .

    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.